Review of "American Classic," by Laurence Lafore

Review of

American Classic, by Laurence Lafore

Four out of five stars

 As a lifelong residence of Iowa, I have seen many of the architectural styles described in this book. I did graduate work at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, so I have been physically near some of the buildings Lafore critiques. Which is an accurate word regarding this book. The author does not hesitate in making negative statements about what he considers a failure of the architectural melting pot that is Iowa City.

 There is no question that many different architectural styles could be found in Iowa City in the early seventies and Lafore does an excellent job of describing how they have influenced the specific buildings featured in this book. From Greek to many areas of Europe, the people transplanted to Iowa City brought their style of buildings with them.

 The weakness of the book is that it is written in a rather rigid academic style, the author was a Professor of History at the University of Iowa and an amateur in architectural history. Although it is very interesting to see and read about the specific architectural influences exhibited in the buildings, a little more conversational tone would have made it a better book.