Both, Field Maloney and John McPhee had, with their stories “Rockaway Idyll” & “The Search for Marvin Gardens,” had done an exceptional job of personally and historically observing society. In Maloney’s piece on Rockaway Beach, he had made note of his personal connections through his hobbies such as surfing as well as the historical aspects of the town through the segregate ways of New York City that lingers in the Rockaways. He uses the example of each street on the beach representing it’s own sub-culture and the segregation of such cultures as a means of developing an identity, which I have found to be true, especially in Queens, which is the most diverse town in the world. McPhee’s essay was a bit jumpy. His method of conveying his message seems a bit superfluous. He does a fine job of covering both personal and historical aspects of the locations he addresses in his game-of-monopoly structured piece, however, such means of telling the story, while creative, seemed a bit over the top, a tedious to follow.
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