In July 2008, illustrator and designer Christoph Niemann began Abstract City, a visual blog for the New York Times. His posts were inspired by the desire to re-create simple and everyday observations and stories from his own life that everyone could relate to. In Niemann’s hands, mundane experiences such as riding the subway or trying to get a good night’s sleep were transformed into delightful flights of visual fancy. The struggle to keep up with housework became a battle against adorable but crafty goblins, and nostalgia about New York manifested in simple but strikingly spot-on LEGO creations. This brilliantly illustrated collection of reflections on modern life includes all 16 of the original blog posts as well as a new chapter created exclusively for the book.

Also available from Christoph Niemann: Sunday Sketching and I LEGO N.Y.

Praise for Abstract City:

“Everyday experiences—from looking at leaves to riding city subways—are funny and fresh and often a source of wonder when depicted by this brilliant graphic designer.” —Readers Digest

“I will call Christoph when anything awful happens to me. And he will make me laugh like crazy about the whole thing. Because he is insanely funny and completely tenderly true. I love every column he did and will do.” —Maira Kalman, author/illustrator of And the Pursuit of Happiness

“Christoph Niemann is the best illustrator alive. Every single time I come across a piece of his work, which is often as he either works all the time, or worse, draws incredibly fast, it is wonderful. While the rest of us are lucky to get a proper piece out here and there, Christoph produces hit after hit after hit. If he wasn’t such a genuinely sweet man, we’d surely hate his ass a lot.” —Stefan Sagmeister, author of Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far

“Few books have more probingly and humorously gotten inside the mind and day-to-day experience of an artist.” —NPR.org

"What’s terrifying is that nearly every idea he has seems to be equally well formed . . . once again, performing neat, virtuosic circles around the rest of us, to our delight." —PRINT magazine

"Irresistible." —Very Short List

“A masterpiece of sophisticated humor, this is a brilliant one-of-a-kind work.” —Library Journal, starred review

Reader Reviews

Jeff Lewonczyk

(4/5)

Sep 28, 2024

I had expected this to be a five-star review, since I love Niemann's work and enjoyed all of these essays when I originally read them. But honestly, I feel like they weren't designed to be binge-read in rapid succession. What seemed dazzlingly clever in smaller pieces seems a bit more contrived and cutesy when taken as a whole. Still, no one's better at this kind of thing than Niemann, and the original afterword about his creative process does a lot to ground the book into something more substan...

Dov Zeller

"The true malice of headphones." (wonderfully said) (from the section called My Life with Cables)"Poplar. Unpoplar." "Ernie and Birch" "Laurel and Hardy" (in Bio Diversity)This book is high on concept and has a lot of stunningly crafty art and lovely humor. A lot of people seem to really love this book. I have mixed feelings but it's so intent on doing what it's doing and doing it so craftily I didn't feel comfortable giving it a lower rating. Why didn't I love it all the way through? I didn't f...

J & J

(2/5)

This just isn't my thing...it was hard for me to focus on the words and I didn't like the style of drawing (although I am not an art critic in the least so take that with a grain of salt ;)

Gauri

A collection of art celebrating the joys and annoyances of everyday life. It's very creative, and might make you smile a good bit.

Ellie

(5/5)

Abstract City by Christoph Niemann is a totally delightful book. It's literally a graphic novel-not a form of comics but a novel by a graphic designer that consists of, well, graphic designs. It's divided into sections, each of which is about some aspect of the author's experience-his sons and their love of subways (New York City), one of my favorite parts; the Berlin Wall (the author's life in Berlin), things he has made with cookie dough, and, another personal favorite, the creative process. T...

Anna

Another delightful book of visual essays by Niemann, a columnist, graphic artist and illustrator. He tells us about everyday life, his work life and city-dwelling tricks of the trade among many other topics, in his most singular multimedia way. Niemann is a writer and artist to watch. Eager to see what he comes up with next.

Chris

(3/5)

A very mixed book, as might be expected from a collection of visual essays. Niemann's mind works very interestingly, using art to convey a wealth of information. But when there is no story to tell (for example, just a collection of humorously shaped leaves) then it falls flat. The best stories are excellent, including the story of his sons' obsession with the NY Subway, Diagrams used to convey helpful hints to NYC residents, and an exploration in creating tile mosaics in a bathroom based on piec...

Selwa

What a delight! I read this on my Kindle (having no other option available from the library) and now I'm wondering what the actual book is like. I may want to buy it as a coffee table book!*goes off to add Christoph Niemann's other books to my to-read list*

Nick

Niemann's designs, and the tales he tells through them, are original, wry, beautiful. What else do you want?

Rachel C.

Oh, New York. Let me count the ways.My favorite pieces were "The Boys and the Subway" and "I LEGO NY."Thanks for the birthday present, Allie.

Samuel Oktavianus

Abstract city is a collection of visual stories (almost like a biography) of the Legendary Illustrator Cristoph Niemann. I absolutely enjoyed reading this book, from start to finish—every single page!The story digs down into his personal life working in a creative industry, living in Germany & New York while taking care of his children. From NY Subways, His love of coffees, Science, Maps, and Traveling. But I guess it's also about his interpretation of New York. It's honest, artistic, humorous,

Vivian

A fun and relatable collection of visual essays.(Faux Fir was my favourite joke.)

Katy Wheatley

I saw the Netflix Documentary about Christoph Neimann and was absolutely enchanted by him and his work. I bought this book because of it, and it lives up to my expectations fully. It's a series of quirky essays about city living, mostly set in New York but a few of the essays are set in Berlin where he now lives. They range from life hacks for getting about New York like a native, to living next to where the Berlin Wall stood, to the perfect night's sleep. The short text complements the pictures...

James

I became aware of Christoph Niemann through the Abstract: Art of Design docuseries on Netflix (Niemann is the focus of episode 1). Since then I started following him on Twitter and Instagram and love his playful style, both in his formal New Yorker/NYTs work, and his playful abstracts and animations incorporating everyday objects into his sketches. This is from 2012 and exemplifies his style well.

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Abstract City

Abstract City

Abstract City

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Reader Reviews