This Bridge Will Not Be Gray

Written by Dave Eggers and Tucker Nichols

Narrated by Dion Graham

One of Publishers Weekly's Best Picture Books of 2015. The Golden Gate Bridge is the most famous bridge in the world. It is also, not entirely coincidentally, the world's first bright-orange bridge. But it wasn't supposed to be that way. In this book, fellow bridge-lovers Dave Eggers and Tucker Nichols tell the story of how it happened-how a bridge that some people wanted to be red and white, and some people wanted to be yellow and black, and most people wanted simply to be gray, instead became, thanks to the vision and stick-to-itiveness of a few peculiar architects, one of the most memorable man-made objects ever created. Told with irresistible prose, This Bridge Will Not Be Gray is a joyful history lesson in picture-book form-a gorgeously crafted story that teaches us how beauty and inspiration tend to come from the most unexpected places. Sometimes you have to fight for what you believe in, even if it's just a color.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 20, 2018
• ISBN: 9781501998089

Dave Eggers

Dave Eggers is the founder of McSweeney’s, a quarterly journal and website (www.mcsweeneys.net), and his books include You Shall Know Our Velocity, How We Are Hungry, Short Short Stories, What is the What, and the bestselling A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. His work has appeared in the New Yorker and Ocean Navigator. He is the recipient of the Addison Metcalf Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and was a 2001 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Northern California.

Reviews for This Bridge Will Not Be Gray

[dknight0918 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyed learning more about the Golden Gate Bridge. The illustrations were nice, too.

[abigailadams26 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Having greatly enjoyed Dave Eggers' subsequent non-fiction picture-book about another American icon - Her Right Foot, which addresses the subject of the Statue of Liberty - I picked up This Bridge Will Not Be Gray with some anticipation. I believe it was Eggers' debut as a children's author. Using a humorous, conversational style, the narrator here relates the story of how San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge came to be built, and how it came to be the unusual orange color it is. No bridge before it had ever been that color, but through the efforts of Irving Morrow, the architect involved in the project, as well as his many citizen supporters, the Golden Gate Bridge gained (or rather, retained) its distinctive hue...

I found This Bridge Will Not Be Gray to be an engaging work of history, one which highlights both the beauty and the uniqueness of this iconic San Francisco structure, while also exploring the (ideal) role of the citizenry in contributing to these kinds of massive projects. I particularly appreciated the inclusion of a number of letters written to and in support of Irving Morrow, at the rear of the book, although I would also have liked to have seen a list of further sources. The artwork from Tucker Nichols, done in what looks like paper collage, is interesting and attention-grabbing, with a constructed sensibility that feels right in a book about building a bridge. Recommended to Dave Eggers fans, and to anyone looking for children's books about the Golden Gate Bridge.

[michelleannlib · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved this - I do wish that their was some more details about the Golden Gate bridge at the end of the book. But otherwise, wonderful!