Books, Arts & Manners: Poetic Injustice

ST. LOUIS is a wonderfully self-conscious city and not a little celebratory about its unique history and geography at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. As I discovered on a recent weekend visit, it is difficult to drive more than a few miles without seeing some reminder of St. Louis’s or Missouri’s great and diverse history. Statues of eminent citizens are found in the city’s beautiful parks, in its tree-lined antique neighborhoods, and in the downtown area near the Missouri Statehouse. The most notable architectural structure in St. Louis is the 630-foot stainless-steel Gateway Arch, designed by Eero Saarinen to commemorate the city’s historic role as “Gateway to the West.”

But the shininess of the Arch is not typical of St. Louis’s public style. The city thinks of itself, rather, as the epitome of an older, better idea of Midwestern urbanity, more oak paneling than stainless steel.

TS

About the Author

Timothy S. Goeglein

Featured Tags

ST. LOUIS is a wonderfully self-conscious city and not a little celebratory about its unique history and geography at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. As I discovered on a recent weekend visit, it is difficult to drive more than a few miles without seeing some reminder of St. Louis’s or Missouri’s great and diverse history. Statues of eminent citizens are found in the city’s beautiful parks, in its tree-lined antique neighborhoods, and in the downtown area near the Missouri Statehouse. The most notable architectural structure in St. Louis is the 630-foot stainless-steel Gateway Arch, designed by Eero Saarinen to commemorate the city’s historic role as “Gateway to the West.”

But the shininess of the Arch is not typical of St. Louis’s public style. The city thinks of itself, rather, as the epitome of an older, better idea of Midwestern urbanity, more oak paneling than stainless steel.