Harvard Square: A Love Story
Harvard Square: A Love Story

    Harvard Square: A Love Story - Paperback

    $33.79
     per 
    In stock!
    People are currently viewing this
    Select The Options Above
    Description

    by Catherine J. Turco (Author)

    "Harvard Square isn't what it used to be." Spend any time there, and you're bound to hear that lament. Yet people have been saying the very same thing for well over a century. So what does it really mean that Harvard Square--or any other beloved Main Street or downtown--"isn't what it used to be"? Catherine J. Turco, an economic sociologist and longtime denizen of Harvard Square, set out to answer this question after she started to wonder about her own complicated feelings concerning the changing Square.

    Diving into Harvard Square's past and present, Turco explores why we love our local marketplaces and why we so often struggle with changes in them. Along the way, she introduces readers to a compelling set of characters, including the early twentieth-century businessmen who bonded over scotch and cigars to found the Harvard Square Business Association; a feisty, frugal landlady who became one of the Square's most powerful property owners in the mid-1900s; a neighborhood group calling itself the Harvard Square Defense Fund that fought real estate developers throughout the 1980s and '90s; and a local businesswoman who, in recent years, strove to keep her shop afloat amid personal tragedy, the rise of Amazon, and a globalizing property market that sent her rent soaring.

    Harvard Square tells the crazy, complicated love story of one quirky little marketplace and in the process, reveals the hidden love story Americans everywhere have long had with their own Main Streets and downtowns. Offering a new and powerful lens that exposes the stability and instability, the security and insecurity, markets provide, Turco transforms how we think about our cherished local marketplaces and markets in general. We come to see that our relationship with the markets in our lives is, and has always been, about our relationship with ourselves and one another, how we come together and how we come apart.

    Author Biography

    Catherine J. Turco is an economic sociologist and the author of The Conversational Firm: Rethinking Bureaucracy in the Age of Social Media (Columbia, 2016). She teaches at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where she is the Michael M. Koerner (1949) Professor of Entrepreneurship and associate professor of technological innovation, entrepreneurship, and strategy. Turco is a graduate of Harvard University, from which she received her BA in Economics, MBA, and PhD in Sociology. She lives in Harvard Square with her husband, Philip, and their dog, Winona.

    Number of Pages: 344
    Dimensions: 0.77 x 9.21 x 6.14 IN
    Publication Date: December 03, 2024
    Add to Cart Select The Options Above

    Reviews

    Exceptional Support and Clean Code

    I was impressed by how fast the support team responded to my questions. Even as someone with basic coding knowledge, I found the theme incredibly easy to work with. The code is well-organized, and everything runs smoothly.

    — Lucas M

    Small Business Owner (Electronics Store)

    Reliable Theme with Excellent Customer Service

    After trying multiple themes, I finally chose Wokiee — and haven’t looked back. It’s reliable, modern, and easy to customize without coding. What impressed me most was their support team: fast, helpful, and willing to assist even with third-party issues. That level of service is rare!

    — Sophie N

    Owner of a Home Decor Store

    Beautiful Design and Great Flexibility

    Wokiee is hands down the best Shopify theme I’ve used. The design options are stunning and fully customizable. I was able to build a high-converting store without any external developers.

    — Rachel L

    Fashion Brand Founder

    Top-Notch Support and Regular Updates

    The customer support team is incredible — helpful, responsive, and very professional. They’ve helped me resolve everything from layout tweaks to app integrations. Plus, the theme is regularly updated with new features.

    — David P

    Shopify Consultant

    Amazing Customization Options"!

    Wokiee gave me full creative control over my store’s layout and visuals. The theme’s design blocks are so flexible that I could create something truly unique — without touching a single line of code.

    — James T

    Handmade Goods Seller

    High-Quality Theme with Professional Code

    You can tell Wokiee was built by pros. The code is clean and optimized for performance. No bloated features — just what you need. My store loads fast and looks great on all devices.

    — Anna V

    UI/UX Designer