A love letter to the cities of the world， from the airline pilot-author of Skyfaring。

Ever since he was a boy growing up in Pittsfield， in western Massachusetts， Mark Vanhoenacker has been fascinated by cities: their bright lights， hustle and bustle， and dazzling skylines， and the endless opportunities they offer for personal discovery and reinvention。 Now， as an adult， he travels the world as a commercial airline pilot， visiting every city he dreamed about as a child and many， many more。 The way he experiences these metropolises--in 24- to 72-hour layovers， sometimes twice in one week and then not at all for months or even years--is unlike that of any ordinary traveler， and gives him an utterly unique perspective on what makes a city a city。 In this hybrid work of travelogue and memoir， Vanhoenacker celebrates the cities he has come to know over the years， from Pittsburgh to Cape Town， and from Tokyo to Jeddah--through the lens of his small hometown。 In chapters that explore individual facets of city identity--their geography， their poems， their weather--he shows us with fresh eyes the man-made wonders that billions of us call home。