The book captures New York as seen through the eyes of New Yorkers both famous and ordinary, whose particular window views reveal a hidden perspective of the city—and of themselves. As Paul Goldberger, Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic for The New Yorker, writes in his introduction, “[Pericoli] reveals…the personal connection each of us has to the cityscape, and the way in which things that are simply there, things that we did not create but that we look at all the time, can have a profound effect on our being.” In 63 drawings, Pericoli captures “window views” of New York City, each image providing a unique perspective on the cityscape. Views of notables include those of Mario Batali, E.L. Doctorow, John Berendt, Richard Meier, David Byrne, Nora Ephron, Stephen Colbert, Tom Wolfe, and Mikhail Baryshnikov, among others. Accompanying each window view is a comment provided by its “owner.” We all have quintessential images of New York City ingrained in our minds—postcard shots of the Chrysler Building, the Statue of Liberty, and the Manhattan skyline. These are timeless images, yet they fail to capture what the city looks like through the eyes of its inhabitants. “The City Out My Window” reveals what New Yorkers see when they look out their windows. Here is the city of their day-to-day, their work lives, and their daydreams.

“Matteo Pericoli ... is telling us that your window is the frame through which you see your own picture of the world, a picture that is yours and no one else’s.” — from the introductory essay by Paul Goldberger

“... a simple idea that yields surprising results - about the nature of urban living, about the creative imaginations of those who choose to live and work in a city and, perhaps most intriguingly, about Pericoli's own unique and slightly obsessive way of seeing.” — The Observer

(Click here to read the entire article.)

“(An) amazing book.” — New York Daily News

“The Manhattan skyline has been depicted in countless ways, but never like this.” — The Wall Street Journal online

“Matteo Pericoli has created an inside-out view of the vertical city.” — The New York Times online

“This book delivers that authentic ... insider's view of New York City that so many guidebooks promise but few outsiders ever get to enjoy.” — BarnesandNobleReview.com

“Each (drawing) is beautifully rendered and, as Paul Goldberger notes in his introduction, deeply personal and revelatory.” — The New Yorker online

“Each page is a snap shot of someone's entire life... Each page is a glimpse into the mind of another.” — PopMatters.com

To order "The City Out My Window" from Amazon click here, to order it from Barnes & Noble, click here.

Manhattan Unfurled

Random House (October 2001)

Pericoli began working on the original, pen and ink drawings in 1998. More than two years, fifteen hundred buildings, and nineteen bridges later, the two 37-foot-long scrolls of the East and West Sides of the Manhattan skyline were completed. In this book version, an elegant slipcase contains a 24-panel, 22-foot-long accordion fold-out, with the entire East and West Side drawings, one on each side. An essay about the drawings by Paul Goldberger, The New Yorker magazine's architecture critic, accompanies the book in a separate pamphlet.

“Pericoli's drawing is at once monumental and gentle." — The New Yorker

(to read more, click here)

“Pericoli has fixed a moment of the ever-shifting skyline, and done so with delicacy and authority." — The New York Times

(to read more, click here)

“The most appealing thing about this book... is the newcomer’s sense of rage at the scale and speed of the city, and the corresponding desire to try to make it his own." — Vogue

(to read more, click here)

"Pericoli's lines have the delicacy of Mozart, but his masses have the suave rhythms of Ellington." — from the introductory essay by Paul Goldberger

To purchase "Manhattan Unfurled" from Amazon, click here.

Tommaso and the Missing Line

Knopf for Young Readers (December 2008)

What is a line? It’s the strangest thing: a line has gone missing from Tommaso’s favorite drawing, the one he drew all by himself, the one he keeps in his pocket. Lines don’t just disappear, but Tommaso’s has—it’s simply gone. And so he sets out to look for it. Is it there, in the curl of the cat’s tail? Or there, in the antenna of the car? Tommaso’s search continues until he remembers the one special place—and person—he must visit in order to find his line, the very one he drew.

“Pericoli demonstrates remarkable draftsmanship and a vivid eye for detail and perspective ... The design is striking ... the effect is eye-popping.” — Publishers Weekly

(to read more, click here)

“This book is beautifully, brilliantly designed ... each opening of the book is elegant, balanced and draws readers in. A gem.” — Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

(to read more, click here)

“... one of the best examples I've seen of a picture book in which all the elements work on different levels ... Even adults should admire the clean layout and design.” — Austin American-Statesman

(to read more, click here)

“What does not need explaining is the thoughtfulness and lovely detailing that Pericoli brings to every page of this very special book.” — InfoDad.com

(to read more, click here)

To order "Tommaso and the Missing Line" from Amazon, click here.

World Unfurled

Chronicle Books (October 2008)

Inspired by Skyline of the World, the 397-foot long mural installed in 2007 at the new American Airlines Terminal at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, the book will feature an accordion-style fold-out of the entire drawing and a 70-city journey throughout the world. With an essay by Colum McCann titled "An Imagined Elsewhere: The City of Cities."

“Matteo Pericoli's "World Unfurled" manages to pack the entire globe into a 10-foot-long foldout panorama ...” — Newsday

"Pericoli has created a trance city, in hues of gray, blue, orange, and white, built on our own memories of previous travel and expectations for the journeys we are about to embark on. ...

He invites us into a landscape in which the viewer can thrust his or her own past, and at the same time he allows us to step beyond the boundaries of our lives. ...

Pericoli is, I feel, the sort of artist who could be entrusted with the last grain of sand, perhaps one of the few who’d be able to capture its complexity. ...

... Pericoli is a perfect guide. He leaves people out of his drawings precisely because he knows that they will eventually walk themselves in. " — from the introductory essay by Colum McCann

To purchase "World Unfurled" from Amazon, click here.

Manhattan Within

Random House (October 2003)

A 360 degree view of Manhattan as seen from its geographical center and escape: Central Park. The original drawing, in colored pencil, oil pastel, and graphite, measures 32 feet. The book features a slipcase containing the full-color drawing (reduced to 22 feet) in an accordion fold-out format and a separate pamphlet with a journal by Matteo Pericoli about the method, philosophy, and evolution of the work.

“The buildings... are drawn with architectural rigor and Steinbergian whimsy." — The New Yorker

(to read more, click here)

“An astonishing 360-degree view of the Manhattan skyline as viewed from inside Central Park." — Booklist

(to read more, click here)

“L’astrazione permea l’intero dispiegarsi di questo skyline interiore." — Il Foglio

(to read more, click here)

To purchase "Manhattan Within" from Amazon, click here.

See the City: the journey of Manhattan Unfurled

Knopf for Young Readers (August 2004)

In this version of Manhattan Unfurled for young people, the two 37-foot long scrolls are bound into two sections (East Side and West Side) in an unusual and eye-catching new format. Pericoli adds simple text, and hand-drawn labels, telling young readers how he came to create his drawing (the journey includes boat rides, a motorcycle, and hundreds of photographs). He also encourages kids to see — and draw — a place in a whole new way. “Draw everything,” he tells them, “and you’ll know a place as you never did before.”

“[Pericoli] celebrates creativity while paying homage to the Manhattan he loves.” — USA Today

(to read more, click here)

“Full of charm and energy and life…a marvelous work for children. … Just wonderful.” — Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

(to read more, click here)

“Like David McCauley, Pericoli dazzles with his style and conveys warm appreciation of that which seems ordinary.” — Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

(to read more, click here)

To purchase "See the City" from Amazon, click here.

The True Story of Stellina

Knopf for Young Readers (March 2006)

This is the true story of Stellina. Stellina, a baby finch, who found herself stranded on a busy city sidewalk after falling from her nest. Stellina, who waited and waited for her mother to return, while cars roared past. Stellina, who found a new home - and a family - in a surprising way. Stellina was a bird: "Cheep." This is her true story.

“Winsomely written and illustrated.” — The New York Times

(to read more, click here)

“Small readers will be won over, and bigger ones will be enchanted.” — Booklist, Starred Review

(to read more, click here)

“Readers will appreciate its respectful simplicity, helpful patterning, and warm affection.” — The Bulletin, Starred Review

(to read more, click here)

To purchase "The True Story of Stellina" from Amazon, click here.

New York e altri disegni

Quodlibet (April 2005)

Inspired by the exhibition "New York e altri disegni" (Fiesole, Florence, 2005), the book is a collection of 45 drawings and three essays by Achille Varzi, Gilberto Rossini, and Matteo Pericoli. (click here to read the essay by Matteo Pericoli)

"Pericoli’s drawings do not tell us what he sees, but what he thinks." — from the introductory essay by Achille Varzi

To read a review of the exhibit in Il Corriere della Sera click here, in La Stampa click here.

To order "New York e altri disegni" from Quodlibet (IT), click here.