Read New York City - 10 books to get you in a New York state of mind
“New York was bad enough. By nine in the morning the fake, country-wet freshness that somehow seeped in overnight evaporated like the tail end of a sweet dream.”
Few books describe the overwhelming airless state of depression like The Bell Jar. It's not just sadness, it's the complete detachment from life. Plath's seminal novel encapsulates a young woman's struggles and instead of providing picturesque, tourist-brochure descriptions of New York, it is more about how the city contributes to Esther's sense of alienation.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
"I began to like New York, the racy, adventurous feel of it at night and the satisfaction that the constant flicker of men and women and machines gives to the restless eye."
Fitzgerald powerfully captures the feel of New York City during the Roaring Twenties through the eyes of Nick, Jay and Daisy. Through the hedonism of the jazz clubs, the post war feelings of transience and change and the wealth and excess of the mega rich he inserts his reader into a bygone era like no one else.
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney
“The city I inhabit now is not the city that I moved to in 1926; it has become a mean-spirited action movie complete with repulsive plot twists and preposterous dialogue.”
As she spends New Years Eve 1984 walking through the city, 85 year old Lillian reflects on her past, from her successful career in the 1930s to her marriage and its dissolution, and the city's transformation. The walk becomes a journey through memory, showcasing her sharp wit, resilience, and the enduring power of her creative spirit amidst a changing world. It's a celebration of a life lived fully and a love letter to a bygone New York.
Another Country by James Baldwin
"Beneath them Rufus walked, one of the fallen—for the weight of this city was murderous—one of those who had been crushed on the day, which was every day, these towers fell. Entirely alone, and dying of it, he was part of an unprecedented multitude."
Exploring complex relationships amidst racial and sexual tensions in the 1950s New York, Baldwin's seminal novel delves into love, identity, and societal constraints portraying a world of emotional vulnerability, where characters grapple with their desires and the pain of alienation. It's a raw and honest depiction of the search for connection in a divided and often unforgiving city.
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
"Well, when I get it the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany's. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there."
In "Breakfast at Tiffany's", Capote portrays New York City not through direct descriptions, but as a feeling. Holly Golightly seeks refuge in the legendary jeweler shop, symbolising the city's aspirational allure and her search for belonging amidst its vastness.
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
"New York was populated by the ambitious. It was often the only thing that everyone here had in common. Ambition and atheism."
For a book that largely exists outside of time, Yanagihara's controversial masterpiece explores New York in unique ways. As the four best friends, Jude, William, Malcolm and JB age from young adults to men in their 60s, the city around them stays largely static - notably, 9/11 does not occur in their universe - but has had such an impact on readers that they are getting tattoos of the streets the characters lived on.
“Each neighborhood of the city appeared to be made of a different substance, each seemed to have a different air pressure, a different psychic weight: the bright lights and shuttered shops, the housing projects and luxury hotels, the fire escapes and city parks.”
Julius is a young Nigerian immigrant psychiatrist completing his fellowship. In the wake of a relationship breakup he takes 'peregrinations' - aimless wanderings around the city, meeting new people and philosophising on life, love and the new York landscape. This is a novel that puts you firmly in someone else's shoes.
The Mobster's Lament by Ray Celestin
"From flophouses on the Bowery, from dope-pads uptown, from the fruit bars strung like fairy lights along the docksides of Chelsea and Brooklyn, from sucker-joints, from bebop clubs, from hack ranks, from laundromats, from stage doors and artists' lofts, from bridges and freeways, from the blackness under the 3rd Avenue El, from tunnels, from alleys, from basements, from gutters, from shadows..."
Celestin's City Blues quartet moves from post World War 1 New Orleans to prohibition era Chicago, to New York City during World War 2, where his two protagonists, former Pinkerton detectives chase a gangster killer in the midst of winter. Celestin masterfully blends historical figures with fictional ones, creating a vivid and atmospheric portrayal of the era's dark underbelly, where music and violence collide.
Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
"Here was every street corner in this city, populated by noisy, furious characters who were all salesmen, delivering dead pitches for bum products to customers who didn’t have a fucking nickel anyway."
Twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Whitehead here captures Harlem's vibrant culture, economic struggles, and racial tensions, while also reflecting New York's inherent contradictions: ambition versus corruption. Ray Carney's journey, in the late 1960s and early 1970s illuminates the challenges of Black New Yorkers seeking the American Dream. Whitehead masterfully recreates the era, offering social commentary on race and class, an immersive and intimate journey through the city's sights and sounds.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
“Serene was a word you could put to Brooklyn New York. Especially in the summer of 1912. Somber as a word was better. But it did not apply to Williamsburg Brooklyn. Prairie was lovely and Shenandoah had a beautiful sound but you couldn't fit those words into Brooklyn. Serene was the only word for it especially on a Saturday afternoon in summer.”
Amidst poverty and hardship, Francie Nolan comes of age in the early 20th century, finding solace in books and dreams of a better future. Her resilient spirit, nurtured by her loving mother and challenged by her alcoholic father, drives her to seek education and escape her circumstances. The novel beautifully portrays the struggles and triumphs of a family striving for hope and growth in a harsh urban Williamsburg environment, like the tenacious tree growing through the concrete.
