Simone de Beauvoir is apparently often quoted for maintaining that “There is something in the New York air that makes sleep useless“, while Groucho Marx infamously declared that “Practically everybody in New York has half a mind to write a book – and does“. Here’s a ‘starter for ten’ list of some 40-odd works penned over the decades.
ADICHIE, Chimamanda Ngozi – Americanah, 10/10
AUSTER, Paul – Brooklyn Follies
AUSTER, Paul – The New York Trilogy
BALDWIN, James – Go Tell it on the Mountain
BARNES, Djuna – Nightwood
CAPOTE, Truman – Breakfast at Tiffany’s
CHABON, Michael – The Amazing Adventure of Kavalier and Clay
DeLILLO, Don – Falling Man
DOCTOROW, E.L. – World’s Fair
EGAN, Jennifer – A Visit from the Goon Squad, 10/10
ELLIS, Bret Easton – American Psycho
ELLISON, Ralph – Invisible Man
FITZGERALD, F. Scott – The Great Gatsby, 10/10
FOER, Jonathan Safran – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, 10/10 – A FAVOURITE READ
HANFF, Helene – Letter from New York
HELPRIN, Mark – Winter’s Tale
HIGHSMITH, Patricia – The Price of Salt (Carol), 6/10
HUSTVEDT, Siri – What I Loved
JAFFE, Rona – The Best of Everything, 8/10
JAMES, Henry – Washington Square, 10/10
KRAUSS, Nicole – The History of Love, 10/10
McCANN, Colum – Let the Great World Spin, 10/10 – A FAVOURITE READ
McCOURT, Frank – Angela’s Ashes, 10/10
McCOURT, Frank – ‘Tis
McCOURT, Frank – Teacher Man
McINERNEY, Jay – Bright Lights, Big City
MESSUD, Claire – The Emperor’s Children
MOORE, Liz – Heft, 8/10
O’NEILL, Joseph – Netherland
PLATH, Sylvia – The Bell Jar, 10/10
RAND, Ayn – The Fountainhead
ROTH, Henry – Call It Sleep
RUTHERFORD, Edward – New York
SALINGER, J.D. – The Catcher in the Rye, 10/10
SAPPHIRE, Precious, 9/10
SELBY, Hubert Jr – Last Exit to Brooklyn
SMITH, Betty – A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
TARTT, Donna – The Goldfinch, 10/10
THOMAS, Matthew – We Are Not Ourselves, just discovered and added: 10/10 – A FAVOURITE READ
TOIBIN, Colm – Brooklyn, 8/10
WALLS, Jeanette – The Glass Castle, 8/10
WEST, Nathanael – Miss Lonelyhearts
WHARTON, Edith – The Age of Innocence, 10/10 – A FAVOURITE READ
WHARTON, Edith – The House of Mirth, 9/10
WHITE, E.B. – Here is New York
WOLFE, Tom – The Bonfire of the Vanities
YANAGIHARA, Hanya – A Little Life, added subsequent to nomination for Man Booker Prize, 10/10
YATES, Richard – Cold Spring Harbour, 7/10.
What else have I missed out? Thanks again to Shoshi’s Book Blog for suggesting many of these titles, and hoping we can continue to add even more, all additions gratefully received.
New York, oh New York…
Nice list and piece! The New York Trilogy is a 10/10 novel – you should read it 🙂 Also, I think there’s a typing error because you’ve got The Great Gatsby as a 10/10 book, but I think you meant 100/10 🙂
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!!!
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New addition: Last Exit to Brooklyn (by Hubert Selby Jr) – it’ll probably be my plane read!
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Oh thank you very much. Had not heard of this author and just looked on Amazon – looks like this is not a read for the faint-hearted and will look forward to you writing about it on your return. I’m adding it to the above list right now. Happy holidays…..xx
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Ooh, I started out fearing I’d have read none of these, but I’ve actually read 6 – phew! I guess it’s because NY is so huge and diverse that it would never have occurred to me to think of Brooklyn and Gatsby as sharing a location, or indeed that either of them were set in the same place as American Psycho!
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I know, that was what struck me when I first thought about books I could read that had a link back to NY. Am sure the list will continue to get longer over time too. Not sure will be able to tackle all of them this year, keep being assailed with list upon list. But fun to have the idea tucked away for the future… x
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