New York City Books
I'm trying to impress a girl. A friend keeps mentioning moving to New York City, and I've been wrestling with buying her a book. There are obviously millions of choices, but I'm aiming for something hip, surprising, and soulful. The choices I've come up with after a little bit of brainstorming are:
- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Klay by Michael Chabon -- it's well-written, it's bright-eyed, it's fun.
- The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster -- this one is a bit problematic, because I do think that it is a study in existential cool, but at the same time, it could be construed as a bit too formal, abstract, and self-absorbed.
- Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney -- I have a soft spot for this book, because I find the ending moving, even if the description and cover sound and feel like the 1980s. Though I suppose that the out-of-control careening of a young man high on coke wouldn't be that out of place, still, really.
- Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem -- it's good, but I don't think that a detective story is the right purchase here.
- Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin -- Hmm. It's a great book, but I don't think that magical realism -- at least of the Golden Age, patriotic, Republican-speechwriting variety -- is the right choice here, either.
posted by David @ 10:37 AM
2 Comments:
I think Motherless Brooklyn might qualify as a non-traditional mystery novel, so I would urge you not to dismiss it on generic grounds.
A surprise choice might be "The WPA Guide to New York City." This would work well if, say, you also wanted to whisk her off on a tour of NYC. Or, if you just wanted to immerse in the feel of NYC in the thirties. There is nothing more hip than reading a tour guide to a place that no longer exists. Honestly, the WPA series is excellent. I once drove around Maine using the WPA guide: ferries had been replaced by bridges, sure, but it was still a fine way to tour.
And then there is the classic, "Up in the Old Hotel" by Joseph Mitchell.
Or were you focused on fiction? If so, perhaps some Wharton? I am not sure whether that would meet the "hip" requirement, however.
Yes, but "Motherless Brooklyn" is all about the main character and his Brooklyn pals, and I don't know, it just seems a bit old-fashioned in a hard-boiled sort of way.
Similarly, Wharton doesn't really stimulate any feelings of romance or affection for me, though I'm sure that someone out there would find all of that scheming a turn-on.
I have Joseph Mitchell next to my bed, but I haven't gotten to it yet. Perhaps I could give it to someone to read for me....
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