If you've worked your
way through the fiction books, try a side trip to New York City's
past. From drug
addicts to socialites, mobsters to magazine writers to cold-blooded
murderers, this is just a small sample of the many true New York
stories just waiting to be discovered.
New
York Lives:
Biographies and
Memoirs
Manhattan, When
I Was
Young
Mary Cantwell
Penguin Books, 1996
Cantwell uses memories of former apartments as a starting-point for
reminiscences about her days working as a staffer at fashion magazines
in the 1950s and 60s, from single college grad to divorced
mother. Details about office cocktail parties, French films, the
best devil's food cake in the city and her $18 wedding ring evoke a
long-gone New York. This is the middle volume of Cantwell's
trilogy of memoirs.
The
Basketball
Diaries
Jim Carroll
Penguin Books, 1995
Poet Jim Carroll writes about his descent into heroin addiction,
opening with his days as a high school basketball player in the
1960s. A funny, depressing book that is not quite as tidy as the
Leonardo DiCaprio film version. Carroll's story continues in his
second book of memoirs, Forced
Entries: The Downtown Diaries.
Bronx Boy: A Memoir
Jerome Charyn
Thomas Dunne Books, 2002
Adolescent gangsters, ice cream sodas, drug addicts, teenage lust, bar
mitzvahs and Meyer Lansky. In other words, something for
everyone. This is the final book in Charyn's three-part series
about growing up in the Bronx in the 1950s.
Confessions Of A
Window Dresser: Tales From The Life Of Fashion
Simon Doonan
Viking Studio, 2001
The designer of the famously over-the-top window displays of
the famously over-expensive Barneys New York store writes (in his
hilariously-honest style) about his early life and successful
career. Includes celebrity insanity and lots of pictures.
Bad Boy: A Memoir
Walter Dean Myers
Amistad, New York, 2002
"Each
of us is born with a history already in place," writes Myers at this
book's outset. The popular young adult novelist writes about his
boyhood in 1940s and 50s Harlem --
his secret love of books, his dreams of being a writer, his speech
impediment and quickness to anger. A good choice for
aspiring writers or anyone struggling to overcome personal problems.
Dear Exile: The
True
Story of Two Friends Separated (for a Year) by an Ocean
Hilary Liftin and Kate Montgomery
Vintage, 1999
Actually, only half of this book takes places in New York City -- the
other half of the action occurs in an African village. This is a
story told through letters exchanged between Liftin and Montgomery,
former college roommates who took very different paths: Montgomery got
married and joined the Peace Corps while aspiring writer Liftin
adjusted to living in New York on her office worker's salary. The
contrasts between their lives are fascinating, but so are the
similarities.
The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup: My Encounters With
Extraordinary
People
Susan Orlean
Random House, 2002
Though some of these
articles don't take place in NYC, they're all funny and elegantly-written and
always interesting. The story about New York's buttons-only shop
is worth the price of the book. (Although, of course, you should
be checking it out from the library...) As for the non-New York
pieces, why not give them a look anyway?
Maybe you'll become obsessed with another spot on the globe!
Party Monster: A
Fabulous But True Tale of Murder in Clubland
James St. James
Simon & Schuster, 2003
A disturbing look at New York's 90s club scene and the gruesome murder
that changed everything. The author, a friend of the killer,
brings an insider's perspective to this bizarre tale. If you've
seen the movie version, maybe it's time to give the book a shot.
Edie: American Girl
Jean Stein
Grove Press, 1994
Edie Sedgwick grew up beautiful, rich and troubled, studied at Harvard
before dropping out to model in New York, hung out with Andy Warhol and
the Velvet Underground, and died before her 30th birthday. This
oral history of her glamorous, sad life will keep you reading... and
reading... and reading.
Teen Angst? Naaah... A Quasi-Autobiography
Ned Vizzini
Laurel Leaf, 2002
Vizzini, who was 19 when this book was published, wrote these comical,
somewhat random little tales during his days as a New York City high
schooler in the late 1990s. His awkward semi-attempts at sex, his
love of Magic: The Gathering and his belief that prom is a total scam
are all recounted here in Vizzini's endearingly-grouchy style.
New
York Memories:
Histories of the City
The number of books about the history of New York City could probably
fill Grand Central Station, so this is just a small sample of what's
available.
Tales
from the Times : Real-Life Stories to Make You Think, Wonder, and
Smile, from the Pages of The New York Times
Lisa Belkin, editor
St. Martin's Griffin, 2004
Contrary to popular belief, good things do sometimes happen in New
York. Maybe some of these stories will convince your parents that
it's OK for you to attend NYU...
New
York: An Illustrated History
Ric Burns
Knopf, 2003
Feel free to drool over this massive collection of photographs and
factoids about New York City. Ask for this one for your birthday
--
it's a keeper.
The
Curious New Yorker : 329 Fascinating Questions and Surprising Answers
about New York City
Andrea Kannapell, editor
Three
Rivers Press, 1999
Providing answers to questions originally submitted to the New York Times "FYI" column, this
book is full of trivia with which you can bore your loved ones. A
humorous, endlessly-readable collection.
A Short and Remarkable History of New York City
Jane Mushabac and Angela Wigan
Fordham University Press, 1999
A speedy, breezy trip through the lives of New Yorkers, told in the
form of an illustrated timeline. This is a unique way to get a
heavy dose of New York history without slogging through a 600-page
brick of a book.
The New York Pop-Up Book : New York City 100: Historic
New York, Celebrating the Century
Marie
Salerno
Universe, 1999
For those of you who prefer your history in pop-up form, this giant
book fits the bill. Includes pop-ups of the Brooklyn Bridge, the
New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square and the Statue of Liberty,
plus writing from famous New Yorkers.
NLY
N
ORK