Books to read if you can't afford to travel to New York
Welcome to New York (Readings Version).
Have you been longing to visit the city that never sleeps, but a trip to New York isn't on the cards for 2024? Then live vicariously by diving into some literature set in the concrete jungle where dreams are made of . . .
For those into romantic comedies . . .
The Work by Bri Lee
Lally has invested everything into her gallery in Manhattan and the sacrifices are finally paying off. Pat is a scholarship boy desperate to establish himself in Sydney's antiquities scene. When they meet at New York's Armory Show their chemistry is instant – fighting about art and politics is just foreplay.
With an ocean between them they try to get back to work, but they're each struggling to balance money and ambition with the love of art that first drew them to their strange industry. Lally is a kingmaker, bringing exciting new talent to the world, so what's the problem if it's also making her rich? Pat can barely make his rent and he isn't sure if he's taking advantage of his clients or if they are taking advantage of him, and which would be worse? Their international affair ebbs and flows like the market while their aspirations and insecurities are driving them both towards career-ending mistakes.
And those who aren't . . .
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
Life is not a romantic comedy . . .
After a series of heartbreaks, Sally Milz – successful script writer for a legendary late-night TV comedy show – has long abandoned the search for love. But when her friend and fellow writer begins to date a glamorous actress, he joins the growing club of interesting but average-looking men who get romantically involved with accomplished, beautiful women.
Sally channels her annoyance into a sketch, poking fun at this 'social rule'. The reverse never happens for a woman. Then Sally meets Noah, a pop idol with a reputation for dating models. But this isn't a romantic comedy – it's real life. Would someone like him ever date someone like her?
For the Irish fiction lovers . . .
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
Young Eilis Lacey dreams of life beyond the confines of her tiny Irish village, but unlike her beautiful sister, Rose, Eilis' gifts are of a more practical nature: she has a head for numbers, and is a loving and dutiful daughter. Yet her ambition cannot be hidden and soon is noted by the Parish Priest, Father Flood. He arranges for Eilis to travel to America where a job opportunity has arisen in New York with a reputable 'merchant of Italian origin'.
Eilis finds lodgings in an eccentric boarding house and ekes out an existence in the cosmopolitan melting pot that is 1950s Brooklyn, impressing her employer, outwitting her landlady, and even falling in love. It seems her dream is truly becoming a reality. But then fate intervenes: a family crisis back home forces Eilis to make a choice between the past and the future, the old world and the new.
For those who love a cross between crime and literary fiction...
Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
To his customers and neighbors on 125th street, Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably-priced furniture, making a life for himself and his family. Few people know he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks, and that his facade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that are getting bigger and bigger all the time. See, cash is tight, especially with all those instalment plan sofas, so if his cousin Freddie occasionally drops off the odd ring or necklace at the furniture store, Ray doesn’t see the need to ask where it comes from. He knows a discreet jeweller downtown who also doesn’t ask questions.
Then Freddie falls in with a crew who plan to rob the Hotel Theresa - the ‘Waldorf of Harlem’ - and volunteers Ray’s services as the fence. The heist doesn’t go as planned; they rarely do, after all. Now Ray has to cater to a new clientele, one made up of shady cops on the take, vicious minions of the local crime lord, and numerous other Harlem lowlifes.
For those who love the classics . . .
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby brilliantly captures the disillusion of a society obsessed with wealth and status.
Young, handsome and fabulously rich, Jay Gatsby appears to have it all, yet he yearns for the one thing that will always be out of his reach, the absence of which renders his life of glittering parties and bright young things ultimately hollow. In shimmering prose, Fitzgerald shows Gatsby pursue his dream to its tragic conclusion. The Great Gatsby is an elegiac and exquisite portrait of the American Dream.
For those who could just use some sleep . . .
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
It’s the year 2000 in a city aglitter with wealth and possibility; what could be so terribly wrong?
Our narrator has many of the advantages of life – young, thin, pretty, a recent Columbia graduate, she lives in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan – paid for, like everything else, by her inheritance. But there is a vacuum at the heart of things, and it isn’t just the loss of her parents in college, or the way her Wall Street boyfriend treats her, or her sadomasochistic relationship with her alleged best friend.
For those looking for some escapism . . .
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
New York, 1940. Young, glamorous and inseparable, Vivian and Celia are chasing trouble from one end of the city to the other. But there is risk in all this play – that’s what makes it so fun, and so dangerous. Sometimes, the world may feel like it’s ending, but for Vivian and Celia, life is just beginning.
City of Girls is about daring to break conventions and follow your desires: a celebration of glamour, resilience, growing up, and the joys of female friendship – and about the freedom that comes from finding a place you truly belong.
For those wanting to eat like a New Yorker . . .
EAT NYC by Yasmin Newman
The best way to discover a city is always through its food, venturing away from the landmarks and tourist traps and seeking out the alleyways and local joints where everyday life takes place. Nowhere is this truer than in New York, whose rich tapestry of communities and history can be experienced with each passing street. Every square foot reveals something unique about the city, and the scene is always evolving.
Author Yasmin Newman takes us on a tour across the five boroughs to celebrate the most iconic dishes in NYC. From bagels and babkas to the Reuben, classic pizza slices, hotdogs, pretzels and the world-famous New York cheesecake, Yasmin shares the recipes that feed the city, from morning to night.
For those wanting to see the beauty of New York . . .
Walk With Me: New York by Susan Kaufman
For some people, New York City exists only in their imaginations, a big-screen beacon of wonder and twenty-four seven delight. For others, it’s a dream destination: the diverse urban center where they will finally feel they belong. And still for many, it’s the place they already call home. No matter how you view New York, longtime fashion editor and photographer Susan Kaufman will help you see the city with fresh, appreciative eyes.
As she travels with her camera through New York, Susan Kaufman invites readers to see the city as she does: from the sidewalk. She explores the beauty of the city found in its charming townhouses, decorated shops, lovely parks, shop facades, and serene streetscapes. New York may be known as the city that never sleeps, but beneath the bustle, there’s a soulful side, with its own quiet power and universal allure. Walk with Me: New York invites readers to appreciate the streets and buildings that have made the world’s most iconic city survive centuries of change yet retain its vitality and aspirational magnetism.
