Do you know what is so great?
Visiting New York and reading stories about it or reading stories about it
before you visit. Either way, you can dig deep into a place the more you read
about it. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, Breakfast at Tiffany’s by
Truman Capote or The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald are probably the
classic tales that made you want to visit New York City (ever since you first
read these).
What I find to be exciting
about New York City is that I regularly saw people reading books, as in actual
paper books, in public. Not sure what and when it happened that reading a book
became rather unusual. Look around you, most often people passionately stare
onto their mobile phone screens as if they would get paid for it. Not so much
in New York City. People here read books waiting for the subway, they read
books riding the subway, and they read books while sitting in cafés. Hopes are
high that this will become popular in more places all over the world. Trends
often happen in the US first. Crossing fingers. The more people read, the more
we know and think, the better.
Either way, you are going to
enjoy reading these books. All books are tried and tested and were bought
either at bookshops in Berlin in Germany or on location in New York City at
independent bookshops. I oppose buying books at online retailers, I
wholeheartedly support local shops since they are meeting points and the heart
of a community.
I am sure that there are many
more books I could have read before or on my New York City trip. It is a
dilemma, so many books, never enough time, so I recommend only the ones I read
so far. And of course, yes, I also read The Catcher in the Rye by J. D.
Salinger, Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote.
15 inspiring books to read for your trip to New York City
1. Just Kids by Patti Smith
About Just Kids, from the publishing house:
In Just Kids, Patti Smith’s first book of prose,
the legendary American artist offers a never-before-seen glimpse of her
remarkable relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in the epochal
days of New York City and the Chelsea Hotel in the late sixties and seventies. An
honest and moving story of youth and friendship, Smith brings the same unique,
lyrical quality to Just Kids as she has to the rest of her
formidable body of work—from her influential 1975 album Horses
to her visual art and poetry.” (from Harper Collins)
2. M Train by Patti Smith
About M Train, from the publishing house:
From the National Book Award-winning author of Just
Kids: an unforgettable odyssey into the mind of this legendary artist, told
through the prism of cafés and haunts she has visited and worked in around the
world.
M Train is a journey through seventeen "stations." It begins in the
tiny Greenwich Village café where Smith goes every morning for black coffee, ruminates
on the world as it is and the world as it was, and writes in her notebook. We
then travel, through prose that shifts fluidly between dreams and reality, past
and present, across a landscape of creative aspirations and inspirations: from
Frida Kahlo's Casa Azul in Mexico, to a meeting of an Arctic explorer's society
in Berlin; from the ramshackle seaside bungalow in New York's Far Rockaway that
Smith buys just before Hurricane Sandy hits, to the graves of Genet, Plath,
Rimbaud, and Mishima. Woven throughout are reflections on the writer's craft
and on artistic creation, alongside signature memories, including of her life
in Michigan with her husband, guitarist Fred Sonic Smith, whose untimely death
was an irremediable loss. For it is loss, as well as the consolation we might
salvage from it, that lies at the heart of this exquisitely told memoir, one
augmented by stunning black-and-white Polaroids taken by Smith herself. M
Train is a meditation on endings and on beginnings: a poetic tour de force
by one of the most brilliant, multi-platform artists at work today.
3. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
About The Goldfinch, from the
publishing house:
Aged thirteen, Theo Decker, son of a devoted mother
and a reckless, largely absent father, survives an accident that otherwise
tears his life apart. Alone and rudderless in New York, he is taken in by the
family of a wealthy friend. He is tormented by an unbearable longing for his
mother, and down the years clings to the thing that most reminds him of her: a
small, strangely captivating painting that ultimately draws him into the
criminal underworld. As he grows up, Theo learns to glide between the drawing rooms
of the rich and the dusty antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in
love – and his talisman, the painting, places him at the centre of a narrowing,
ever more dangerous circle.
The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America and a drama of
enthralling power. Combining unforgettably vivid characters and thrilling
suspense, it is a beautiful, addictive triumph – a sweeping story of loss and
obsession, of survival and self-invention, of the deepest mysteries of love,
identity and fate.
4. A Freewheelin’ Time by Suze Rotolo
About A Freewheelin’ Time, from the
publishing house:
Suze Rotolo chronicles her
coming of age in Greenwich Village during the 1960s and the early days of the
folk music explosion, when Bob Dylan was finding his voice and she was his
muse.
5. The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever
When
The Stories of John Cheever was originally published, it became an immediate
national bestseller and won the Pulitzer Prize. In the years since, it has
become a classic. Vintage Books is proud to reintroduce this magnificent
collection.
Here
are sixty-one stories that chronicle the lives of what has been called “the
greatest generation.” From the early wonder and disillusionment of
city life in “The Enormous Radio” to the surprising discoveries and common
mysteries of suburbia in “The Housebreaker of Shady Hill” and “The Swimmer,”
Cheever tells us everything we need to know about “the pain and sweetness of
life.
6. Kitchen Confidential, Updated Edition by Anthony Bourdain
About
Kitchen Confidential, from the publishing house:
An
updated and revised edition of Anthony Bourdain's mega-bestselling Kitchen
Confidential, with new material from the original edition.
Almost
two decades ago, the New Yorker published a now infamous article, “Don’t
Eat before You Read This,” by then little-known chef Anthony Bourdain. Bourdain
spared no one’s appetite as he revealed what happens behind the kitchen door.
The article was a sensation, and the book it spawned, the now classic Kitchen
Confidential, became an even bigger sensation, a megabestseller with over
one million copies in print. Frankly confessional, addictively acerbic, and
utterly unsparing, Bourdain pulls no punches in this memoir of his years in the
restaurant business.
Fans
will love to return to this deliciously funny, delectably shocking banquet of
wild-but-true tales of life in the culinary trade from Chef Anthony Bourdain,
laying out his more than a quarter-century of drugs, sex, and haute
cuisine—this time with never-before-published material.
7. The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
About
The Devil Wears Prada, from the publishing house:
A
delightfully dishy novel about the all-time most impossible boss in the history
of impossible bosses and the basis for the major motion picture starring Anne
Hathaway and Meryl Streep.
Andrea
Sachs, a small-town girl fresh out of college, lands the job “a million girls
would die for.” Hired as the assistant to Miranda Priestly, the high-profile,
fabulously successful editor of Runway magazine, Andrea finds herself in
an office that shouts Prada! Armani! Versace! at every turn, a world
populated by impossibly thin, heart-wrenchingly stylish women and beautiful men
clad in fine-ribbed turtlenecks and tight leather pants that show off their
lifelong dedication to the gym. With breathtaking ease, Miranda can turn each
and every one of these hip sophisticates into a scared, whimpering child.
The
Devil Wears Prada
gives a rich and hilarious new meaning to complaints about “The Boss from
Hell.” Narrated in Andrea’s smart, refreshingly disarming voice, it traces a
deep, dark, devilish view of life at the top only hinted at in gossip columns
and over Cosmopolitans at the trendiest cocktail parties. From sending the
latest, not-yet-in-stores Harry Potter to Miranda’s children in Paris by
private jet, to locating an unnamed antique store where Miranda had at some
point admired a vintage dresser, to serving lattes to Miranda at precisely the
piping hot temperature she prefers, Andrea is sorely tested each and every
day—and often late into the night with orders barked over the phone. She puts
up with it all by keeping her eyes on the prize: a recommendation from Miranda
that will get Andrea a top job at any magazine of her choosing. As things
escalate from the merely unacceptable to the downright outrageous, however,
Andrea begins to realize that the job a million girls would die for may just
kill her. And even if she survives, she has to decide whether or not the job is
worth the price of her soul.
8. Ask again, yes by Mary Beth Keane
About Ask again, yes, from the
publishing house:
A gripping and
compassionate drama of two families linked by chance, love and tragedy.
Gillam, upstate New York: a
town of ordinary, big-lawned suburban houses. The Gleesons have recently moved
there and soon welcome the Stanhopes as their new neighbours.
Lonely Lena Gleeson wants a
friend but Anne Stanhope - cold, elegant, unstable - wants to be left alone.
It's left to their children
- Lena's youngest, Kate, and Anne's only child, Peter - to find their way to
one another. To form a friendship whose resilience and love will be almost
broken by the fault line dividing both families, and by the terrible tragedy
that will engulf them all.
A tragedy whose true
origins only become clear many years later . . .
A story of love and
redemption, faith and forgiveness, Ask Again, Yes reveals the way childhood
memories change when viewed from the distance of adulthood - villains lose
their menace, and those who appeared innocent seem less so.
A story of how, if we're
lucky, the violence lurking beneath everyday life can be vanquished by the
power of love.
9. New York Stories by Edited by Diana Secker Tesdell
About New York Stories, from the
publishing house:
An
irresistible anthology of classic tales of New York in the tradition of Christmas
Stories, Love Stories, and Stories of the Sea.
Writers
have always been enthralled and inspired by New York City, and their vibrant
and varied stories provide a kaleidoscopic vision of the city’s high life, low
life, nightlife, and everything in between. From the wisecracking Broadway guys
and dolls of Damon Runyon to the glittering ballrooms of Edith Wharton, from
the jazz- soaked nightspots of Jack Kerouac and James Baldwin to the starry-
eyed tourists in John Cheever and Shirley Jackson to the ambitious immigrants
conjured by Edwidge Danticat and Junot Diaz— this is New York in all its
grittiness and glamour. Here is the hectic, dazzling chaos of Times Square and
the elegant calm of galleries in the Met; we meet Yiddish matchmakers in the
Bronx, Haitian nannies in Central Park, starving artists, and hedonistic
yuppies—a host of vivid characters nursing their dreams in the tiny apartments,
the lonely cafés, and the bustling streets of the city that never sleeps.
10. New York Stories - Landmark Writing from Four Decades of New York Magazine Editors of New York Magazine Editors of New York Magazine
About
New York Stories - Landmark Writing from Four Decades of New York Magazine
Editors of New York Magazine, from the publishing house:
The
magazine that is the city that is the world
Just
in time for its fortieth anniversary, New York magazine presents a
stunning collection of some of its best and most influential articles, stories
that captured the spectacle, the turbulence, and the cultural realignments of
the past four decades.
Covering
subjects from “Radical Chic” to Gawker.com, written by some of the country’s
most renowned authors, here are works that broke news, perfectly captured the
moment, or set trends in motion. In New York Stories, Gloria Steinem
(whose Ms. Magazine was introduced in New York) broaches the
subject of women’s liberation; Tom Wolfe coins “The Me Decade”; and Steve
Fishman piercingly portrays the unwanted martyrdom of the 9/11 widows. Cutting
edge features that invented terms like “brat pack” and “grup”; profiles of
defining cultural figures including Joe Namath, Truman Capote, and long-shot
presidential candidate Bill Clinton; and reports that inspired the acclaimed
movies Saturday Night Fever, GoodFellas, and Grey Gardens–all are
included in this one-of-a-kind compilation.
The
writers who chronicled the times that began with Nixon’s campaign and end with
Obama’s are at their best in New York Stories. It’s an irresistible
anthology from a magazine that, like the city itself, is still making stars,
setting standards, and going strong.
11. I never knew that about New York by Christopher Winn
About
I never knew that about New York, from the publishing house:
In I Never Knew That About
New York Christopher Winn digs beneath the gleaming towers and mean streets
of New York and discovers its secrets and its hidden treasures. Learn about the
extraordinary people who built New York into one of the world's great cities in
just 400 years. New York is one of the most photographed and talked about
cities in the world but Winn unearths much that is unexpected and unremembered
in this fast moving, ever changing metropolis where history is made on a daily
basis!
12. The Masterpiece by Fiona Davies
About
The Masterpiece, from the publishing house:
In
this captivating novel, national bestselling author Fiona Davis takes readers
into the glamorous lost art school within Grand Central Terminal, where two
very different women, fifty years apart, strive to make their mark on a world
set against them.
For
most New Yorkers, Grand Central Terminal is a crown jewel, a masterpiece of
design. But for Clara Darden and Virginia Clay, it represents something quite
different.
For
Clara, the terminal is the stepping stone to her future. It is 1928, and Clara
is teaching at the lauded Grand Central School of Art. Though not even the
prestige of the school can override the public’s disdain for a “woman artist,”
fiery Clara is single-minded in her quest to achieve every creative
success—even while juggling the affections of two very different men. But she
and her bohemian friends have no idea that they’ll soon be blindsided by the
looming Great Depression…and that even poverty and hunger will do little to prepare
Clara for the greater tragedy yet to come.
By
1974, the terminal has declined almost as sharply as Virginia Clay’s life.
Dilapidated and dangerous, Grand Central is at the center of a fierce lawsuit:
Is the once-grand building a landmark to be preserved, or a cancer to be
demolished? For Virginia, it is simply her last resort. Recently divorced, she
has just accepted a job in the information booth in order to support herself
and her college-age daughter, Ruby. But when Virginia stumbles upon an abandoned
art school within the terminal and discovers a striking watercolor, her eyes
are opened to the elegance beneath the decay. She embarks on a quest to find
the artist of the unsigned masterpiece—an impassioned chase that draws Virginia
not only into the battle to save Grand Central but deep into the mystery of
Clara Darden, the famed 1920s illustrator who disappeared from history in 1931.
13. Goodbye to all that – Writers on Loving and Leaving New York, Edited by Sari Botton
About Goodbye to all that –
Writers on Loving and Leaving New York, from the publishing house:
From
Roxane Gay to Cheryl Strayed, 28 groundbreaking writers share their visceral,
heart-bending stories about the everlasting magic-and unavoidable misery-of
living in New York City
In
1967, Joan Didion wrote an essay called Goodbye to All That, a work of
such candid and penetrating prose that it soon became the gold standard for
personal essays. Like no other story before it, Didion’s tale of loving and
leaving New York captured the mesmerizing allure Manhattan has always had for
writers, poets, and wandering spirits.
In
this captivating collection, 28 writers take up Didion’s literary legacy by
sharing their own New York stories. Their essays often begin as love stories
do, with the passion of something newly discovered-the crush of subway crowds,
the streets filled with manic energy, and the certainty that this is the only
place on Earth where one can become exactly who she is meant to be.
They also share the grief that comes when the
metropolis loses its magic and the pressures of New York’s frenetic life wear
thin on even the most fervent dwellers. As friends move away, rents soar, and
love-still- remains just out of reach, each writer’s goodbye to New York is
singular and universal, like New York itself.
With
Cheryl Strayed, Dani Shapiro, Emma Straub, Ann Hood, and more.
14. A tree grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
About A tree grows in Brooklyn, from the publishing house:
Betty Smith's debut novel is universally regarded as a modern classic. The sprawling tale of an immigrant family in early 20th-century Brooklyn, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is one of the great distinctively American novels.
The Nolan family are first-generation immigrants to the
United States. Originating in Ireland and Austria, their life in the
Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn is poor and deprived, but their sacrifices make it
possible for their children to grow up in a land of boundless opportunity.
Francie Nolan is the eldest daughter of the family. Alert, imaginative and resourceful, her journey through the first years of a century of profound change is difficult - and transformative. But amid the poverty and suffering among the poor of Brooklyn, there is hope, and the prospect of a brighter future.
15. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
About The Great Gatsby, from the publishing house:
Jay Gatsby is the man who has everything. But one thing will always be out of his reach ... Everybody who is anybody is seen at his glittering parties. Day and night his Long Island mansion buzzes with bright young things drinking, dancing and debating his mysterious character. For Gatsby - young, handsome, fabulously rich - always seems alone in the crowd, watching and waiting, though no one knows what for. Beneath the shimmering surface of his life he is hiding a secret: a silent longing that can never be fulfilled. And soon this destructive obsession will force his world to unravel.
Make sure you are not responsible for the death of your local bookshop
Please buy all books from local bookshops. No one wants
to live in a town centre without independent shops. It is in our hands; we can
vote with our purse. There is no need to support online giants when every one
of us can support their own community. You will not find any links in this
article to online shops. This article is purely written out of love for reading
and travelling and understanding different cultures. Make sure you are not
responsible for the death of your local bookshop. It sounds drastic, but let us
face it, it is true.
From Berlin with love