Customer Reviews

Apple of My Eye

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

In 1976, Hanff got a job to write copy for a book of photographs of New York City. Beginning her research, she made a list of "Must See" sights, and realized that she'd missed most of them! She'd never been to the Statue of Liberty, or Wall Street, or the Stock Exchange. She'd been to the Cloisters once, many years before, never toured Rockefeller Center, never been to Grant's Tomb. So she enlisted her friend, Patsy Gibbs, and the two of them spent two months doing the things tourists do in New York City.

However, this is not a guidebook. It's written from the point of view of a longtime resident, and is as much about the people as the sights. Hanff minces no words when she disapproves of something (the loss of Central Park land for additions to the Metropolitan Museum, the soullessness of theTrump Tower), but you'll be in no doubt about the things she loves, either (the Statue of Liberty, the skyline and so much else). The East Side/West Side split is analyzed and explained ("East Siders are conventional and proper, part of the Establishment and in awe of it -- which God knows, and God be thanked, West Siders are not."). She revels in the city's diversity ("And you won't believe it, but on Allen Street there's a Kosher Chinese restaurant where the Chinese waiters wear yarmulkas.") She acknowledges the bloody history behind the fortunes (Frick, Morgan, Rockefeller) that nevertheless contributed so much to the ordinary people of the city, those whom John D. Rockefeller III called "the many".

Times change and cities change, though, and it's amusing to read about the shocking "suggested contribution" at the Cloisters: $1.75. The Met and the Cloisters are now charging $15 (though one payment will get you in to both if you're crazy enough to try to see them on the same day), and the Museum of Modern Art wants $20 from you if you want to enter its lovely new building. The edition I read is, in fact, a later one, published in 1988, and Hanff notes a number of changes in several "P.S." chapters. (Sadly, Gibbs had died of breast cancer several years before this edition.)

Hanff admits it when she's wrong about something, too. She had gloomily predicted that damage to Central Park from a subway excavation would never be repaired. It was, with no scars.

Even if you can walk to Zabar's in your sleep, you'll find something you didn't know about NYC in Hanff's book.

This book could be considered out of date in some circles but major landmarks have changed and with all of the changes in NYC since the destruction of the WTC, it is also now a look into NYC's history.

Helene Hanff wrote this book in 1976 when the WTC was still coming up, still being developed. The Top of the Tower Restuarant was "The Talk of the Town!" Over the past 28 years or so it has not only a wonderful tour guide; but for those of us who have never walked the streets of NYC or took the elevator to the 115th floor of the WTC to see the City this a book of pure vision.

Helene Hanff reminds you to never look back at NYC when you are going out to the Statute of Liberty, you'll have plenty enough time to see it on the way back. It seems Her Majesty's beauty should be gazed upon until you etch every detail of her graceful,nurturing, beauty into your mind.

A must read for anyone going to New York City for site seeing, or thinking about writing a book about your own hometown. Helene Hanff's flow of words are perfection and her use of adjectives second to none. A must read for young writers. You are bound to learn something; even if it is where to find the best local hangouts for lunch on a Sunday 12:00 NOON!

The paper back cover colours and of course authors name leapt out at me instantly and as it was on the bargain counter I had to have. It proved to be a great favourite of mine and many others in the few months of owning it. It was only a few months as the last borrower has never returned it ! This was four and a half years ago and I still greave for that book. That is the impact that one short but extreemly well written guide book has had on me . The wit and beautifully descriptive chapters giving an alternative side for the would- be tourist in New York shines through. She loved her city "warts an all". and the lovely 'asides' such as the characters that live around and/or frequent the Central Park region (whom we are never likely to meet) makes it all the more attractive and appealing to the readers. Helen wrote a tourist guide for the city hoping that her perception of this vibrant and often exotic Metropolis would attract and impress the visitor. It has in this readers 'eye' for I hope to spend a few days there shortly while holidaying in the States later this summer.

Strangely enough, I think you'll enjoy this most AFTER your return from your New York vacation. Hanff's gossipy, insider's perspective may not make complete sense to someone not familiar with the sites she details, but it's a complete treat for someone who has just discovered them. Hanff, incidentally, is the author of 84, Charing Cross Road, a real classic for literature lovers.

I read this book in hardback more than 20 years ago, when I was a wee tot (comparatively speaking). I had spent one day in New York, and I brought the book back as a souvenir. It immediately gave me ideas for what to see when I returned. The book is especially poignant after 9/11, but the city is as great as ever. A great way to taste the excitement of New York--and not just its big public spaces, but its smaller, more intimate ones too.

A pleasant little read providing delicious tidbits of information on the city that never sleeps. A native New Yorker, Helene Hanff sets out to rediscover her city so to write a tour book. Her love for the city is renewed as was mine. Sadly, Helene Hanff passed away in 1997. The book was last updated in 1980 so its still a bit outdated. Nevertheless very lovely, reminiscent, and timeless. It is easy to read and will provide you with a little bit of lore not found in guide books. It is not a comprehensive or indepth look at the city. In fact it is quite fragmented and simplistic. It reads more like an adventure story than a guide book. It is fun to read, full of dry humor, and it gives the reader enough taste of the apple to satisfy. Besides, NY city is much too big of a place to cover it all in one book. For those who are madly in love with NY, whether as a visitor or a native, this book is a must.

There remain at least two good reasons to read this out-of-date excursion to Manhattan.

One is Helene Hanff, an opinionated woman whose opinions retain their vivacity years after her death. For example, whether you agree or not about her wrath at the Metropolitan Museum's encroachment on Central Park, the fact of that remains.

The other is related to the first but independent. This book captures Manhattan at a moment - as it happened the bicentennial year which was also the year the city's finances collapsed. Since then, the World Trade Center has been forced to become an American symbol. It is curious to note how little it was admired, by Miss Hanff, when it was new. (I was there only once but tend to share her opinion.)

There are other examples of how fast things change. In fact, this book was updated in 1988, and Hanff mentioned - as a point in Manhattan's favor despite her disgust about the Met - that it never remained still, although its essence endures. "No other city on earth has such a mania for tearing down the old to build the new - which I approve of."

Since she is most noted as a bibliophile, what she noticed most were the changes in the big bookstores. There have been many changes on that score since. Another, to a recent visitor, would be the explosion in the number of museums. She counted 42. There are more now. It is unfortunate that the best of the new ones - in some ways the best of them all - was not there for her to write about; her opinions of the East Side Tenement Museum would, no doubt, have been piquant.

Since this book is not a guide, it makes no gesture to being comprehensive. Hanff cannot be dull, but "Apple of My Eye" is a good deal less charming than "84, Charing Cross Road." That volume grew organically and thus reflected Hanff's lively personality in an unforced way.

This volume was forced - a spinoff from a commission to write captions for a bicentennial picture book - and suffers from it. In particular, the unifying theme is the story of two middle-aged Manhattanites determinedly visiting the tourist sites that New Yorkers never go to, and not only Grant's Tomb. But the girlish inability to read maps, find things in plain sight or find a place to eat becomes wearingly cute after a while.

Come on. They're New Yorkers. New Yorkers don't have those sorts of problems in real life.

Great book about my favorite city! Makes you want to hop the next plane! A fun, non-traditional approach to a tour book to be read even if you're not on the walking tour. Makes you crave a...the "Big Apple"!

While dated, this is a very affectionate look at New York from someone learning what they thought they knew but didn't really. And while ostensibly doint this work to help others see New York more clearly, the author/protagonist comes to appreciate what they find essentuially wonderful about the city.

I am a Helene fan, so I like whatever she writes, but if this doesn't make you smile now and then, nothing will.