Before & After: Stories from New York (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Michael Cunningham, Luc Sante and Jeanette Winterson take their place alongside newcomers Ariele Fierman and Said Shirazi in this collection of new reportage from high-watt literary types and up-and-comers. In the first half, completed just before September 11, Beller (The Sleep-Over Artist) gathers pieces that chronicle everything from kissing a cabdriver in the early hours of New Year's Day or joining a Monday night pool league to a group of poems written by people staying up all night for Chekhov tickets. The feel is definitively late '90s, and the city seems full of promise, romance and cash. The second half is devoted to essays about the attacks: a meditation on the eerie prescience of Don DeLillo's Underworld book jacket (and his oeuvre), Phillip Lopate's brief history of the towers and many first-person testimonials. Nifty graphics introduce each piece by zeroing in on the city neighborhood whence the report issues. While this is at least partly an instant book, the quality of the pieces is consistently high, and they feel authentic throughout. (Feb. 15)Forecast: Beller's high literary journalistic profile he edits Open City in addition to frequent writing for glossies and continued New York interest should convert to brisk sales. Look for Beller to begin doing talk shows as the book becomes the best-available-option for those wanting book-length stylized New York reportage, and for correspondingly increased traffic at www.mrbellersneighborhood.com, where many of the pieces originally appeared.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

Brief and memorable epitomes of the urban encounter—a transporting collection. -- Kirkus Reviews

Brief and memorable epitomes of the urban encounter: a transporting collection. -- Kirkus Reviews

It's a heartbreaker of a book. -- Flakmag.com

It's hard to imagine a more appropriate or more moving collection of voices. -- San Francisco Chronicle

The essays are gorgeous, alternately sad and funny...(a) richly human collection -- Portland Mercury

The quality of these pieces is consistently high, and they feel authentic throughout. -- Publishers Weekly, 21 January 2002

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Mister Beller's Neighborhood (February 17, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393323536
• ISBN-13: 978-0393323535
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #931,666 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Collection, June 12, 2002

By	Damon Coleman (Ann Arbor, Michigan) - See all my reviews

I got this book as a gift and wasn't expecting much from it-I actually thought the whole idea was a bit distasteful. The notion of anyone profiting from Sept. 11th, whether by money or publicity, was abhorrent to me.

I have to admit, though, that I couldn't put the thing down! There are some gems in this collection, many from writers I've never heard of but will certainly be looking out for in the future. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this book turns out to be a collector's item in 20 years when some of the younger writers have made some headway onto the literary map (there are already some big names in here like Jeanette Winterson and Phillip Lopate).

If you don't have the time or the patience to read the whole book (there are about 60 stories in all), I'd suggest at least reading these (I'm referring to my dog-eared personal favorites):

In the Before section, stories by:
-Leelila Strogov
-Jim Merlis
-Maura Kelly
-Snooder Greenberg
-Luc Sante
-Michael Cunningham
-Thomas Beller
-Josh Kramer
-Sabin Streeter
-Josh Gilbert

In the After section, stories by:
-Debra Fontaine
-Charles Waters
-Bryan Charles
-Sam Lipsyte
-Elizabeth Grove
-Amy Brill
-Vince Passaro
-Dorothy Spears
-Joseph Lieber

All in all, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in important, moving, funny, and of course also very sad NY stories, as well as a cross-section of some very fine writing.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bravo Bryan Charles!, September 25, 2002

By	"helganpaul" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

In this excellent collection of New York stories, Bryan Charles's is the standout by far. He describes how a mundane morning at work turned into a nightmare. If you want to know what it was like to be there, this is the story to read. The account of his escape from the Towers will make your heart pound. As time passes and this event takes on even greater historical importance, accademics and general readers alike will look to this story as the primary account of what happened in New York on 9/11.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book!!!, August 7, 2002

By	G. Mardell (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This is a book that shouldn't be missed. These stories are original, funny, smart, lovely, heartbreaking and real. Way to go, Thomas Beller. It's good to see editors who go out of their way to pay attention to the voices of their generation.