The New City [Import] [Paperback]

Stephen Amidon (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Black Swan; New Edition edition (2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0552999156
• ISBN-13: 978-0552999151
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Stephen Amidon was born in Chicago. He is the author of Subdivision, a book of short stories, and six novels, including The New City and Human Capital, which Jonathan Yardley of the Washington Post chose as one of the five best novels of 2004. His books have been published in sixteen countries, and he is a regular contributor of essays and criticism to newspapers and magazines in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. He lived and worked in London for twelve years before returning to the United States in 1999. The Sublime Engine: A Biography of the Human Heart, which he co-authored with his brother Tom, was released in 2011 and selected by the Wall Street Journal as one of the five best health and medicine titles of the year. Amidon's next book, Something Like The Gods, will be released on June 5th, 2012. For more information, visit stephenamidon.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dramatic failure of a plan for an ideal community, April 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The New City: A Novel (Hardcover)

The New City examines the tenet that people's behaviour and attitudes can be radically altered by the environment in which they live. Newton has been designed to foster harmony between races and discourage crime but this environment cannot overcome the deep-rooted prejudices and suspicion, which once aroused, set the main characters and on a roller-coaster to disaster, and lead the city to the brink of anarchy. The strength of the novel lies in the steady and inevitable build up to the disintegration of the lives of the main characters, brought about by a combination of events and their own distorted perceptions.

The New City is a bleak forecast that the worst of what is primitive in human nature can overcome a civilizing environment. Some of the characters do have better impulses but are not strong enough to overcome them. The book seems to suggest that they never would be but a more optimistic judgement would be that maybe human nature is not yet ready for the New City.

I recommend this book as a thoughtful and, as the story progresses, a compelling read.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing read, especially if you're from suburban Maryland, November 22, 2004

By 

The Courtyard "Dan" (Danielton Manor, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The New City: A Novel (Paperback)

I live about twenty minutes away from Columbia, Maryland, the real "New City," founded in the 1960s by the visionary James Rouse. (In fact, I bought this book there). While this has no bearing on the story, it certainly makes it a more enjoyable read. I would note, however, that you can probably pick out some obvious parallels between the fictional Newton and the real Columbia. Any sucker for detail will be enthralled by Amidon's references to events in the 70s, neighboring communities in Maryland, and his vividly defined characters. However, his thorough writing does not plunge the story into pithy, irrelevant facts - you're given what you need to know and a whole lot more to truly understand the story. I've never seen a white writer do such an excellent job of rendering black characters - or treating his teenage subjects as something more than shallow, blithering idiots. I hope to see this studied in high school English - or even History classes - one day, as it's an excellent time capsule from the summer of 1973.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Novel about seemingly nonfiction events, April 6, 2000

By 

John L. Thompson "A/V Geek" (Sykesville, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The New City: A Novel (Hardcover)

Amidon depicts the city of Newton as a man made utopia of modern society. Which seems rather far fetched, however most of the story is based loosly around the real attitudes and events of real life pseudo utopia of Columbia, MD. The interest level of the book becomes exceedingly high when you know every street that is refered to in the novel and the racial struggles that are still present to this day. The detail of the book does often tangent a little off the main plot line, but is usually brought back in due course. The relationship between as the characters at times seems incestuous, but so are the relationship in the world of Columbia, MD. If you live in suburban Maryland this is a must read, even if you are not the story is intriguing enough to make this hard to put down.