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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The "glories, frustrations, and peculiar appeal" of New York, September 29, 2005
This review is from: New York Stories: The Best of the City Section of the New York Times (Paperback)
On occasion, I read two books at about the same time which are an "odd couple" indeed. For example, this book and Dale Maharidge's Denison, Iowa. As editor, Constance Rosenblum focuses on the "glories, frustrations, and peculiar appeal" of New York City and the same can be said of Maharidge's perspectives on Denison. Although there are many stunning differences between the two cultures, both exemplify the best and worst of what is often referred to as the "American Experience."
With regard to this book, Rosenblum has assembled a selection of articles which first appeared in the Best of the City section in the Sunday edition of the New York Times. In quite different ways, they reveal what she calls "the essence of one of the world's extraordinary places." The material is organized within four Parts: A Sense of Place, Moods and Mores, New Yorkers, and City Lore. Articles are grouped accordingly although several could be included in several of the four. The variety of subjects and points-of-view seem especially appropriate to New York. For example:
In "The House on 11th Street," Mel Gussow reflects back three decades to when young radicals blew up an elegant brownstone house in Greenwich Village, sharing "echoes of the past" which continue to linger.
In "Nothing But Net," Thomas Beller describes "a patch of asphalt" in a West Village playground which seems like an "empty page in the urban landscape" because it needs players "to give it meaning."
In "The Allure of the Ledge," Ivor Hanson explains why the window washer is "the ultimate risk taker, the ultimate voyeur" while "working close to the clouds."
In "The Ballad of Sonny Payne," Steven Kurutz explains why one panhandler on the F Train, "the man with the white beard and gentle eyes," is so popular, indeed loved.
In "My Neighborhood, Its Fall and Rise," Vivian Gornick discusses the West Farms area of the Bronx, "dreary" in the 1950s and "desolate" in the 1970s, which is beginning to recover.
In my opinion, it would be a mistake to assume that only New Yorkers or those who once lived in New York will fully understand and appreciate the material in articles such as these. On the contrary. To be sure, New Yorkers (i.e. residents of any of the five boroughs) have a distinctive style and personality. At least in Manhattan, the pace of most human activities is often frantic. Yes, some people can seem competitive and perhaps confrontational. Throughout almost 50 years, my own experiences suggest that most New Yorkers can be -- and often are -- friendly and helpful when treated with courtesy and respect. That said, they are far more diverse and complicated than facile stereotypes presume to suggest. Nor can any single volume such as this one do full justice to the nature and extent of their shared culture. Credit Rosenblum on her skillful selection of articles. Credit, also, their authors who explore the "glories, frustrations, and peculiar appeal" of a city unlike any other.
Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Writing New York: A Literary Anthology, edited by Phillip Lopate and available in a paperbound edition. Also the aforementioned 110 Stories: New York Writes After September 11 edited by Ulrich Baer, also available in a paperbound edition.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Everyday Life and Life Changing Events, February 9, 2010
This review is from: New York Stories: The Best of the City Section of the New York Times (Paperback)
This is one of the best books for better, but never completely, understanding New York whether you live there or not. Compiled from the City Section of The New York Times, a section which began in 1993 the short, illuminating essays included appeared between 2000 and 2004. The collection covers a fascinating time in the city's history even though its history is interesting all the time. It kicks off with a beautifully written introduction from Constance Rosenblum, the section's editor who reveals her feelings for both the city's environs and inhabitants. The book has four sections; A Sense of Place, Moods and Mores, New Yorkers, and City Lore.
Starting in A Sense of Place, `The House on West 11th Street' is a fine first choice as a New York story telling a brownstone's history that includes its destruction by The Weathermen, its neighbor Dustin Hoffman, and its rebuilding. `The Old Neighbors' essay muses on those who have previously lived in our homes. In Moods and Mores, it was fascinating to hear from a window washer in `The Allure of the Ledge'. Fear, voyeurism, and pride in profession make this an eclectic and engaging piece. This section overall provides a vivid picture of home life in an incredible dense and complex place. The search for an appropriate apartment is a frustrating odyssey revealed in `There's No Place Like Home. But There's...No Place'. Suzanne Vega's pursuit of a driver's license and a bizarre electrical death are other standouts in this section.
People accounts in `New Yorkers' include the fascinating Collyer brothers and some less notable hoarders who made their nests in the city. Fare beaters, panhandlers and other characters are included in the collection. The last section, `City Lore', provided two stories that captured my attention including quest for a sunken British ship and a nurse who cared for the sole survivor of a 1960 plane crash.
New York will continue to produce amazing stories of everyday life and life changing events and for that I am thankful to the city and The New York Times.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Spice of Life, August 23, 2006
This review is from: New York Stories: The Best of the City Section of the New York Times (Paperback)
Welcome to Editor Constance Rosenblum's "New York Stories: The Best of the City Section of the New York Times."
Scattered across four sections, forty stories are poised, waiting to be set free. Free to voice a singular truth. Free to join a chorus of commonality.
From exploding homes, to pickup basketball as culture, readers are spirited to central park: an island of calm amongst a sea of chaos. Then sip latté ala Starbucks that serves up not only foamy caffeine, but also temporary living space for chronically pigeonholed apartment dwellers. Don't look up, as spiraling heights await degree-wielding window washers, while far below, ocean-spawned breakers seduce urban surf hounds shoreward. Nowhere else, but this land of improbable realities, is it feasible to imagine a hopeful, newly licensed driver who could bake her birthday cakes under the combined heat of forty-plus candles.
Readers of all slants may pluck strands from this fabled city's Golden Fleece; yanking urban myths from whispered shadows into unflinching light. Meet the Collyer brothers who appear, not merely as compulsive collectors, but as fellow human beings lured down a tragic path. Pass by the King of Slugs, a man who cheated the subway, but eventually paid in full. Then chance upon an indiscernible man of the streets and discover he has more than a handful of change; he has a name. Finally, after diving for sunken treasure, sit vigil with a young nurse over a boy who, one day, fell from the sky.
New York, larger than life? No. It is life.
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