Customer Reviews

The Subway Chronicles: Scenes from Life in New York

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As a occasional visitor to New York, I've thought of its subway as a transportation necessity moreso than a cultural element of the city, but after reading "The Subway Chronicles", I've got a much deeper perspective. The book is a compilation of short essays by various New Yorkers (or ex-NYers), each offering a different point of view--some historical, some mechanical, some hygenic (or lack thereof), some even poetic, but all personal and all adding a little piece to the big picture--akin to the mosaics that adorn the platform walls in various stations (albeit not to compare with the fabulous artwork in the Moscow subway system, as described by immigrant Boris Fishman.) You'll probably recognize some of the authors--Calvin Trillin for sure, and novelist Jonathan Lethem and others, but many of the essays result from the editor Jacquelin Cangro's successful thesubwaychronicles.com website--launched after an idea germinated at Thanksgiving dinner among friends in and around the publishing business--and as such are written by unpublished or hoping-to-be-published writers. Ms. Cangro has done an admirable job editing and arranging the material--chasing the pace and style of the essays to keep the subject fresh for the reader. The best example of this is when the Fishman's comprehensive essay comparing the history and artistry of the New York and Moscow subways is followed immediately by a short and striking piece featuring an egg salad sandwich.

In addition to learning about the subway and how it affects the people who ride, you'll get a feel for the psyche of the urban dweller--folks who live their life without a car--an unimaginable state of being in the small town or suburban life (or even big city like LA or Houston)that has come to dominate American culture. But even the occasional visitor to New York will recognize him or herself in the essays--many of the authors pay homage of sorts to the tourists, riders oblivious to the nuances, problems or culture of the system, who are just happy to be able to get where they want to go.

The essays in this book are all related to the New York City subway system, but they're all different from each other. So far, my favorite is Tim McGloughlin's "Opening Day," a description of the system from the inside, by an old-timer who really knows it. But there's also Daniels Parseliti's "Porno Man and I versus the Feminist Avenger and Displaced Anger Man," that brims with Generation X irony - and tells an outlandish yet totally believable story. Colson Whitehead's "Subway" is a prose poem that describes the tactile and cognitive experience of subway riding so vividly that every experienced subway rider is sure to identify with it. Jonathan Lethem's "Speak, Hoyt-Schermerhorn" - a complex meditation on a particular station - is, like many of Lethem's essays, a cultural-historical journey.

Though, as I've said, the essays in this book are all different, one overall pattern of difference comes through. The writers in the book who are native to New York tend to write wistful, nostalgic essays about aspects of the Subway that have changed or disappeared. The writers who have come to New York from elsewhere more often focus on bizarre things they witnessed: "Guess what I saw!" This difference in focal point of the essays reflects a difference in the people that I meet personally in New York, as well.

The Subway Chronicles is delightfully entertaining. The book is quick and fun reading for anyone who has ever used mass transit. Subway Chronicles is quite enjoyable and I would definitely recommend it.

This is one of those easy reads that is funny and amuzing at points and overall, if you're from NYC and you trudge through the subways your whole life, you'll appreciate it's wit and humor.

As a diehard New Yorker displaced in South Florida the book brought back many memories. It was an outstanding read! Very Entertaining and Very Well Written.

I take my hat off to the author, great job!