I need help finding an old New Yorker Talk of the Town story

November 24, 2014 1:58 PM

You'd think this would be an easy thing to Google, but it's not.

I'm trying to locate a New Yorker story, published in the Talk of the Town section of the magazine probably 3 or 4 years ago. The premise of the story is that the reporter has to make his way across an entire Manhattan city block without ever going outside. He dashes through the back rooms of stores and passes through all sorts of unmarked doors, and finally he does it: he makes it to the other side of the block. From what I recall, it's a really fine example of non-news reporting; totally frivolous but fun to read. If anyone remembers the story in enough detail to find it online, I'd be grateful for a link.

posted by AAAA to Media & Arts (4 answers total)

I remember this! I feel like the reporter had to go through an underground mall or a big department store (Macy's?). (sorry if this isn't helpful.)
posted by Flamingo at 2:35 PM on November 24, 2014

The original Talk piece was written by John Updike in 1956: "Rockefeller Center, Ho! (subscription required)

In 2009, some staffers documented their attempt to retrace Updike's route for the New Yorker website.
posted by neroli at 2:36 PM on November 24, 2014

Some of it can be read in Google Books
posted by Quisp Lover at 2:52 PM on November 24, 2014

Oh, wow. Good job, team. It was the 2009 retrace that I was remembering.
posted by AAAA at 4:01 PM on November 24, 2014