Looking for that "exceptional" New Yorker novel
September 22, 2010 9:51 AM Subscribe
I'm looking for a few great novels about New York City
I'm looking for a small list of good novels from a woman's point of view that capture the essence of New York with a special emphasis on New Yorkers.
The first one is a "New Yorker-centric" novel. I'm looking for a showcase of their exceptionalism, their class, their style, their culture, their hauteur with a certain je ne sais quoi.
A great example (in video form) is the episode of "Sex and the City" where Carrie Bradshaw arrives in Paris for a dreamy vacation with Mr. Big and checks into her hotel. The French clerk at the desk looks rather put off and asks, "Are you. . .American?"
She smiles and corrects him, "I'm a New Yorker."
THAT is what I am trying to capture. "American" is not good enough. She's cool. She's stylish. She's special. She's from New York. I'm looking for a novel that blindly embraces this kind of exceptionalism in both overt and subtle ways. A great example of something extremely subtle but even more powerful is a piece I saw just last Sunday on CBS Sunday Morning. A New York couple of Carribean descent (but born in NY) moved to North Carolina because they wanted their two boys to grow up in a safer neighborhood. When they got there (safe and sound) they worried about their kids losing their Latino heritage the source of which was their New York neighborhood thousands of miles away from Latin America. It didn't occur to them that they were not really worried about losing their Latino heritage but their New York heritage. This is a great example of what I call "blind exceptionalism." Blending in with the North Carolina neighborhood or learning about what makes NC different from NY didn't appear to interest them. They were New Yorkers. They were exceptional.
The second kind of book I'm looking for (again from a female perspective) is one that turns the first book upside down. Think "Northern Exposure" and the snotty, "exceptional," Fleischman clashing with the small town mentalities of Cicely, Alaska. Fleischman is not Carrie Bradshaw. Fleishman is a whiny, selfish brat with a sense of entitlement. For this book think "Green Acres" or the movie "Doc Hollywood."
So those are the two kinds of novels I'm looking for: One that embraces the exceptional New Yorker without question or real introspection (feel free to include materialism, the exceptional Central Park, obscure references that nobody outside NY would appreciate like "north of 125th Street" or whatever you think is appropriate) and one that sets up the New Yorker as a foil for small town/midwestern/podunk/back water sensibilities.
We're supposed to like Carrie Bradshaw and be annoyed with Joel Fleischman.
Help me out here, hive mind! What have you got?
I'm looking for a small list of good novels from a woman's point of view that capture the essence of New York with a special emphasis on New Yorkers.
The first one is a "New Yorker-centric" novel. I'm looking for a showcase of their exceptionalism, their class, their style, their culture, their hauteur with a certain je ne sais quoi.
A great example (in video form) is the episode of "Sex and the City" where Carrie Bradshaw arrives in Paris for a dreamy vacation with Mr. Big and checks into her hotel. The French clerk at the desk looks rather put off and asks, "Are you. . .American?"
She smiles and corrects him, "I'm a New Yorker."
THAT is what I am trying to capture. "American" is not good enough. She's cool. She's stylish. She's special. She's from New York. I'm looking for a novel that blindly embraces this kind of exceptionalism in both overt and subtle ways. A great example of something extremely subtle but even more powerful is a piece I saw just last Sunday on CBS Sunday Morning. A New York couple of Carribean descent (but born in NY) moved to North Carolina because they wanted their two boys to grow up in a safer neighborhood. When they got there (safe and sound) they worried about their kids losing their Latino heritage the source of which was their New York neighborhood thousands of miles away from Latin America. It didn't occur to them that they were not really worried about losing their Latino heritage but their New York heritage. This is a great example of what I call "blind exceptionalism." Blending in with the North Carolina neighborhood or learning about what makes NC different from NY didn't appear to interest them. They were New Yorkers. They were exceptional.
The second kind of book I'm looking for (again from a female perspective) is one that turns the first book upside down. Think "Northern Exposure" and the snotty, "exceptional," Fleischman clashing with the small town mentalities of Cicely, Alaska. Fleischman is not Carrie Bradshaw. Fleishman is a whiny, selfish brat with a sense of entitlement. For this book think "Green Acres" or the movie "Doc Hollywood."
So those are the two kinds of novels I'm looking for: One that embraces the exceptional New Yorker without question or real introspection (feel free to include materialism, the exceptional Central Park, obscure references that nobody outside NY would appreciate like "north of 125th Street" or whatever you think is appropriate) and one that sets up the New Yorker as a foil for small town/midwestern/podunk/back water sensibilities.
We're supposed to like Carrie Bradshaw and be annoyed with Joel Fleischman.
Help me out here, hive mind! What have you got?
Ugh, I totally missed the "woman's point of view" thing. It's still a great book, with wonderful female characters, but I'd say the primary character and POV is male.
posted by punchtothehead at 10:02 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by punchtothehead at 10:02 AM on September 22, 2010
"A Tree Grows in Brooklyn"
Trees of Heaven abounded by my house... I always think of this book when I think of New York City.
posted by Debaser626 at 10:03 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Trees of Heaven abounded by my house... I always think of this book when I think of New York City.
posted by Debaser626 at 10:03 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis is a bit dated but might fit. The narrator is male but Mame's escapades are the main focus of the story, which is set in New York from the 1920s to the 1940s. I don't think Mame ever bumps up against non-New Yorkers in a major way, but the story is very much only-in-New-York hijinks.
posted by Quietgal at 10:20 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Quietgal at 10:20 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Time Out's list.
I think Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth is as true to day as it was when she wrote it.
And then there's a question from 2006.
And Dawn Powell's work is always worthwhile.
(Not that I think of Sex and the City as anything but fluff.)
posted by Ideefixe at 10:23 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
I think Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth is as true to day as it was when she wrote it.
And then there's a question from 2006.
And Dawn Powell's work is always worthwhile.
(Not that I think of Sex and the City as anything but fluff.)
posted by Ideefixe at 10:23 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
For number one, there's Thisbe Nissen's The Good People of New York, although it is less a novel than a series of short stories. Miranda, the lead character, definitely has Ideas About Being A New Yorker.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 10:28 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by Snarl Furillo at 10:28 AM on September 22, 2010
Seconding the Dawn Powell suggestion. They're not happy books, but they have great descriptions of New York and New Yorkers.
posted by aspiring polymath at 10:51 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by aspiring polymath at 10:51 AM on September 22, 2010
Suki Kim's The Interpreter. Not an easy book, but very, very good.
Not a novel as such, but you cannot get more New York than the late, great Dr. Mueller.
posted by Capt. Renault at 11:03 AM on September 22, 2010
Not a novel as such, but you cannot get more New York than the late, great Dr. Mueller.
posted by Capt. Renault at 11:03 AM on September 22, 2010
Salman Rushdie's Fury fits the first part of your bill pretty nicely. A great book.
Gary Shteyngart's The Russian Debutante's Handbook and, to a lesser extent, Absurdistan are both terrific modern novels that have to do with the uniqueness of NYC.
posted by Dr. Wu at 11:44 AM on September 22, 2010
Gary Shteyngart's The Russian Debutante's Handbook and, to a lesser extent, Absurdistan are both terrific modern novels that have to do with the uniqueness of NYC.
posted by Dr. Wu at 11:44 AM on September 22, 2010
Some of the voices in Let the Great World Spin (universally and justifiably praised) would fit the bill.
posted by Falconetti at 1:23 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by Falconetti at 1:23 PM on September 22, 2010
I thought The Emperor's Children was very strong on portraying that sort of blind exceptionalism. I think people had a lot of mixed feelings about that book, but in my mind, you're not supposed to like many of the characters, even if you do feel for them.
posted by lillygog at 2:57 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by lillygog at 2:57 PM on September 22, 2010
Looking through this NY Mag list, would Bonfire of the Vanities or Less Than Zero count for exceptionalism? It's been ages since I read Bonfire, and I never read Less Than Zero.
posted by lillygog at 3:12 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by lillygog at 3:12 PM on September 22, 2010
Breakfast at Tiffany's
I thought Slaves of New York was more than a little affected, but YMMV.
Granted, the protagonists are losers, but that's part of what makes NY NY
posted by IndigoJones at 5:00 PM on September 22, 2010
I thought Slaves of New York was more than a little affected, but YMMV.
Granted, the protagonists are losers, but that's part of what makes NY NY
posted by IndigoJones at 5:00 PM on September 22, 2010
Seconding Let the Great World Spin.
Among Other Things, I've Taken Up Smoking is also good, from the perspective of a woman who has come to New York from elsewhere.
Though it is very male, I think Jonathan Lethem's The Fortress of Solitude has a bit of both of the ideas you're looking for.
posted by mlle valentine at 9:04 PM on September 22, 2010
Among Other Things, I've Taken Up Smoking is also good, from the perspective of a woman who has come to New York from elsewhere.
Though it is very male, I think Jonathan Lethem's The Fortress of Solitude has a bit of both of the ideas you're looking for.
posted by mlle valentine at 9:04 PM on September 22, 2010
I'm not a New Yorker and I haven't read many New York novels and certainly not any explicitly woman's POV New York novels, but of the ones I've read, I'd suggest two that approach the themes you mention:
The already noted _Let the Great World Spin_
And
_Manhattan Transfer_
posted by notyou at 11:44 AM on September 23, 2010
The already noted _Let the Great World Spin_
And
_Manhattan Transfer_
posted by notyou at 11:44 AM on September 23, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by punchtothehead at 9:58 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]