If you've never been to New York before, there's no better way to see the Big Apple than through the imagination of an author.
These 15 books tell tales of New York in the days of Jewish tenements, the Beatnik Generation, and modern day Upper East Side affluence.
We consider these books some the greatest New York stories ever told, as they show the city in all its history, culture, grandeur, and disillusion.
Have a suggestion for a great book about New York? Let us know your pick in the comments.
"Breakfast at Tiffany’s" by Truman Capote (1958)
All Capote’s disillusioned character Holly Golightly wants in life is to make a real life place for herself where she feels as at home as she does at Tiffany’s, the place where nothing bad can ever happen to you.
But her luxurious 1940s “American geisha” lifestyle is unraveled, through the eyes of the narrator whom Holly calls “Fred,” and her realization that perhaps her life has no meaning unless she gives up all her frivolity.
"A Visit from the Goon Squad" by Jennifer Egan (2010)
Likely the best book you can read with a chapter told through PowerPoint slides, "A Visit from the Goon Squad" is an often-maddening masterpiece filled with distinctive characters like aging music-exec Bennie and his troubled former bandmate Scotty.
Shifting across decades at seemingly every turn, Egan's novel covers everything from often-idealized 1980s underground cultures to an imagined post-9/11 future.
"Time and Again" by Jack Finney (1970)
Finney's "illustrated novel" contrasts the anxiety of 1970s city life with the relative innocence of New York before the 20th century.
When Si Morley travels from 1970 to 1882, he encounters a world peppered with old New York landmarks like the Dakota apartment building and the titans of industry who dominated the age.
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