The Subway Chronicles: Scenes from Life in New York

by Ken Wheaton, Jacquelin Cangro (Editor)

Some seven million people board the New York City subway every day, each one with a story to tell. The Subway Chronicles collects twenty-seven of the tales, dramas and comedies that unfold during the daily commute. From the “mole people” living in the subway tunnels, to the transit employees working behind the scenes, to the locals and tourists riding shoulder-to-shoulder in harmony, discord, or indifference, The Subway Chronicles offers a kaleidoscope of perspectives on this most public of spaces.Prominent New York writers weigh in:


Jonathan Lethem confesses his childhood subway sins


Colson Whitehead offers mass-transit tips for newcomers to the city


Francine Prose recalls the thrill and apprehension of riding alone as a teenage girl


Calvin Trillin pokes fun at the classic New York tendency to be skeptical about everything


Stan Fischler delights in memories of riding the open-air train cars to Coney Island as a boy


Equal parts hilarious, poignant, and heartbreaking, The Subway Chronicles is a journey into New York’s underground with some of today’s most loved writers.

Genres: Nonfiction, Short Stories, New York, Essays, Anthologies

209 pages, Paperback

First published August 29, 2006

Reviews

[Peter Panic McDaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to get this off my chest; I'm a train nut. My bookmarks folder has many, many links to train sites and I frequently stare at various books on the subject. What's not to like? Big, hulking beasts of machinery. Aah, so poetic and so scary all at the same time.

So to come across this book was a sheer joy for me. Stories about the transit system!!!! Imagine my surprise when a few stories in, I was regaled with dull childhood memories on the F line. Really not what I expected.

Some fine moments of nerdom from Jonathan Lethem who re-piqued my interest in the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station and Stan Foschler who is an amazing MTA biographer. Colson Whitehead's prose was interesting, and perhaps a few others grabbed my attention.

All in all it was kind of fun to read whilst on the Q train, and I learned some interesting facts about the old Coney/Stillwell station, the MTA has 468 stations to accompany their 27 lines, and older model cars had windows that opened.

Waiting for the day when the CTA gets a short story collection or if there is some sort of official book on their history....

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book years ago and finally read it, inspired by a trip home to the Big Apple. There were a few highlights, but also some doldrums... ultimately less than the sum of its parts, and I think probably only of interest to people who are really into New York...or who were, about 15-25 years ago.

[Emi Yoshida · Rating 3 out of 5]

My three favorites from this collection were Vivian Gornick's, Calvin Trillin's (love his writing from the New Yorker), and Jennifer Toth's (I'd read her work on Tunnel People before and am re-fascinated by it now); I don't think it's coincidental that each of their essays runs under 5 pages long.

I found some of the rest of the pieces to be too technical for my liking, and a few others felt to me as if their authors had scraped together every single story they could think of that had anything to do with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and then shoved them onto pages one after the other with little regard for continuity. I would heartily recommend this book to anybody with a specific interest in subway culture, or the history of NYC transit.

[Peacegal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I don’t live in New York, and the closest my city has to a subway is the variety that sells the five-dollar footlongs. So maybe I’m not this book’s intended audience.

The Subway Chronicles is a collection of essays about New York’s famed public transportation system. As can be expected in an anthology with multiple contributors, the results vary widely. Some subway stories are laugh-out-loud funny. Some are poignant. Some are educational. And others are boring, pretentious, and long-winded.

By the time you get to the end of this collection, you may find yourself running out of steam.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe I just liked this book because of how much it made me miss the city. But either way, there are some really good stories in it..

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A terrible collection of stories.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book because my love for New York is overpowering, and my desire to be in New York or think about New York while I am sequestered in Boston for law school is strong. The concept is that a variety of writers tells their subway stories. I like the concept, and I liked some of the stories. My problem was that the concept wore on me over time (there's only so much waxing that can be done about how the subway looks/smells/feels etc.), and, most importantly, there weren't enough really great writers in the collection. Jonathan Lethem's story is good, so is Lucinda Rosenfeld's. And of course Calvin Trillin is ironic and funny. In addition, there were some young, women writers I'd never heard of whose stories I liked: Megan Lyles, Anastasia Ashman, and Elise Juska. I'd pick up the book for that, or if you love New York, but expect a mixed bag, like most collections of this kind.

[Marcy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Such a mixed bag.

Two wonderful stories - Metro Blues, or How I Came to America by Boris Fishman and What I Feared by Elise Jushka are worth seeking out - both well written and entertaining. I plan on looking for other works by both authors.

In the second tier: The First Annual Three-Borough Subway Party by Johnny Temple is entertaining and Porno Man and I Versus the Feminist Avenger and Displaced Anger Man by Daniels Parseliti forces the reader to examine their own tendencies to become callous. Parnassus Underground by Patrick Flynn is also a clever quick read.

The remaining stories I could take or leave (at best), with several leaning towards leave.

Overall, don't bother buying the book. If you can get a hold of the stories I mentioned above, you should - perhaps borrow the book from the library or find the stories online. But really, don't waste your time on the other sub-interesting stories.

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely a short read and an interesting collection of short stories about people on the New York subway. My favorite is "Subway" by Colson Whitehead. I love his way of writing and pretty much everything he said was true!

*Scootch away from the smelly wino. It's just a piece of candy wrapper but no one touches it for fear that it contains the world and so one empty seat on the crowded subway car. Spying an empty seat but when you get there soda sloshes. At the next stop someone sits in it and he feels bad for not warning him but that's no his job really. Realization drains into the man's face as the soda leaks through: now there are too seats wet. A vehicular library. Bibles and bestsellers keep away the other citizens' faces. Newspapers in foreign languages cater to communities.

[Trin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Collection of short essays about the New York City subway. I suspect I would have enjoyed this book more if I’d only read one or two pieces a week—not really feasible with a library book. Many of the essays are interesting, but read cover to cover, the collection becomes extremely monotonous. I also wish more of the writers had taken their essays to the next level: far too many are literally about the subway, with no connections made to larger themes. Really good essays, in my experience, tend to be about more than one thing—they have levels. (There’s a metaphor about the subway running beneath the city streets that I could go for here, but I’m not sure I have the energy.) Even for a book I came to with no expectations, this was underwhelming—not even worth reading to lighten the commute.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories in this collection are far superior to others but overall it is an interesting and fast read. Perfect for reading on the subway, in fact. It's one of those things that people in New York take for granted as a part of daily life, forgetting that most of the rest of the country has no idea what it is like to descend below ground and board a train with a bunch of strangers at least twice a day.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are a real variety of stories in this collection. It's not the collection of freak-out stories you might expect if you started up a conversation of subway stories with a group of friends. Though there are a couple of those.

The one that i found most compelling was Leigh Stolle's 'Transfer.' It moved me and really stuck with me after I read it because she took such a fresh approach and was so nuanced in her story-telling.

[David Jay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like most short story collections, this was very uneven. All of the stories have something to do with the NYC subway system. Some are really wonderful (especially Robert Lanham's 'Straphanger Doppelganger,' Leigh Stolle's 'Transfer,' Yona Zeldis McDonough's 'Under the Skin,' and David Ebershoff's 'Lunch Time.' None of the stories are particularly bad. Most are just OK.

[Pierre · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of essays and observations from some of New York's top writers on one of the unique characteristics that sets New York apart from most major North American cities - the subway. Essays ranged from scary childhood experiences to a failed on-subway party attempt to the rich history that led to the world's first subterranean form of mass transit built over a century ago.

[David Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The shortage of "name" writers may put some off, but this is a neat little collection of essays, best experienced in short bursts, of subway encounters and transit ruminations. A favorite: Leigh Stolle's "Transfer," in which a subway mishap involving her Kansas parents opens a window into their lives.

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories about mass transit systems.
Compilation of themes and authors.

Read this short book over the course of two days sitting in a rocking chair in an art garden in the sun of early summer.

Totally enjoyable.

Grab this book some iced tea (the sweeter the better) and get your brain into this book. So enjoyable!

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful compilation of stories. Like someone else who reviewed this book, I am also a subway nut. The stories we're well written, and this was truly a page turner.

I have always been affected by the subway system as being more then a system of transit, and all these authors seem to be saying the same thing. I learned that many are like me in that respect.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed these little snippets of NYC life. Many of the stories told a memory of growing up and riding the subway as a kid, and many of the stories held a hint of menace. There was a sense of danger throughout most stories, even the joyful ones. Several of them were simply marvelous. However, I have to admit- by the end things were feeling a bit monotonous.

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very clever and smart collection of essays exploring the New York subway system. Considered to be the underground lifeline of the city, the subway is the jumping point for this collection of talented authors weaving memories, reflections, and thoughts about life in the city from underground. If you live in New York, this book is for you.

[Sheehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received this collection of subway-themed short essays as a gift on a trip, was an entertaining read, and about as hit or miss as you would expect from an essay collection.

I opened it because of Colson Whitehead, but found other authors hit their paces in a way more sympathetic to my interests. Calvin Trillin's bit was probably my favorite of the lot of them.

[Doron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though there are a few slight misses, there really isint a boring read in the Subway Chronicles. In fact t most essays are downright fascinating. I recommmend this to anyone interested in what it's like to live in the city or just anyone who is looking for a great quick read.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spending insane amounts of time using the subway system in NYC this summer, I can relate at least in some ways to each of the essays I've read. I got a little bored though and put it down. Maybe, I'll pick up the 2nd half when I get back to Texas

[Marietta · Rating 2 out of 5]

The NYC subway system is, indeed, fertile grounds for any creative person. Unfortunately, only one writer in this collection touched me in any significant way: Encounter by Jessie Koester. A terrible title, but a wonderful story. The writing isn't amazing, though-- the story is.

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am obsessed with the city and reading other people's experiences of the city is always fun. Some of the stories are funny, some give you a spark of recognition, some are a little pretentious, but for a quick read or a pick-up-put-down read, it's entertaining.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A group of themed personal essays having to do with the NYC subway, this collection highlights either a particular time in someone's life, or sketches an era. Some of the essays are forgettable, others leave an imprint. "Encounter" is shockingly vivid.

[meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a NYer, you've lived most of these stories.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short essays about the subway. Fast. Good subway reading!

[Shana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection of essays about the NYC subway system. The best is a sweet and sentimental recollection of trips to Ebbets Field, Coney Island, and Yankee Stadium during the author's youth.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

No collection will please everyone across-the-board, but this one comes close.

[Bruno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book, a must if you live in NYC