Good Minds Suggest—Alice Hoffman's Favorite Books Set in New York City
Posted by Goodreads on February 3, 2014
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
"I found this novel on my mother's bookshelf when I was 14. After I read it, the world was never the same. This is the novel that had the greatest impact on me as a writer, and the stream of consciousness narration can break your heart. Holden Caulfield is the ultimate New Yorker, and The Catcher in the Rye is a guide to New York City and to life. I still wonder where the ducks go in winter in Central Park."

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
"Perhaps the greatest New York City novel, set in the jazz age, a story replayed again and again in our great city: An outsider with nothing comes to New York with a desire to be somebody, and we watch his rise and fall. Spare, elegant, filled with beauty and sorrow, this is still, after all these years, the ultimate New York City cautionary tale."

Jazz by Toni Morrison
"Set in the '20s in Harlem and written by the greatest living writer, this is a novel of love and despair in which desire leads to murder. The voices of the characters create their own music, a song about race, struggle, passion, and a great city in which lives are braided together to form literary jazz."

Just Kids by Patti Smith
"The rock icon's beautiful memoir recounting her arrival in New York City and wild early days at the Chelsea Hotel, where she seemed to meet everyone who was interesting and innovative. This book brings New York to life—it's tender and tragic, and if you lived through the '60s and '70s, you'll be brought back to your own past as well."

Time and Again by Jack Finney
"A cult time-traveling favorite that could be used as a guidebook for both 1970s and 1882 New York. A love story and a mystery, much of which takes place in the grand Dakota apartment building and in and around Gramercy Park. Finney loved New York City, and it shows. This one is pure New York fun."

Vote for your own favorites on Listopia: Tales of New York City
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Feb 04, 2014 09:08AM

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Other good New York City books: Fever by Mary Beth Keane, Heft by Liz Moore, and Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser.





Enjoyed Jack Finney's time travel books, and want to reread Catcher in the Rye.


Yes! Thanks for reminding me of this wonderful book. Another Pete Hamill New York-centric is Forever.



I have wanted to read, Netherland, I was not interested in Flamethrower because of the cover. But,now I will have to check it out. It terrible I looks at book covers to judge if I read or not.




