New York has always had a special place in my heart, I've wanted to live there since I was a little girl reading fashion magazines. It seems to be the city where everything happens, things that don't happen anywhere else. It always seemed kind of magical and mysterious, I never knew exactly why I was so intrigued by it, I just was. But reading these books helped me validate my unexplainable feelings for The City and sum up what about it is so incredible and unique.
1. "Sweetbitter" by Stephanie Danler
I will start by saying this is my all time favorite book ever. I have never read a book that so perfectly depicts the brutal love-hate nature of living in a city like New York as a young adult. It somehow explains the unexplainable which is why so many people are so in love with a city that repeatedly throws them down and tries to break them, not through words but through the life of somebody experiencing those feelings firsthand.
2. "An Object Of Beauty" by Steve Martin
This story is based around the competitive and ambitious art scene of New York City, although it can be related to the competitive nature of any industry in New York. It is full of the reality of the difficulty of succeeding in a place and like this, where it takes a special kind of strength to climb the ladder through the social and professional scene.
3. "Breakfast At Tiffany's" by Truman Capote
This is a timeless novel depicting the early days of New York City in the 1950s and 1960s through the eyes of an anonymous writer. His observations revolve especially around one young Manhattan woman who seems to have the city, and everyone in it, at her fingertips. To me, this book is about New York romance, which is not necessarily romance between two people but the romance of living in such a mysterious place full of so much power, confidence and opportunity.
4. "Here Is New York" by E.B. White
Short and sweet this essay-style writing tells observations of the streets of Manhattan itself from a walker passing through. The writing is clean and concise, thought-provoking and full of love for the most interesting city in the world. I read this every few months because first of all, it is short, but second of all it makes me feel like I am in New York. I can see what the narrator sees, and relate to his admiration of the city.
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