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Triburbia
Karl Taro Greenfeld, author of the acclaimed memoir Boy Alone, delivers a stylish first novel about a group of families in a fashionable Manhattan neighborhood wrestling with the dark realities of their lives.
A book reminiscent of Tom Rachman’s The Imperfectionists and Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad, Greenfeld’s Triburbia is a bold literary tour de force in which the author renders New York City’s vibrant and affluent Tribeca neighborhood as a living breathing, character, much like Armistead Maupin did with San Francisco in his acclaimed Tales of the City. Winner of the PEN/O Henry Prize, Greenfeld dazzles as a debut novelist, marking the beginning of a brilliant career in long-form literary fiction.
A book reminiscent of Tom Rachman’s The Imperfectionists and Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad, Greenfeld’s Triburbia is a bold literary tour de force in which the author renders New York City’s vibrant and affluent Tribeca neighborhood as a living breathing, character, much like Armistead Maupin did with San Francisco in his acclaimed Tales of the City. Winner of the PEN/O Henry Prize, Greenfeld dazzles as a debut novelist, marking the beginning of a brilliant career in long-form literary fiction.
253 pages, Paperback
First published September 13, 1995
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About the author
Karl Taro Greenfeld
26 books84 followersI'm the author of six books, including the recent novel Triburbia, the story collection NowTrends, the memoir Boy Alone and the Japanese youth culture collection Speed Tribes
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 243 reviews
June 5, 2012
It almost takes an act of courage to write about very rich characters these days – particularly when they’re not only rich but also vapid. Any author who tries runs the risk of having his or her characters labeled “unlikeable.”
And indeed, these Tribeca neighbors – a sound engineer, a sculptor, a top chef and so on -- are not the most likeable characters in the world. In one of the stories, a group of friends twirls up “the best stoner munchie in the history of the world: pasta with caviar and truffles”, as one plaintively asks, “Something will (expletive) it up. The ozone layer or something. Something will ruin the fun.”
Life does conspire to ruin the fun. A sound engineer bears an uncanny resemblance to a child molester whose face appears on a number of flyers. A memoirist is being pursued for fabricating stories. (He tries to explain, “Personal memoir had always been an impressionistic rather than factual genre.”) Affairs and accidents and betrayals occur and dreams are shattered occur over the course of one single school year.
The headline of each story is a Tribeca address (such as 65 Hudson). And the writing is often strong and intriguing (“It had become a mounting disappointment to Brick that the woman he was having an affair with looked so much like his wife.”) As a reader, I wanted to see more linkage between the characters; they all stood alone and that may well be the point. But it would have been more satisfying had the individual stories been more closely connected.
Interestingly, I read Triburbia directly after reading another book that focused on neighbors – Juliet in August – which delved deep into the hopes and disappointments of those in a small Canadian town. Perhaps, due to that unfortunate juxtaposition, I wanted more from Triburbia – a greater sense of introspection and growth, a deeper sense of character development. I’m torn between 3 and 4 stars.
And indeed, these Tribeca neighbors – a sound engineer, a sculptor, a top chef and so on -- are not the most likeable characters in the world. In one of the stories, a group of friends twirls up “the best stoner munchie in the history of the world: pasta with caviar and truffles”, as one plaintively asks, “Something will (expletive) it up. The ozone layer or something. Something will ruin the fun.”
Life does conspire to ruin the fun. A sound engineer bears an uncanny resemblance to a child molester whose face appears on a number of flyers. A memoirist is being pursued for fabricating stories. (He tries to explain, “Personal memoir had always been an impressionistic rather than factual genre.”) Affairs and accidents and betrayals occur and dreams are shattered occur over the course of one single school year.
The headline of each story is a Tribeca address (such as 65 Hudson). And the writing is often strong and intriguing (“It had become a mounting disappointment to Brick that the woman he was having an affair with looked so much like his wife.”) As a reader, I wanted to see more linkage between the characters; they all stood alone and that may well be the point. But it would have been more satisfying had the individual stories been more closely connected.
Interestingly, I read Triburbia directly after reading another book that focused on neighbors – Juliet in August – which delved deep into the hopes and disappointments of those in a small Canadian town. Perhaps, due to that unfortunate juxtaposition, I wanted more from Triburbia – a greater sense of introspection and growth, a deeper sense of character development. I’m torn between 3 and 4 stars.
November 1, 2012
Sometimes if I see a crowd of seemingly disparate people together at a restaurant, a sporting event, or other group function, I try to imagine their connections to each other, even invent backstories for them. It's an entertaining way to pass the time, and it often proves how what you perceive is often far from reality.
Karl Taro Greenfeld's Triburbia is a literary version of the same exercise. This book of linked stories examines a group of residents of the Tribeca neighborhood in New York City, generally over the course of one school year, although a few stories are flashbacks. It's an interesting and captivating look at a group of fathers who get together each morning for breakfast at a local coffee shop after taking their children to school, as well as their wives, mistresses, and children. To those outside looking in, many of these people seem to have it all, but when you look closely at their lives, you realize they have many of the same struggles as everyone else.
There's the sound engineer who realizes he looks like the police sketch of an alleged sex offender who has plagued their neighborhood, the sculptor torn between two women and lamenting his willingness to give up his dreams, the philandering playwright who discovers his relationship with his wife improves once he moves out of the house, the famed memoirist who finds himself accused of fabricating his books, even the Jewish gangster who can fix any problem except helping his daughter win over the lead mean girl in elementary school. And those are just a few of the characters Greenfeld vividly depicts.
Interestingly enough, most of the descriptions of Triburbia I saw prior to reading the book made a minor mention of the linked stories concept, so I was surprised as I began reading it. But although it took a while for Greenfeld to begin connecting the characters, once he did, my only criticism was that some of the stories seemed too short, and I wanted to learn more about the characters' lives.
This book was a tremendously fast and enjoyable read, and Greenfeld is a very talented writer who was able to shift narrative voice from character to character very easily. This is one of those novels that captivate but don't wow you, although when you're finished you realize you enjoyed it more than you thought.
Karl Taro Greenfeld's Triburbia is a literary version of the same exercise. This book of linked stories examines a group of residents of the Tribeca neighborhood in New York City, generally over the course of one school year, although a few stories are flashbacks. It's an interesting and captivating look at a group of fathers who get together each morning for breakfast at a local coffee shop after taking their children to school, as well as their wives, mistresses, and children. To those outside looking in, many of these people seem to have it all, but when you look closely at their lives, you realize they have many of the same struggles as everyone else.
There's the sound engineer who realizes he looks like the police sketch of an alleged sex offender who has plagued their neighborhood, the sculptor torn between two women and lamenting his willingness to give up his dreams, the philandering playwright who discovers his relationship with his wife improves once he moves out of the house, the famed memoirist who finds himself accused of fabricating his books, even the Jewish gangster who can fix any problem except helping his daughter win over the lead mean girl in elementary school. And those are just a few of the characters Greenfeld vividly depicts.
Interestingly enough, most of the descriptions of Triburbia I saw prior to reading the book made a minor mention of the linked stories concept, so I was surprised as I began reading it. But although it took a while for Greenfeld to begin connecting the characters, once he did, my only criticism was that some of the stories seemed too short, and I wanted to learn more about the characters' lives.
This book was a tremendously fast and enjoyable read, and Greenfeld is a very talented writer who was able to shift narrative voice from character to character very easily. This is one of those novels that captivate but don't wow you, although when you're finished you realize you enjoyed it more than you thought.
May 21, 2015
This is an episodic novel about thirty-something inhabitants of Tribeca, men representing the better-earning end of the American creative class - mostly affluent, sometimes successful, invariably deluding themselves.
This was not a pleasant book to read, but mostly due to content, not any technical deficiencies. Greenfeld may be to some degree sympathetic towards his characters, but mostly he shows them tough love, exposing their weaknessess with reporter's precision, looking at them from angles one is usually incapable of looking from at oneself. Drug abuse; self-justification; willing blindness to one's own and other people's misdemeanours and character flaws which might turn disastrous in the long run; conspicuous consumption; vanity. These are not only things we are all capable of, but - worse - we _would like_ to be guilty of them if only we could afford it.
One of my main thoughts when reading this novel was how lucky I am not to be one of Greenfeld's characters. What would his angle be on me? Money? Unfulfilment? The fact that 'those who can't do, teach'? There surely is something.
This was not a pleasant book to read, but mostly due to content, not any technical deficiencies. Greenfeld may be to some degree sympathetic towards his characters, but mostly he shows them tough love, exposing their weaknessess with reporter's precision, looking at them from angles one is usually incapable of looking from at oneself. Drug abuse; self-justification; willing blindness to one's own and other people's misdemeanours and character flaws which might turn disastrous in the long run; conspicuous consumption; vanity. These are not only things we are all capable of, but - worse - we _would like_ to be guilty of them if only we could afford it.
One of my main thoughts when reading this novel was how lucky I am not to be one of Greenfeld's characters. What would his angle be on me? Money? Unfulfilment? The fact that 'those who can't do, teach'? There surely is something.
September 3, 2012
Just a week or so ago I reviewed Motherland, a satirical exploration of parenthood and relationships in upper class Brooklyn. Triburbia is set just across the East River in Manhattan with a near identical premise and unfortunately I didn't enjoy this novel any more than I did the other.
Loosely connected by business, relationships or simply the school run, the men of Triburbia, whose creative professions allow them some flexibility, meet casually over breakfast to discuss film, sports and politics. Beginning with the Sound Engineer (113 North Moore), Greenfield reveals the histories of this group of men that includes a sculptor, a film producer, a writer, a career criminal, and the wives and daughters who share their lives.
With a mixture of first and third person narratives, it's disconcerting to start a chapter with a new character that has no identity except for an address and a profession. I was never entirely sure who was speaking, surprised once or twice to find it was a wife or even a daughter interjecting into the narrative. More properly a series of vignettes rather than a novel Triburbia has a disjointed feel, with no sure direction, though Greenfield does bring things full circle eventually.
There are one or two characters than inspire some sympathy, the father struggling with doing his best by his autistic son and the man who lost his first love and to his sister for example, but largely these men are shallow and self involved, fretting over real estate values, sex and social status. After the first few introductions, these men - their concerns and their ambitions - are all too similar. While Greenfield's observations may be wryly accurate they lack the insight I hoped for.
The wives are almost uniformly distant from their husbands, busy with work, childcare or in the case of at least one mother, an extensive drug habit. The vignettes that introduce the daughters of these men - the precocious, status aware Cooper and the ambitious Sadie in particular are a more interesting commentary on parenting in the enclave of the affluent.
I was perhaps more interested in the evolution of the Tribeca neighborhood than its residents. A once bohemian community full of shabby artist studios and warehouses the influx of wealthy financial types ordering "...renovations as vast and grand in scale as the construction of ocean liners..." ensure Tribeca is home to New York's newest millionaires. Still, a few artists remain like the puppeteer turned repairman (47 Lispenard) one of the lucky few in rent controlled loft spaces who by default is now privy to quality public schools for his children and a social status he cannot afford.
Greenfield, a resident of Tribeca, seems to have mined his own personal background for character inspiration and I suspect that his neighbours may also some recognise themselves within the pages of Triburbia. While I am sure the inhabitants of New York will delight in this portrait of their neighborhood, despite being largely unflattering, I suspect it will have little cultural relevance or interest outside of its environs.
August 27, 2012
It’s not often that I’m truly saddened by reaching the last page of a book, but that was the case with Triburbia. Karl Taro Greenfeld has so winningly introduced me to the well-to-do residents of Tribeca, made me privy to their private thoughts, hopes and aspirations that I’m reluctant to let them go. I’ve spent just a brief time with them - the space of a school year.
These folks are a photograph album of Tribeca once it becamee one if not the most fashionable neighborhood in New York City. It’s 2008 and there
s a creeping uneasiness - the financial crisis has not yet occurred. We meet a disparate group of fathers who gather for coffee after walking their privileged offspring to school. Were it not for the common neighborhood and their children they probably wouldn’t give each other the time of day.
The men are identified by street addresses - for instance, 113 North Moore is the home of a 37-year-old half-Chinese, half-Causasian sound engineer. He describes his neighborhood as “a prosperous community. Our lofts and apartments are worth millions. Our wives vestigially beautiful. Our renovations as vast and grand in scale as the construction of ocean liners.”
As we’ve oft heard money does not buy happiness. In his case when some believe a child molester is in the area, flyers are made, tacked everywhere, and the photo looks very much like him. One of his daughters, Cooper, is the cruelest 4th grader to be found. She relishes excluding other girls from her circle, not allowing them to play jump rope with the chosen few.
This tactic so destroys the daughter of Rankin. a Jewish gangster who lives at 57 Warren Street, that she constantly weeps. He’s able to frighten most grown men but does not know what to do about Cooper, finally deciding to give a sizable donation so a Hebrew school can be built for his daughter to attend.
There is, of course, the husband who is having an affair with a neighbor’s wife, a nanny who quickly learns how to get the money she needs to go to college, a successful memorist whose writing turns out to be a product of his fertile imagination, and so it goes. Each resident is not only parcel and part of that neighborhood but also of an era.
Insightful, compassionate and punctuated with black wit Triburbia has let us share a fascinating world. Don’t miss it.
- Gail Cooke
November 20, 2012
This book was a Vanity Fair article turned into a book, so it was good in that kind of way (you have to like celebrity/lifestyles of the rich and almost famous). Ultimately, it was like eating too much Halloween candy, kind of gross and not very satisfying.
February 17, 2023
This novel is written as a collection of what could be called short stories but are more like portraits of different individuals living in Tribeca. Most are affluent due to luck or circumstance, and some are not very likable, but they are all believable. The careful reader is rewarded as characters from earlier chapters intsect with those featured in later chapters.
July 13, 2017
Liked it for all the reasons Melissa knew I would!
October 12, 2019
I liked it, but probably for the setting and writing and less for the story. The story is pretty bare, with each chapter changing POVs and never really feeling finished. It's set in Tribeca, where I walk through to/from work, which was the best part - as I felt connected that way.
Quick read.
Quick read.
May 16, 2024
A lot of eyebrow raising moments and not in a good way
September 1, 2024
A quick literary read where absolutely nothing happens.
August 27, 2013
Un livre chorale qui met en scène une galerie de portrait de new yorkais habitant le quartier de Tribeca, plutôt aisés par rapport à la moyenne, ils se croisent devant l'école de leurs enfants et se retrouvent pour certains autour d'un café. Plus qu'un roman, cela pourrait être plutôt un recueil de nouvelles puisque chaque chapitre met en scène l'un des personnages du livre, soit à travers sa jeunesse, soit à travers son métier ou son quotidien. Beaucoup de points communs entre ces hommes, la réussite, l'univers artistique ou "pseudo artistique" dans lequel ils gravitent, l'argent, l'importante de leur place dans le microcosme du quartier …
C'est une caricature d'une certaine amérique et de la société actuelle particulièrement acérée. Tous ont connu leurs heures de gloire à un moment donné mais ce statut social commence à s'estomper et l'on assiste un peu au "déclin de l'empire américain". Il suffit d'un grain de sable pour détraquer la machine bien huilée de la réussite et de la position sociale. J'ai trouvé l'approche de l'auteur vraiment intéressante et beaucoup aimé la façon dont il fait évoluer ses personnages. Ceux-ci ne sont pas franchement sympathiques, plutôt décevants et désabusés en tant que personne et malgré tout j'ai pris beaucoup de plaisir à suivre leurs questionnements et leurs doutes. Certains sont ambitieux, d'autres donnent l'impression d'être arrivés où ils sont par hasard, au gré de leurs rencontres et des aléas de la vie, encore étonnés de la tournure de leur existence. Du coup j'aurai aimé en apprendre un peu plus, j'ai eu l'impression de rester en surface par moment et j'ai trouvé que l'auteur n'allait pas suffisamment au fond des choses et de la psychologie des personnages. C'est le point négatif de ma lecture. Ce manque de profondeur est sans doute dû à la construction du livre, un chapitre par protagoniste ne laisse pas beaucoup de place à un développement poussé de son histoire … L'ensemble reste malgré tout intéressant et je ne me suis pas ennuyée à ma lecture ; on prend plaisir à suivre chacun des personnages à travers les méandres de sa vie.
Je n'ai pas fait de recherche sur l'auteur pour l'instant mais j'ai trouvé sa façon de traiter le sujet plutôt "journalistique", avec l'impression de lire une chronique sociale. Le style de l'auteur est fluide, direct, agréable à lire et il va à l'essentiel. J'ai beaucoup apprécié ma lecture.
C'est une caricature d'une certaine amérique et de la société actuelle particulièrement acérée. Tous ont connu leurs heures de gloire à un moment donné mais ce statut social commence à s'estomper et l'on assiste un peu au "déclin de l'empire américain". Il suffit d'un grain de sable pour détraquer la machine bien huilée de la réussite et de la position sociale. J'ai trouvé l'approche de l'auteur vraiment intéressante et beaucoup aimé la façon dont il fait évoluer ses personnages. Ceux-ci ne sont pas franchement sympathiques, plutôt décevants et désabusés en tant que personne et malgré tout j'ai pris beaucoup de plaisir à suivre leurs questionnements et leurs doutes. Certains sont ambitieux, d'autres donnent l'impression d'être arrivés où ils sont par hasard, au gré de leurs rencontres et des aléas de la vie, encore étonnés de la tournure de leur existence. Du coup j'aurai aimé en apprendre un peu plus, j'ai eu l'impression de rester en surface par moment et j'ai trouvé que l'auteur n'allait pas suffisamment au fond des choses et de la psychologie des personnages. C'est le point négatif de ma lecture. Ce manque de profondeur est sans doute dû à la construction du livre, un chapitre par protagoniste ne laisse pas beaucoup de place à un développement poussé de son histoire … L'ensemble reste malgré tout intéressant et je ne me suis pas ennuyée à ma lecture ; on prend plaisir à suivre chacun des personnages à travers les méandres de sa vie.
Je n'ai pas fait de recherche sur l'auteur pour l'instant mais j'ai trouvé sa façon de traiter le sujet plutôt "journalistique", avec l'impression de lire une chronique sociale. Le style de l'auteur est fluide, direct, agréable à lire et il va à l'essentiel. J'ai beaucoup apprécié ma lecture.
December 21, 2023
This is my fist time reading Karl Taro Greenfield; in all honesty, I chose this book by it's cover (meaning the cover art as well as the dust jacket synopsis) during a very lucrative trip to the library. I have to say that Athens-Clarke County Library kills LA Central when it comes to new fiction, although it pales in comparison when it comes to fiction more than ten years old: pity and revelation at the same time.
Triburbia is a rapid read, definitely not brain surgery, but in spite of being very straightforward, Taro Greenfield does a superb job of winding plots together and making his characters lives intertwine fluidly. Of particular note, this story has a great deal of justice in it, by which I mean that situations that most authors avoid rectifying (whether to pull at the heart/remorse strings, or to appear 'deep,' 'intense,' and 'realistic') are permitted to play out in a way that satisfies one's need for justice when characters are wronged. I found myself hoping characters who had been badly treated would get their revenge, and Taro Greenfield lets that happen in a very satisfying and moving way.
My only complaint is that some of the plot wrap-ups are disappointing, specifically Mark's, but overall, I would definitely suggest it and will be checking out his other works.
Triburbia is a rapid read, definitely not brain surgery, but in spite of being very straightforward, Taro Greenfield does a superb job of winding plots together and making his characters lives intertwine fluidly. Of particular note, this story has a great deal of justice in it, by which I mean that situations that most authors avoid rectifying (whether to pull at the heart/remorse strings, or to appear 'deep,' 'intense,' and 'realistic') are permitted to play out in a way that satisfies one's need for justice when characters are wronged. I found myself hoping characters who had been badly treated would get their revenge, and Taro Greenfield lets that happen in a very satisfying and moving way.
My only complaint is that some of the plot wrap-ups are disappointing, specifically Mark's, but overall, I would definitely suggest it and will be checking out his other works.
August 6, 2012
I went into this book figuring I could nod like an insider (granted a B&T insider, but still) about locations in and around Tribeca while simultaneously loathing Greenfeld's characters, his book, and possibly Greenfeld himself. I did dislike all-- literally ALL--of the characters, but I was so drawn in to most of their stories that the dislike didn't really matter, and it did not extend to Greenfeld either. Greenfeld spot-on captured the essence of a particular neighborhood, at a particular time, during a particular economy and did so without actually having a particularly compelling thread running throughout and without the hipster smugness I was expecting (and looking forward to heckling). I think this book succeeds as a collection of related short stories, rather than as a capital N novel. Considered as a novel, I would have edited out the memoirist's story. It felt stuck on at the end. Read as a short story, though, that section works. Greenfeld might have tried a little too hard to interrelate the stories, making connections that the other characters were not necessarily aware of, but he did it so well that it was not distracting. Locating each of the stories on the map of where they lived was the perfect touch.
A happy surprise for my weekend.
A happy surprise for my weekend.
July 19, 2014
Many of the reviews of this book state “I wanted to like this book but I couldn't.” My response was the opposite. I wanted to hate and dismiss this book but I couldn't put it down. The story captures a specific place, time and mindset. The characters and events are at times objectionable. While their circumstances were far from my experiences, their humanity and emotions were often familiar. The characters were painted in “slice of life” scenes in a way that reminded me of some of my favorite Ann Tyler reads. It’s not a great book but it may be a great escape into another world of other people’s lives. The parents dropping their children off to school, men having morning coffee, the adolescent habits carried into adulthood, the concern and worries when it come to their children expose the privileged residents of Tribeca as people similar to those near us. As the reader being exposed to the secrets that these characters keep from one another, I wonder about the secrets of the people in my less glamorous neighborhood and am content to not know.
July 4, 2013
A group of Tribeca fathers that have breakfast together after dropping their kids off at an elementary school makes up the cast of characters in this novel. Triburbia is built like a set of merging short stories and depicts these rather unlikeable (for the most part) men and their problems with relationships, families, and their careers, layered over with the changes happening in the neighbourhood.
Karl Taro Greenfeld has hit a high mark with this first novel. It is engaging and hits some important issues (bullying, infidelity, journalistic shenanigans, etc) without being preachy. His description of the relationships (or lack thereof) between these men seems spot on.
This book is definitely worth hanging in there for a while if the disconnectedness of the initial chapters is off-putting. It is ultimately satisfying.
Karl Taro Greenfeld has hit a high mark with this first novel. It is engaging and hits some important issues (bullying, infidelity, journalistic shenanigans, etc) without being preachy. His description of the relationships (or lack thereof) between these men seems spot on.
This book is definitely worth hanging in there for a while if the disconnectedness of the initial chapters is off-putting. It is ultimately satisfying.
October 8, 2013
Solid 3. Totally fun, well written, familiar characters for anyone who has spent time in NYC (esp. 2007-9). I could easily see this as an HBO miniseries or a movie. Not deep or especially literary, but certainly an enjoyable read.
August 12, 2012
4.5 stars..loved this book..wonderful writing. The way the stories of the characters were woven together was excellent.
April 24, 2013
Very knowledgeable writer, fine storyteller. I am interested in the neighborhoods of Manhattan so I found it very revealing and contemporary.
Read
August 15, 2014I'm not abandoning this one because it's bad; it's not. I'm just not feeling compelled to keep going and I have a stack of others I'd rather get to.
September 22, 2019
There is a sentence near the beginning of “Triburbia” that perfectly sums up most of the characters contained within its pages. “We are a prosperous community. Our lofts and apartments are worth millions. Our wives vestigially beautiful. Our renovations are as vast and grand in scale as the construction of ocean liners, yet we regularly assure ourselves that our affluence does not define us. We are better than that. Measure us by the books on our shelves, the paintings on our walls, the songs on our iTunes playlists, our children in their secure little school. We live in smug certainty that our taste is impeccable, our politics correct, our sense of outrage at the current regime totally warranted.”
In other words, these people are and want to be defined only by exterior measures – only by their possessions and not at all by the quality of person they are. They are so incredibly entitled that even when they have everything, feel the desire to have even more or even better – and when their actions then cause them to lose something they had but didn’t value until then – the fault is never theirs.
The children of these smug adults are hardly better. “Cooper was a pretty little brunette, big round eyes, perfect nose that if it wasn’t god-given you would have said came from Park Avenue, big lips, a gorgeous smile, slender, the kind of kid you saw in Gap ads or in brochures for new condominiums that wanted to appear family-friendly. Rankin had seen enough of her to know she was a killer – he knew that an eight-year-old who is aware of her looks and social magnetism, and is willing to use them to take down other girls, can be harder to fight than cancer.”
These characters are so self-involved and so pretentious that it’s hard to keep one’s eyes from rolling while reading. I had to put the book down several times because I could only take so much navel gazing at one sitting.
One of the characters, who is basically James Frey under slightly different circumstances (which I found a very odd choice), faces the consequences of years of lying for his own benefit. His choices, his actions. And yet he still feels sorry for himself, still thinks he deserves sympathy. “It seemed so unfair that anything this bad should happen to me while I had just suffered the misfortune of having a developmentally disabled son. Where was the justice in that?” He thinks that bad things HAPPEN to him – but all the good things in his life were his own making, that he deserves all of the good fortune and should never be subjected to the bad.
Beyond the incredibly annoying and unsympathetic characters, “Triburbia” does contain some modern day insight that I found funny. “On the way to school, Rankin saw the smug bastard and his cute little kids. With his long hair, the expensive-looking coat, the fancy sneakers, the father looked like an overgrown little boy. What happened to grown ups? Rankin wondered. When did every mom and dad start to look like an oversize version of the shorties they were dropping off in the yard?”
I can’t fault this book for the realism of some of the characters, the rich, entitled, deluded members of our society. But it does make for a less than pleasant read when the strongest emotion that the book inspires is the desire to shut them up.
In other words, these people are and want to be defined only by exterior measures – only by their possessions and not at all by the quality of person they are. They are so incredibly entitled that even when they have everything, feel the desire to have even more or even better – and when their actions then cause them to lose something they had but didn’t value until then – the fault is never theirs.
The children of these smug adults are hardly better. “Cooper was a pretty little brunette, big round eyes, perfect nose that if it wasn’t god-given you would have said came from Park Avenue, big lips, a gorgeous smile, slender, the kind of kid you saw in Gap ads or in brochures for new condominiums that wanted to appear family-friendly. Rankin had seen enough of her to know she was a killer – he knew that an eight-year-old who is aware of her looks and social magnetism, and is willing to use them to take down other girls, can be harder to fight than cancer.”
These characters are so self-involved and so pretentious that it’s hard to keep one’s eyes from rolling while reading. I had to put the book down several times because I could only take so much navel gazing at one sitting.
One of the characters, who is basically James Frey under slightly different circumstances (which I found a very odd choice), faces the consequences of years of lying for his own benefit. His choices, his actions. And yet he still feels sorry for himself, still thinks he deserves sympathy. “It seemed so unfair that anything this bad should happen to me while I had just suffered the misfortune of having a developmentally disabled son. Where was the justice in that?” He thinks that bad things HAPPEN to him – but all the good things in his life were his own making, that he deserves all of the good fortune and should never be subjected to the bad.
Beyond the incredibly annoying and unsympathetic characters, “Triburbia” does contain some modern day insight that I found funny. “On the way to school, Rankin saw the smug bastard and his cute little kids. With his long hair, the expensive-looking coat, the fancy sneakers, the father looked like an overgrown little boy. What happened to grown ups? Rankin wondered. When did every mom and dad start to look like an oversize version of the shorties they were dropping off in the yard?”
I can’t fault this book for the realism of some of the characters, the rich, entitled, deluded members of our society. But it does make for a less than pleasant read when the strongest emotion that the book inspires is the desire to shut them up.
April 6, 2019
I’ve decided to start my book reviews with basically a summary of the book (in flattering or not terms). The book is told from various points of view (I’m not gonna get into it, but it starts first person, goes to third person, back, then finishes in third person for the last third). They are a group of dads at Tribeca in Manhattan right before the financial collapse (spoilers, kinda). They all have little adventures, but almost all of the stories revolve around wealth, the petit bourgeois and infidelity.
When I started this book, I had very low expectations. I think one of the subjects that pleases me least are stories about rich people, especially rich creative people. It makes me think of somebody like Warhol. Then I expected something that was tongue-in-cheek without addressing the hypocrisy of an author writing about themself. I think, however, by the end, it kinda works. My verdict is somewhere between 3 and 4 stars, but, because I cannot do half-stars on Goodreads, yeah, this is what you get. I was tempted for 4 stars, but the book isn’t memorable enough to me for that.
The good: The impotence and inability of the supposedly educated or accomplished to do much. The book also says in the first chapter basically that who is closest to the protagonist feels like an imposter and that this is enough to separate himself from the other wealthy dads, that he won’t become a hypocrite like them. It is good foreshadowing but (getting ahead of myself here) kinda predictable at the same time. It’s one of those stories that I feel like I’ve read/seen a dozen times already.
The bad: This is a book that feels like you’re supposed to identify with each of the characters depending on where you are in life. The problem is it’s no Unbearable Lightness of Being. I didn’t step into any of their shoes. The fault could be that I’m not a dad yet, but I do think that there are some things that are better done than others. For one, I think the story of the Sculptor is mostly superfluous, while I found how the Gangster was done almost perfect because it didn’t dwell or ask us to recall the character later on.
In reflection, maybe that was the point, that I would find the most sympathy with a thoroughly despicable person who literally was extorting money from immigrants. Well, not really. I don’t think you’re supposed to like any of the characters, but I think I did like Sadie, the babysitter for Mark (the protagonist of the first chapter). The circumstances force her to need money (because she’s not one of the rich) and extorts Mark into paying for her college. Yeah, blackmail isn’t a good thing, but Mark was more paying her because of his own problems.
The end of the story, though, does have a brief epilogue about redemption because Mark and a few other dads gets away from Tribeca. It’s a little cheesy and too easy, but, besides that, it raises a few questions. The author lives in Tribeca and is kinda similar to Mark. Is he doing one of those weird confess-through-the-public things? It obviously doesn’t matter, but that it could be plausible annoys me. I don’t wanna be involved in your marriage. I want a story, not yours if I’m reading fiction. If I’m reading non-fiction, then yes, please indulge me.
When I started this book, I had very low expectations. I think one of the subjects that pleases me least are stories about rich people, especially rich creative people. It makes me think of somebody like Warhol. Then I expected something that was tongue-in-cheek without addressing the hypocrisy of an author writing about themself. I think, however, by the end, it kinda works. My verdict is somewhere between 3 and 4 stars, but, because I cannot do half-stars on Goodreads, yeah, this is what you get. I was tempted for 4 stars, but the book isn’t memorable enough to me for that.
The good: The impotence and inability of the supposedly educated or accomplished to do much. The book also says in the first chapter basically that who is closest to the protagonist feels like an imposter and that this is enough to separate himself from the other wealthy dads, that he won’t become a hypocrite like them. It is good foreshadowing but (getting ahead of myself here) kinda predictable at the same time. It’s one of those stories that I feel like I’ve read/seen a dozen times already.
The bad: This is a book that feels like you’re supposed to identify with each of the characters depending on where you are in life. The problem is it’s no Unbearable Lightness of Being. I didn’t step into any of their shoes. The fault could be that I’m not a dad yet, but I do think that there are some things that are better done than others. For one, I think the story of the Sculptor is mostly superfluous, while I found how the Gangster was done almost perfect because it didn’t dwell or ask us to recall the character later on.
In reflection, maybe that was the point, that I would find the most sympathy with a thoroughly despicable person who literally was extorting money from immigrants. Well, not really. I don’t think you’re supposed to like any of the characters, but I think I did like Sadie, the babysitter for Mark (the protagonist of the first chapter). The circumstances force her to need money (because she’s not one of the rich) and extorts Mark into paying for her college. Yeah, blackmail isn’t a good thing, but Mark was more paying her because of his own problems.
The end of the story, though, does have a brief epilogue about redemption because Mark and a few other dads gets away from Tribeca. It’s a little cheesy and too easy, but, besides that, it raises a few questions. The author lives in Tribeca and is kinda similar to Mark. Is he doing one of those weird confess-through-the-public things? It obviously doesn’t matter, but that it could be plausible annoys me. I don’t wanna be involved in your marriage. I want a story, not yours if I’m reading fiction. If I’m reading non-fiction, then yes, please indulge me.
July 21, 2024
At one point one of the characters looks around the table at the fellow dads with whom he meets for coffee and muses, "what do I have in common with these people? Why am I here with them? Why do I keep coming back?" That’s how I felt pretty much every time I picked this book back up. I can’t deny it’s well-written, and some of the vignettes were pretty interesting - I particularly enjoyed the memoirist - but ultimately I just kind of felt like, "what’s the point?"
The author seems never to weigh in with much judgment on the Lifestyles of the Bored and Wealthy. I get it, let the reader make up their own mind, but come on, give me something to indicate you’re commiserating with me for spending so much time with these more-often-than-not unsympathetic people you’ve written. I appreciate the objectivity to a degree, but it's a lot to ask from the reader that we sustain the same level of distance and understanding as the author does throughout the entire book.
Finally, towards the end, one of the characters considers that the success of the whole group depicted in this Tribeca neighborhood hinges much more on bankers and real estate developers than on any real work they produce in their supposedly creative professions. This watered down and buried sentiment is the most scathing critique we get. Translation: they’re all far more phony / yuppie than artistic / bohemian.
Even with this takeaway, the one character who eschews commercial success and ruthlessness is depicted as a sad and deflated loser, and based on the actions of his daughter later on, the moral of the story seems to be that one should strive to be more like the other more ruthless characters than not, because at least they're unhappy AND rich. Barf.
I love me a flawed character, but ultimately I’d much rather spend time as a reader spying on genuinely interesting people over a bunch of egotistical, un-self-aware, appearance-obsessed malcontents. Watching these not-so-very-great people be flummoxed by their own unhappiness after willfully pursuing materialistic facades, with no real statement about any of it, is just an exercise in frustration. (Maybe that is the statement? If so, that just boils down to "money doesn't buy happiness," and I don't need a 300 page illustration.)
Having said all that - again, there were storylines I enjoyed and some clever turns of phrase, etcetera, but my rating is based on the sum rather than the parts.
The author seems never to weigh in with much judgment on the Lifestyles of the Bored and Wealthy. I get it, let the reader make up their own mind, but come on, give me something to indicate you’re commiserating with me for spending so much time with these more-often-than-not unsympathetic people you’ve written. I appreciate the objectivity to a degree, but it's a lot to ask from the reader that we sustain the same level of distance and understanding as the author does throughout the entire book.
Finally, towards the end, one of the characters considers that the success of the whole group depicted in this Tribeca neighborhood hinges much more on bankers and real estate developers than on any real work they produce in their supposedly creative professions. This watered down and buried sentiment is the most scathing critique we get. Translation: they’re all far more phony / yuppie than artistic / bohemian.
Even with this takeaway, the one character who eschews commercial success and ruthlessness is depicted as a sad and deflated loser, and based on the actions of his daughter later on, the moral of the story seems to be that one should strive to be more like the other more ruthless characters than not, because at least they're unhappy AND rich. Barf.
I love me a flawed character, but ultimately I’d much rather spend time as a reader spying on genuinely interesting people over a bunch of egotistical, un-self-aware, appearance-obsessed malcontents. Watching these not-so-very-great people be flummoxed by their own unhappiness after willfully pursuing materialistic facades, with no real statement about any of it, is just an exercise in frustration. (Maybe that is the statement? If so, that just boils down to "money doesn't buy happiness," and I don't need a 300 page illustration.)
Having said all that - again, there were storylines I enjoyed and some clever turns of phrase, etcetera, but my rating is based on the sum rather than the parts.
January 5, 2021
Entertaining, but I hated each and every single character. But I assume that’s the point, right? Rich people are just as horrible and twisted as those economically below them.
Also, you can just say weed. Having to read marijuana every other sentence was exhausting and unnatural. Seriously, no one says “Is that marijuana?” when presented a large bag of primo green. They say weed, or pot, if you’re old. I mean, I am 17, so I guess its just my slang. Didn’t like it, though.
Especially hated all the infidelity in the book. Does everyone have to step out on their wife or husband? Christ, it made me want to stop reading it was so irritating. Made for some interesting drama, but I would rather have one good developed cheating sub-plot than 50 of them.
The drugs were annoying, the cheating was overdone, and the laundry list names was obnoxious (who names their daughter Anouk? Rich people with too much time on their hands, I guess), and some of the dialogue was cringey.
However, I truly felt for Beatrice, and I liked Rankin and his wife. Brick was a dick, so fuck him, but I felt bad for Bea.
Greenfield’s writing style was entertaining, and I liked his clever one liners, but blegh, please write SOME redeeming characters.
Okay. Not my favorite, but something I’ll mention once to my boyfriend tomorrow.
Also, you can just say weed. Having to read marijuana every other sentence was exhausting and unnatural. Seriously, no one says “Is that marijuana?” when presented a large bag of primo green. They say weed, or pot, if you’re old. I mean, I am 17, so I guess its just my slang. Didn’t like it, though.
Especially hated all the infidelity in the book. Does everyone have to step out on their wife or husband? Christ, it made me want to stop reading it was so irritating. Made for some interesting drama, but I would rather have one good developed cheating sub-plot than 50 of them.
The drugs were annoying, the cheating was overdone, and the laundry list names was obnoxious (who names their daughter Anouk? Rich people with too much time on their hands, I guess), and some of the dialogue was cringey.
However, I truly felt for Beatrice, and I liked Rankin and his wife. Brick was a dick, so fuck him, but I felt bad for Bea.
Greenfield’s writing style was entertaining, and I liked his clever one liners, but blegh, please write SOME redeeming characters.
Okay. Not my favorite, but something I’ll mention once to my boyfriend tomorrow.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 23, 2018
Very meh. The description of the novel is that a group of men living with their wives and children in Tribeca meet over breakfast every day after dropping the kids off at school; it is there that they discuss their lives, loves, businesses, etc.
That would have been interesting. That is not what this book is. Until the final chapter, not one scene is set inside a restaurant where the men are having breakfast. We learn about the men, their wives and children, and their lives through episodes about each one individually. Occasionally aspects of one life bleeds into another character's life. Sometimes this is natural, since they all live and work in the same neighborhood. Sometimes Greenfeld includes a thread to be clever, regardless of how unlikely the overlap might be.
It's tough writing about rich people, since they can often come off as unlikable. Unfortunately, this is how I found most of these characters. They are pretty whiny and boring, make bad decisions, and are unsatisfied with how life turns out after those bad decisions have been made. There is little introspection by the characters - that is to say there is a lot of introspection in the book but most of it is facile and cliche.
That would have been interesting. That is not what this book is. Until the final chapter, not one scene is set inside a restaurant where the men are having breakfast. We learn about the men, their wives and children, and their lives through episodes about each one individually. Occasionally aspects of one life bleeds into another character's life. Sometimes this is natural, since they all live and work in the same neighborhood. Sometimes Greenfeld includes a thread to be clever, regardless of how unlikely the overlap might be.
It's tough writing about rich people, since they can often come off as unlikable. Unfortunately, this is how I found most of these characters. They are pretty whiny and boring, make bad decisions, and are unsatisfied with how life turns out after those bad decisions have been made. There is little introspection by the characters - that is to say there is a lot of introspection in the book but most of it is facile and cliche.
July 22, 2025
In Triburbia, there is less a distinct plot than there is a construction of the Tribeca neighborhood in New York through analyses of different families and individuals living and mingling there. Every chapter is titled by a street address, and the family or individual that lives at that street address is also the narrator and subject of that chapter. At the very beginning of the book is a map connecting street addresses and characters, which I referenced frequently to keep track as I read. It's a fun connect-the-dots story to join characters and events depicted in one chapter to the same ones, described at times quite differently, in others.
Being from not-New York, I don't have much personal experience with Tribeca, but I imagine this would be an especially fun book to digest if you live there/have significant experience there. I enjoyed reading it, but only give it three stars because while the premise of varied narrations is unusual, every chapter was still written in the same voice - it's clear there was one author behind all of the characters. Additionally, there were a few loose ends at the end of the novel that I'd like to see tied up more clearly. Still, a solid read.
Being from not-New York, I don't have much personal experience with Tribeca, but I imagine this would be an especially fun book to digest if you live there/have significant experience there. I enjoyed reading it, but only give it three stars because while the premise of varied narrations is unusual, every chapter was still written in the same voice - it's clear there was one author behind all of the characters. Additionally, there were a few loose ends at the end of the novel that I'd like to see tied up more clearly. Still, a solid read.
December 15, 2022
The full cast narration made this audiobook a great listening experience. These interconnected short stories present a fairly grim picture of the residents of Tribeca in the 1990s. These are aging artists and other privileged people who don't feel privileged because they compare themselves only to other rich New Yorkers. These are successful people who still aren't as successful as they dreamed they would be, as they felt entitled to be. These are people approaching middle age and pretty annoyed by it; people trying to recapture some youthful daring they thought they once had.
I didn't like these people. But I really liked reading about them anyway. So, good trick Mr. Greenfeld. It's not easy to write snippets of stories about adultery, middle aged angst, and overprivileged elementary school kids and make it compelling. I can't remember how or why I heard about this book, but I'm glad to have picked it up.
I didn't like these people. But I really liked reading about them anyway. So, good trick Mr. Greenfeld. It's not easy to write snippets of stories about adultery, middle aged angst, and overprivileged elementary school kids and make it compelling. I can't remember how or why I heard about this book, but I'm glad to have picked it up.
August 5, 2022
Triburbia is the best thing I’ve read in ages. Loved everything about it. Each chapter is structured around a character from NYC’s TriBeCa neighborhood. It starts with a group of fathers who meet for coffee by their kid’s school. This informal gathering acts as a window into the lives of various personalities, who are nominally connected living in the same gentrified area of Manhattan. The author hilariously follows their infidelities, child raising and career dramas making you laugh and think. I found the pot-smoking cheating spouse, the Jewish mobster, the sell out puppeteer, the steak eating novelist living on past glory, the mean girl ruling her elementary school and all the other characters super entertaining. I’m going to read more from this talented author. You should read this! Get Triburbia!
September 27, 2017
Although apparently not meant to be satirical, the book reads like a satire of life in Tribeca in New York City in the latter half of the first decade of the 21st century. A group of dads gathers for coffee after dropping their children off for school. Each dad has a story, and they're all interconnected, though the dads don't necessarily know it. All are veteran pot smokers, all are good liberals but have the best of material things, and most are up to something no good. Come the Great Recession, things change.
June 29, 2022
Hugely underrated, this novel which reads more like a collection of well-written short stories, is something I picked up at random in a bookstore in Kuala Lumpur. I like doing this occasionally, reading stuff which is on no one shelfs and uncovered a couple of hidden gems in the process. The narrative is built around characters living in one Manhattan neighborhood, tied up by invisible threads. Fun and drama which is usually reserved for the protagonist only, is everyone's business here: each chapter a different address and a different human being. Quite refreshing.
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