The Boy Detective: A New York Childhood – A Literary and Poetic Meditation on Memory, Imagination, and 1950s Manhattan

by Roger Rosenblatt

An evocative homage to a post-war Manhattan childhood and to the magic of the city, from the beloved author of Making Toast and Kayak Morning

In the grand tradition of Alfred Kazin's A Walker in the City, E.B. White's Here is New York, and Frank McCourt's 'Tis comes this evocative and poignant memoir of Roger Rosenblatt's Manhattan boyhood.

On a cold winter day in 2011, Rosenblatt left the night class he taught at Stony Brook's Manhattan campus on East 28th Street and found himself, on a whim, on a walk through the territory of his childhood. Tramping from Gramercy Park to Irving Place and over and up to Madison Square Park, his stroll took him across the streets of the city, and through the byways and alleys of memory.

In a beautifully wrought series of vignettes that limn geographical and emotional landscapes, Rosenblatt evokes with rare precision a disappeared New York, the people who inhabited it, and the larger world of which it was a part. A moving meditation on what endures times' inexorable movement forward, The Boy Detective is both an homage to and an elegy for the city he loves.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography, New York, History, Biography Memoir, Coming Of Age

257 pages, Hardcover

First published November 5, 2013

About the author

ROGER ROSENBLATT, whose work has been published in 14 languages, is the author of five New York Times Notable Books of the Year, and three Times bestsellers, including the memoirs KAYAK MORNING, THE BOY DETECTIVE, and MAKING TOAST, originally an essay in the New Yorker. His newest book is THE STORY I AM, a collection on writing and the writing life.

Rosenblatt has also written seven off-Broadway plays, notably the one-person Free Speech in America, that he performed at the American Place Theater, named one of the Times's "Ten Best Plays of 1991." Last spring at the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, he performed and played piano in his play, Lives in the Basement, Does Nothing, which will go to the Staller Center for the Arts at Stony Brook, and the Flea Theater in New York in 2021. He also wrote the screenplay for his bestselling novel LAPHAM RISING, to star Frank Langella, Stockard Channing, and Bobby Cannavale, currently in production.

The Distinguished Professor of English and Writing at SUNY Stony Brook/Southampton, he formerly held the Briggs-Copeland appointment in creative writing at Harvard, where he earned his Ph.D. Among his honors are two George Polk Awards; the Peabody, and the Emmy, for his essays at Time magazine and on PBS; a Fulbright to Ireland, where he played on the Irish International Basketball Team; seven honorary doctorates; the Kenyon Review Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement; and the President's Medal from the Chautauqua Institution for his body of work.

Reviews

[Bill on GR Sabbatical · Rating 3 out of 5]

Same old, same old. A man retraces the steps of his youth in order to determine where he has been and where he is. Your basic mystery story.

So does Rosenblatt describe the book early on. I quarrel with the suggestion that it's your basic mystery story, as I quarrel with the choice of title, The Boy Detective. There isn't much mystery. Rosenblatt literally does retrace the steps of his 1940s-1950s youth in and around Manhattan's Gramercy Park neighborhood, ostensibly on a long walk after a class in memoir writing he has returned to teach at Stony Brook University's Manhattan campus.

While his boyhood fantasy of playing detective provides some interesting and amusing stories on this walk, I didn't feel that this aspect of the memoir was significant enough to deserve the top billing it gets in the title, either. A better title for the book might have been A Walker in the City, except, of course, Alfred Kazin already used it.

All that aside, I enjoyed this stream-of-consciousness journey through New York's past and Rosenblatt's life. He tells his memoir-writing students:

your memoir is not about you. So stay out of it. Keep clear of your memoir, except in those instances where your idiosyncratic, weird, freakish life speaks for others, for all lives. As you write, let your mind wander, for wandering is necessary for your memoir.

He doesn't just talk the talk, he walks the walk.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

When writing this book, the author is in the process of teaching a class on memoir writing to students at Stony Brook University. Rosenblatt roams the nighttime streets of his old haunts in Manhattan, specifically the Gramercy Park neighborhood of his childhood.

Rosenblatt’s students are told upfront that they should keep themselves out of their memoirs as much as possible. Memoirs should not be about yourself unless it speaks to the reader. A sort of conundrum. I’m sure the class was interesting but had to have been challenging. He goes some way to prove his point by revealing himself as the boy detective, his eight year old self, following clues and researching lives in his neighborhood. His eight year old self wanted to be Sherlock Holmes with a dash of Dashiell Hammett and every other detective he’d absorbed in reading. This childhood detecting obviously connects with his later career as a writer.

Style wise—difficult to describe. Often funny. Interesting overall but not for everyone.

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up at the Strand, mostly because I was interested in how the author wrote about his childhood and especially it's location, New York City. A wonderful read especially on the L train from Bushwick to 14th Street.

What's impressive is that the book is both a memoir as well as a study on the nature and beauty of detective fiction. The mixture of his love for that type of literature and location is really great. If you want a narrative that goes from A to B forget about it. This is a haunted look back to childhood and New York itself. Very reflective with a side of noir.

[John of Canada · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's official,Roger Rosenblatt is my favourite author.I have never had any desire to visit New York City.Until now.This book is about detectives and books and movies and how to walk meaningfully.If I get to NYC,I would like to spend time with Roger.Or just walk around.

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the biggest driver of how I felt about The Boy Detective is that it's billed as being the autobiographical story of a man who was an (imaginary) detective as a kid, and I wanted to read the heck out of that book. Bad news: After I read The Boy Detective, I still want to read the heck out of that book, but this isn't it.

Instead, The Boy Detective is the meandering musings of Roger Rosenblatt as he reflects back on his life. It's not really about anything, per se, and previous reviews that have referred to it as a series of essays are erroneous: it is more snippets of thoughts, half-poems, and imaginary situations. The idea is that Rosenblatt is literally going on a walk and allowing his mind to wander, as it does. At times, this is kind of fun -- at his best, Rosenblatt has a lot of interesting and insightful things to say about the interiority of the self, the persistence of the childhood self (for him, exemplified by the Detective), how perception of self changes with age and autobiographical writing. He has some less interesting thoughts about his family and New York City in general. Some of the vignettes are simultaneously beyond bizarre and droll such as a hypothetical conversation with Hitler. Overall, because of the choppy and disjointed organization, I found reading the book to be more of a chore than anything else. Some of the paragraphs harken back to earlier passages, so its best enjoyed in longer sittings. Had I not read it on vacation, I'm not sure I would have found it readable. The saving grace is that even in the boring parts, Rosenblatt is a master of language and I found his English so lyrical that it compensates for the content.

I still really want to read that other, nonexistent book, though.

[Marti · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a lot of things I liked about this book, which is filled with the author's childhood recollections of the Gramercy Park/Murray Hill area in the 1940s/50s. (It helps that this is an area I walk through every single day). I also found his insights into Detectives and Detective/Mystery Fiction to be amusing. However, when he veered into meditations on abstract concepts like the nature of waking and dreaming (are we actually awake while dreaming or asleep while ....), my brain started to glaze over. It reminded me of the strange sort of "voiceover" narration in Berlin Alexanderplatz which was a major reason that book was a big disappointment.

It's too bad because the author sounds like an interesting guy. In addition to his dysfunctional childhood, he was a correspondent in the Middle East among other things. If he were to write a straight memoir it would probably be hugely entertaining.

[Lynn Coullard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I expected; or, maybe I should say, not what I hoped. I was thinking the fun adventures of a boy following people around and “solving” mysteries, but instead it was a rambling memoir, though definitely entertainingly written. I guess it just didn’t grab me that much, or seem profound or even necessarily relatable.

[Rachael Kosinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Roger Rosenblatt spoke this summer near a bookstore I worked at, and the cover of this book really appealed to me. I didn't hear his lecture and had no idea who he was, but the matte image of a boy off on adventures past intrigued my interests in New York, and detectives in general. However, this was not a story of a New York childhood. Sure, Rosenblatt dotted his narrative here and there with fascinating anecdotes from his early years, but more often than not it was the older Rosenblatt, the present Rosenblatt, who retraced his steps here and there across the city and offered random, usually made up, observations. More than a couple times I had no idea why he was making up a story or mentioning a random person, and the word "illimitable" was used to so much I had to look it up: it means "limitless, or without end." I did enjoy the book, but autobiographies are hard to follow, especially when the narrator hops, skips, and jumps from truth, anecdote, fun facts, to things that may or may not be real and possibly have nothing to do with the story. I'm glad I read Rosenblatt's story, and he had some really good lines and thoughts among the maze hedges, but I am no detective: if Roseblatt was the perp I was sorely attempting to track down and understand, he managed to elude me.

[Jean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Roger and I go way back...well, maybe not as far as he is concerned. I have read a few of his novels and seen him in person numerous times as the host of the week long Author's Interviews at Chautauqua Institute. He is witty, charming and engaging in person and ultimately, I find he writes just as he talks; witty, engaging and charming. There are two of his writings that are my favorites: Lapham Rising and Making Toast. This book did not make my favorites list. I found it to be rambling and disjointed. Although there were wonderfully insightful sections, the near stream of consciousness approach was disconcerting. He raises thought provoking issues and it is quite philosophical in many ways. It sure helps if you are familiar with NYC...being tuned into the city and its neighborhoods makes a big difference to the reader I think. I recommend it to Rosenblatt fans and philosophical New Yorkers!

[Don Gorman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reminded me of the old showtune from Babes in Arms, "Bewitched, bothered and bewildered." At times I felt all 3 of those emotions as I went through this little book. The history of New York, the stream of consciousness writing style, the family relationships and all the literary allusions to famous old mysteries, written, filmed and recorded get overwhelming at times. Although it is only 250 pages, this book is dense. You need to stay with every paragraph as there might be a real gem or hidden piece of New York City information that just tickles your fancy. I grew up in NYC a few years after Rosenblatt but I was not the restless investigator on foot that he was. The neighborhood where he grew up is where I often stay in a hotel these days, so lots of this is real friendly and familiar. A truly interesting excursion awaits the reader of this highly stylized memoir.

[Sue Wargo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This memoir is written as a series of essays. With no chapters or real organization, the author takes you on a journey through his childhood in NYC. With a premise as 'boy detective' I was expecting something different. But unexpectedly, I realized that he became a life inquisitor. Trying to understand everything from motivation, to intent, you find out about the people places and things that shaped his life. I had a bag of books from a booksellers convention, and I just blindly grabbed this from my stash and started reading. I never pan a memoir. It's author's word, and experiences. How do I judge that? But what could have made this just a little better was organization. The essays often didn't flow one into another and sometimes you read about times of life that don't flow or show continuity. But the writing itself is excellent.

[Susan Olesen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I rarely give up on a book. Sometimes it goes on a year hiatus until I finish it, but I finish it. I gave up on this one. I expected it to be something interesting, a child's excitement of mystery around every corner, but instead it's 250 pages of the kind of dreamy stream-of-consciousness you get when you're half asleep and your brain is running in circles - there aren't even any *chapters*. I made it through 50 pages, then read the last 5. If you really love NYC and really love introspective dreamy essays that occasionally make an interesting point, you might enjoy it. I can for about 10 pages, but not 250.

[flaminia · Rating 3 out of 5]

pag.132: "... iniziai il mio apprendistato nella BRANCHIA più severa ed esigente del giudaismo..."
complimentoni.

[Carol Bakker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy books that take me to a place I've never been before. Rosenblatt took me to Gramercy Park, an upper middle-class neighborhood in New York City. Two motifs are interweaved into the story of his childhood: walking and detective fiction.

I would give it four stars except for the stream of consciousness bits and occasional ribaldry.

His bar mitzvah story is crazy. As a way to provoke his atheistic Jewish father, young Roger decides to have a bar mitzvah. He randomly chooses the strictest synagogue. By rote memorization he pretends to read the Torah, butchering the pronunciation, causing the rabbis to shake with stifled laughter.

Favorite quotes:

>> Except Afghanistan, of course. One never leaves Afghanistan. [written before 8.30.2021]

>> Detectives never talk a lot anyway. You never met a detective who runs off at the mouth. Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle of the British TV series, Foyle's War, ... never used a word that didn't count. ... had a habit of nodding just before he quietly clobbered someone with a devastating piece of information ... He would say, "Right," meaning "Wrong." He would say, "No. You're lying." Sometimes Foyle would just raise an eyebrow. [Another wonderful intersection: this winter we are rewatching the entire series of Foyle's War.]

>> America is a detective story, is it not? It runs from hope to crime to pursuit to justice to regeneration, and back to hope.

And my favorite quote:

>> How do you walk in the world? That's no trick. The how is easy. Or if it is not always easy, it is at least clear. How to walk in the world? Walk as a private eye walks. Do right, play fair, ignore the trash, and keep your nose clean.

[Chazzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up due to the title and the cover image. I expected it to be a mystery with possibly a young boy as the detective. It wasn’t. It also wasn’t a type of book I’d normally pick up. If anyone has looked at the reviews I’ve written, they would see they’re mostly on mysteries.

Since I bought it, I felt I should read it. So I did.

It is a cross between a memoir and a collection of essays. There are no chapters, books or sections in the usual sense. Some can be 2-3 pages and some only a few paragraphs. I found it was better to read one or two or maybe three of the pieces, rather than try to read 20 pages as I would normally.

Rosenblatt writes of Gramercy Park – the neighbourhood he grew up in. As a boy he would walk the area, imagining himself to be a private eye, pursuing criminals. Observing people walking and creating stories about them.

Now, 60 years later, he is walking the same neighbourhoods remembering the earlier years and noting what has changed. He writes of the notable people who lived in the area at various times. Of monuments such as the New York Public Library, the Empire State Building, St. George Hotel – what he remembers from the past. He writes of the everyday people he sees on the street and the dreams he has of what he has seen and done.

For me, this was a book to take my time reading. To give myself time to turn over, in my mind, what I had read. It was an interesting book to read.

[Donald Schopflocher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A writer teaching a class in memoir-writing organizes his own memoir around a walk through the New York neighbourhood in which he grew up, talking to his imaginary companion, the reader. His discourse includes the history of the area’s landmarks, lists of the famous writers and actors who lived and worked there, as well as the cultural touchstones of his youth, largely movies and tv shows. As a boy he saw the world through the lens of the hard-boiled detectives that he admired, and his musings on this walk often include his reflections about detectives, about the similarities between writers and detectives, about particular mystery stories. His youthful memories are present too, and frequently include dreams, stories, and imaginings. His current concerns, writing and teaching, are never far away either. It would be a pleasant afternoon walk if you had some acquaintance with NYC, and if you didn’t mind that the walker had clearly had a few before he set out.

[Amber Scaife · Rating 2 out of 5]

A memoir that straddles the author’s childhood in NYC, roaming the streets pretending to be a detective, and his ‘current,’ adulthood walking of the same streets, now as a writing professor after his evening class has finished.

I know Rosenblatt gets All The Praise for his “memoirs that read like poetry,” but I just…don’t see it. It feels like he’s trying too hard to be lyrical and clever, so much so that it distracts from the narrative he’s trying so hard to make seem effortless. And the narrative itself is scattered all over the place; he hops from one left-field reference to the next without much connection. If you’re looking for a naturally effortless, lyrical memoir, try Stephen Fry, and if you crave an impressive amount of trivia that seems hodgepodge but is seamlessly woven together, try Bill Bryson. As for me, I found neither here.

[Louis · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a boy Roger Rosenblatt idolized private eyes. So much so that he saw himself as a sleuth chasing criminals in his neighborhood, Gramercy Park in New York. With all the guile of a naive youth he sees himself solving the city's many mysteries.

Some 60 years later Rosenblatt finds himself back in the neighborhood. Now he teaches creative writing but he once again investigates a mystery. Now it is his own life and the changes in his hometown. In doing so he learns how each of us solves our own mysteries, the answers to our own questions.

This book was not quite as profound as I might have liked. The narrative, sometimes stream of consciousness in its approach, can feel choppy. Still, it often captures the feeling of trying to understand the many things that confuse a child in any neighborhood. Three and a half stars.

[Bradley Connaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Boy Detective was a delightful memoir that was written as poetic prose and based on a wandering walk around his home-city of New York. Rosenblatt switches from past to present and presenting the reader with short tales of the people he sees buzzing around New York whilst walking with nowhere to be or go. He also flashes back to his childhood, through the use of the boy detective and reveals bit of information about his childhood and adult life. The short poetic like paragraphs elegantly linked with each other, which I followed page after page. I enjoyed this memoir and the way he wrote it was impressively poetic.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/10. I didn’t get this book. It’s not a memoir. It’s not fiction. It’s not a biography. It’s just the author walking through New York reminiscing about his childhood, pretending to be a detective, and making observations about various neighbourhoods, the history of the city, and comparing the New York City of his childhood to the one he is currently meandering through. If you like New York you’d probably enjoy this book more than I did. But, I’m not a fan of the city, and I’m not a fan of this book. It was a quick read though so not much of a commitment!

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think to appreciate this memoir, you have to already be completely enchanted with this writer. I don't know anything about detective work and even less about Gramercy Park, the two essential topics of the memoir, but I loved this book and will return to it again. I am enamored of Rosenblatt's writing, the change in POV, the jazz-like shifts. I just loved the achy sweetness of the nostalgia.

[Jay Dewey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written but very, very difficult to read. No plot, the book is a collection of the author's observations about life and living, not a prescription, and only loosely tied around the theme of "Boy Detective". It seems more like an older adult looking back at his own boyhood and reminiscing about what happened and the impression it made on him then, or what he makes of it now in recollection.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled with reading this book and wasn’t able to finish it. There were parts that held my interest and encouraged me to continue this journey with this writer until I realized that I was giving more than I was receiving. I have no doubt that this author is a good writer. This was just not the right book for me.

[Elam Boockvar-klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really beautiful account of the observations of a boy - and now adult - wandering through the streets of NYC, allowing the city to spark his imagination. At times a little bit difficult to follow the narrators’ train of thought.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely walk through NYC. Sweet stories and histories. A little too stream of consciousness for me, but still engaging. Thanks for some great film recommendations!

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written and intriguing memoir of the life of a boy growing up in New York. It is really good story telling, but I almost think it a shame that New York figures so heavily in the telling

[Martha F. Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

It didn't hold my attention. I didn't finish the book.

[To Read Pile Too Big · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. I couldn't even figure out what it was about. So bad

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audio book. I enjoyed the author on Alan Alda’s podcast. The book not so much.

[Catherine Clay · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've never been so bored. Didn't even bother to finish it. Clearly, I like stories with a plot in this one, wasn't it. In fact, I'm not sure exactly what this was.