New York Stories

by Diana Secker Tesdell (Editor)

This dazzling hardcover collects an irresistible selection of classic tales of New York City by James Baldwin, Truman Capote, Shirley Jackson, Jay McInerney, Edith Wharton, and many others

Writers have always been enthralled and inspired by New York City, and their vibrant and varied stories provide a kaleidoscopic vision of the city’s high life, low life, nightlife, and everything in between. From the wisecracking Broadway guys and dolls of Damon Runyon to the glittering ballrooms of Edith Wharton, from the jazz-soaked nightspots of Jack Kerouac and James Baldwin to the starry-eyed tourists in John Cheever and Shirley Jackson, to the ambitious immigrants conjured by Edwidge Danticat and Junot Diaz—this is New York in all its grittiness and glamour. Here is the hectic, dazzling chaos of Times Square and the elegant calm of galleries in the Met; we meet Yiddish matchmakers in the Bronx, Haitian nannies in Central Park, starving artists, and hedonistic yuppies—a host of vivid characters nursing their dreams in the tiny apartments, the lonely cafés, and the bustling streets of the city that never sleeps.
 


• “New York Night Club" by Jack Kerouac
• “Pillar of Salt” by Shirley Jackson
• “O City of Broken Dreams” by John Cheever
• “Master Misery" by Truman Capote
• “Paul’s Case" by Willa Cather
• “A Cup of Water” by Edith Wharton
• “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin
• “It’s Six A.M. Do You Know Where You Are?” by Jay McInerney
• “New York Day Women" by Edwidge Danticat
• “Negocios” by Junot Díaz
and more
 
Everyman's Library pursues the highest production standards, printing on acid-free cream-colored paper, with full-cloth cases with two-color foil stamping, decorative endpapers, silk ribbon markers, European-style half-round spines, and a full-color illustrated jacket.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, New York, Anthologies, Classics, Travel, American

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 4, 2011

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short stories for me are like first dates. You test them out, waiting for the laughs or tingles, deciding whether there will be a second date. How interested can you keep me?

Truman Capote and Bernard Malumud definitely get second dates. James Baldwin cheated (because I've read his previous works) and he gets the third date.

I love short story collections because I read them to get acquainted with writers I haven't come across before. These classic New York stories were magniloquent in style, gratuitous with delivery, and had meticulous storytelling.

Edith Wharton, James Baldwin, Jack Kerouac, John Cheever, Junot Diaz--to name a few.

My favorites were: Truman Capote's poetic, "Master Misery," about a tormented woman who couldn't hold onto her dreams in the city of dreams; James Baldwin's exquisite, "Sonny's Blues," about a struggling musician dealing with drug abuse; Bernard Malumud's amazing storytelling that reads like folk tale in "The Magic Barrel;" and William Maxwell's stupefying use of present tense prose in "The Thistles in Sweden."

I don't quite know how else to state my love for this. I'm just glad I found it while roaming an independent bookstore in Charlottesville, Virginia. I raise my glass to that bookstore owner.

[Christine Bongers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this in New York at the Tenement Museum and was fascinated to read an extraordinary collection of stories that brought NYC's history and five boroughs to life. Contributors included a veritable Who's Who of literature - Truman Capote, O Henry, Katherine Anne Porter, Edith Wharton and Jack Kerouac to mention just a few. I particularly enjoyed James Baldwin's bittersweet lament on brothers and music 'Sonny's Blues' and Jay McInerney's self-referential 'It's Six am, Do You Know where you are?' One for the fans of the Big Apple.

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really strong collection of short stories for me. A mixture of authors, some I was familiar with and some I wasn't, and actually some decent representation which isn't typically common in these collections.

My stand out stories were definitely:
Sonny's Blues by James Baldwin.
Negocios by Junot Díaz.
Pillar of Salt by Shirley Jackson.
The Thistles in Sweden by William Maxwell.
It's Six A.M. Do You Know Where You Are? by Jay McInerney.

Recommended if you're looking for a collection that portrays the city of New York from all different viewpoints and a variety of time periods.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

God, I loved this. It's a such a balm to read writers who can actually write. These people have their hands guts-deep in the English language, performing complicated restorative surgery the rest of us can only marvel at. Special mention in this collection goes to James Baldwin's 'Sonny's Blues;' a beautiful elegiac account of the writer's brother and his complicated relationship with both addiction and jazz. That, and Junot Diaz's 'Negocios;' a rambling, flawed account of one man's life as an immigrant in America. Both are authors I've never read before, both of whom I'll be seeking more of with enthusiasm. Highly recommended.

[Rikke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I traveled to New York recently; and as an addition to my map-including tourist guide, I brought this book with me across the Atlantic. After all, fiction often serves as the best travel.

This is a beautiful short story collection that both highlights the glamour and glitter of New York ball rooms, the alluring promise of wealth and fame – along with the crimes, the failures and disappointments. It's incredibly well-rounded.

I highly enjoyed Edith Wharton's elegant musings, James Baldwin's touching portrait of a musician dealing with drug abuse and John Cheever's brilliantly ironic tale of a family that seeks fortune and fame.

This was the perfect book to read in preparation for a city that's impossible to imagine beforehand.

[Nick (11th Volume) · Rating 3 out of 5]

An eclectic collection from a cast of heavy-hitters that oft frequented the pages of The New Yorker. A welcoming and refreshing aspect of this collection was the appropriate representation of women. I had not read before, but found thoroughly entertaining the tales of Cather, Wharton, and Porter. The two beacons in this collection, however, were my discoveries of O. Henry and Jean Stafford, particularly the latter. Stafford's prose style - at least in her story Children Are Bored On Sunday - is special, so much so that I acquired, without an Australia dollar of regret, her expensive and hefty Library of America volume of complete short stories.

[Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mixed bag, wish I could give it 3 1/2 stars. The James Baldwin story "Sonny's Blues" is worth the price of admission, though...one of the best things I've ever read.

[Rajiv Ashrafi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fitzgerald, in his brilliant book The Great Gatsby, wrote about New York: "[I was] simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life." I believe this collection of short stories on the eponymous city reflects this sentiment in spades. Be it a school boy, professional woman, gambler, dreamer, or even a writer, these stories display life in the most popular city in the world without any sign of vanity.

[Katie Riedesel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some stories were better than others of course, but my favorite was Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin. I enjoyed reading this book on all my commutes

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I pine for the days when Short Story Was King, when magazines in every genre published short stories, when any novelist of note cut his teeth on short stories. The format just isn't as popular as it used to be, perhaps shoved aside by the series, because a short story collection can't really have a lucrative sequel.

I figured this book would be right up my alley, being a small, attractive hardcover, easy to hold in one hand, with a gorgeous Sloan painting on the cover, and even a built-in bookmark like you'd expect from a very fine anthology. Not to mention being about NYC, city of my soul, where I've lived for 25+ years. But an anthology is only as good as its editor, and we do not share the same tastes.

Sure, there are some gems, like Edith Wharton and Jack Kerouac and Edwidge Danticat, but there are also some real duds, stories that are nothing more than a long-winded description of "my time living in New York City!" or "a day in the life of a New Yorker" or "sad things happen in cities - here's a sad thing."

The collection just doesn't capture the spirit of New York City, which is not just diverse and wondrous, but also tough and gritty. Plus, many of the stories are just plain boring. Perhaps better representation of the pre-modern writers would have appeased me. More likely I just have different tastes than this anthology's editor. It's very hard to rate a collection of stories by different authors - there were a few five-stars in here, but mostly one- and two-stars.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly good collection

[Dinah Susan Alobeid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completed Book 16: May 11. Regardless of resident status, everyone who encounters New York - in any way - has a story. The Everyman's Pocket Classics collection of "New York Stories" covers a myriad of eras in New York City history from varying vantage points of fictional beings. What differentiates New York from other cities in fiction and reality is its inherent personification. It's amplified to a character that can make a midwestern dreamer's greatest wish come true, and is as villainous as any mastermind in its omnipotent power to crush souls. Perfect train reading, especially on an MTA subway, this collection features renowned writers you've heard of and introduces you to new voices. Not only does every person have a story, but any human being that's heard mere mention of New York has their own tale to tell of hope, hard work, and potentially dismay and disillusion. And that's the beauty of it. Even if it's a tragedy, it's still a story that needs to be told.

[Fluffyroundabout · Rating 4 out of 5]

## Notes
- I need to read more Truman Capote, Edith Wharton, James Baldwin and Junot Diaz

## Key takeaways
- Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin is potentially the best short story I have ever read, pure cinema in 40 pages.

- Short Story collections by various writers can, by its very nature, be hit or miss given the array of styles and perspectives. However, this collection is perfectly curated with every story having something valuable to offer.

- Continuing from this, each story is a glimpse into someone’s life in New York from different eras. Some stories are old-timey, as country folk aim to make a killing in the Big Apple, while modern stories reflect on nightlife, losing track of time in nightclubs and doing lines in the bathroom. A cast of characters are examined in a quaint bar on 48th street, an apartments lifecycle is witnessed, and the immigrants New York tale is told.

- Plenty of interesting commentary on capitalism and the American Dream that New York is meant to encapsulate. From a woman literally selling her dreams for cash to the vapidity of lavish lifestyles where you may never feel more alone.

## Quotes
> “He knew well enough that her trenchant classifications of life admitted no overlapping of good and evil, made no allowance for that incalculable interplay of motives that justified the subtlest casuistry of compassion”

> “It was a domino-party at which the guests were forbidden to unmask, though they all saw through each other’s disguises.”

> “Was not all morality based on a convention? What was the staunchest code of ethics but a trunk with a series of false bottoms?”

> “Through days of torment he endlessly struggled not to love her; fearing success, he escaped it.”

> “All I know about music is that not many people ever really hear it. And even then, on the rare occasions when something opens within, and the music enters, what we mainly hear, or hear corroborated, are personal, private, vanishing evocations. But the man who creates the music is hearing something else, is dealing with the roar rising from the void and imposing order on it as it hits the air.”

> “I had never before thought of how awful the relationship must be between the musician and his instrument. He has to fill it, this instrument, with the breath of life, his own. He has to make it do what he wants it to do. And a piano is just a piano. It’s made out of so much wood and wires and little hammers and big ones, and ivory. While there’s only so much you can do with it, the only way to find this out is to try; to try and make it do everything.”

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fine collection from a variety of authors, sharing only a common theme of shards of life in New York City. Well, a pretty dark view of life moments. Even Edith Wharton is more somber than usual. But its a fine collection of takes, representing writers both well-known and a few new to me.

Miss Wharton's "A Cup of Cold Water" starts in the glittering Fifth Avenue salons you might expect, but walks away as our hero, Woburn, has ruined his last chances at marrying up by stealing from his employer, a Wall Street bank. (This is not really a spoiler) As Woburn struggles to reconcile his failure with his impending flight from the city, he comes across one more desperate than he. Damon Runyon's "Social Error" is a prime example of the Broadway boulevardier at his best - boxers and chorus girls and parties gone wrong. Jay McInenrney's "It's Six AM; Do You Know Where You Are?" showcases the definitive chronicler of the 1980s writer at either his best or worst; the posh banker, down to no cash at a seedy downtown nightclub, but still amply supplied with cocaine and nerve.

There can really never be a definitive collection of "New York Stories." But this was a welcome collection of voices sharing their thoughts about the place so many of us have learned to call home.

[Michael Wheeler · Rating 3 out of 5]

New York is a magical place, or maybe not, but whatever it is, the city has something that draws authors to write about it. Some of the stories I really enjoyed were:

Pillar of Salt: As it was a great story on a boy who didn’t fit in, and instead of conforming with the rest of society, he decides to live in a society he doesn’t belong in, as what is better, living a life of boredom, or a few days in paradise.

The Thistles of Sweden: I really enjoyed the simplicity of this story, as it showed how we should give value to the smaller things in life, such as a table, or a window, and it also showed that while we may all live very close to each other, we all have our own separate lives.

Sonny's Blues: Not only was this a powerful look at drugs and race, and how they interlink but also, the final few paragraphs where Sonny starts to play the piano, really brought the story alive and showed the power of passion.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading these stories based in New York, and I think a theme that was quite resonant throughout a lot of these stories is that, despite being in the city of cities, sometimes it is better to appreciate the smaller things in life.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an enjoyable selection of short stories involving New York. New York City is sometimes a full character in the story, sometimes just background, but always familiar in a positive or negative way. I found Shirley Jackson's "Pillar of Salt" and James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" to be the most powerful. Damon Runyon's "Social Error" will appeal to fans of Guys and Dolls. Bernard Malamud's " The Magic Barrel"is a jem, a nice surprise for me since I was unfamiliar with the author before this anthology. Recommended for those who like city living, fast talking dames, and following your dreams.

[Ted Gale · Rating 4 out of 5]

. . . perhaps it could bear the title "Some New York Stories." It does not pretend to be a comprehensive collection of short stories about New York (such a volume would necessarily be much larger). But it serves well as a reminder of the power and beauty of the short story (a form that deserves renewed attention). A welcome addition to a home library . . . an introduction to some authors, and a reminder of why some others are so damn good . . . something to lend to a friend, or carry on an airplane . . . an excellent little collection . . .

[Arsh Siddiqui · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic collection of stories, most if not all were a tremendous read and I found some really interesting authors that I'd definitely like to do more research into.

Some of the stories felt very cozy and relaxed ("A Snowy Night on West-Forty Ninth Street" for example), others had a really captivating story that was hard to put down (like "Sonny's Blues" and "Negocios").

Overall a very enjoyable collection of short stories that are pleasant to quickly pick up and read.

[Mark Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a mixed bag, with only the last short story really digging itself into me. I found a couple disappointing because I know some of the author’s work and like it immensely - specifically, I’m referring here to John Cheever and Willa Cather. It’s interesting how many of these authors include the Automat in their stories, an institution that was, I assume, unique to New York; I remember eating at the Automat on 42nd Street, and can see why it made it into these stories.

[sashapecks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another wonder collection from Everyman’s Pocket Classics. Reading the stories made me want to visit NYC again. Perfect for those cool rainy afternoons where all you want to do is curl up on your favorite chair and read.

[Lorri Steinbacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to have around to dip in and out of when you have some downtime.

[Mai-Ann]

&

[Yooperprof · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it's interesting that a lot of the stories in this collection are variations on themes presented in "The Great Gatsby."

[Paul Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A diverse mix of stories. Good bed side fodder.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

None of the stories inspired me or really seemed to reflect NYC much

[Gilbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting choices of stories using New York City as a background.

[Marissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this collection. There were a few stories in here that I had read previously (Negocios by Junot Diaz and Sonny's Blues by James Baldwin) and this is what made me want to read the collection. With most short story collections, there was a mixed bag of awesome stories,average stories, and not so good stories. A few of the stories that stood out were: Master Misery by Truman Capote, A Cup of Cold Water by Edith Wharton, and Reference by Amy Hempel. I will definitely be reading more from these authors. The others, maybe not.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many beautiful little stories in this collection. My favorites were Truman Capote's 'Master Misery,' James Baldwin's 'Sonny's Blues,' Bernard Malamud's 'The Magic Barrel,' and William Maxwell's 'The Thistles in Sweden.'

Many of the stories seemed to deal with New Yorkers in the 1950s. There could have been more diversity of all kinds. But on the whole, I thought it was thoughtful and very enjoyable.

[Stacia · Rating 4 out of 5]

How do you really rate a collection of short stories? This is my first collection in forever and I'm not sure. The theme was New York and all stories hit the theme in different ways. I reviewed each along the way. I enjoyed some more than others and skipped two because I couldn't get into them at all. I enjoyed being exposed to different authors and look forward to more titles in the Everyman's Pocket Classics series.

[Moe Umad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Visiting New York is on my list of things to do, it has been on it for years. If I had read this book 10 years ago I would have imagined a movie set for each and every story, that's because for me New York was a place that was introduced to me via the film industry. Thankfully since then I have met hundreds of New-Yorkers, I've had a more realistic introduction to life there, fact from fiction was therefore separated. For me these stories brought the reality of this city to life.