New York Observed: Artists and Writers Look at the City, 1650 to the Present

In this illustrated collection of New York City lore, excerpts from the works of Truman Capote and A. J. Liebling stand side by side with selections from Washington Irving and Charles Dickens. In all, some 150 writers and artists are represented, including Thomas Wolfe, Stephen Crane, Mark Twain, James Baldwin, Henry Miller, Piri Thomas, O. Henry and F. Scott Fitzgerald, although some of the selections are too brief to be fully appreciated. Among the lesser-known material are an excerpt from W. Parker Chase's marvelous New York, The Wonder City, as well as a 19th century complaint about gridlock and an 1839 guide to New York brothels (thinly disguised as A Moral Reform Directory. But with few exceptionsJohn Sloan, George Bellows and Charles Sheeler, among themthe quality of the graphics in this collection seldom is equal to the level of the text. Browsers will enjoy the book nonetheless. (May)