First published 2004
The narrator opens with a confession about New York. The city was once his mother, his mistress, his Mecca. He could never imagine living anywhere else, just as he could never picture himself as a father raising children. Now he tells the story of his generation, young people burning with romance and disappointment. They search for pleasure and meaning in a city that promises both. The demands of real love and daily life clash with their dreams. Hope meets fear as these characters navigate work, friendship, and family bonds. They inhabit the common world but cannot escape the loneliness that world fails to cure. Through it all, they reach toward authentic feeling and moral dignity. They seek connection with others through compassion, even as circumstances test their resolve.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary, urban, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Brooklyn
Period: 20th-century
432 pages · Paperback · NYRB Classics