Book Review: "New York Stories" ed. by Diana Secker Tesdell

You probably remember my lengthy review of the Paris Stories publication edited by Shaun Whiteside. I have since moved on to rereading my book of New York Stories which, like the former book, is meant to show us several dimensions to the city that never sleeps. From when it starts to when it closes, this book definitely never sleeps, never rests and never takes a sidestory forgranted. Diana Secker Tesdell has done a fantastic job at bringing together some of the most atmospheric and brilliant pieces of work on the Big Apple, some of the most incredible works of fiction and nonfiction and ultimately, she has shown us New York in a way we never thought was possible until now.

The book opens with a story, or rather an account, by the king of the beats himself: Jack Kerouac. The account talks of the way in which New York 'moves'. There's a club where inside are people in suits and evening dresses, there's a man about to play the trumpet and the tension rises ever so slightly because you don't think he will and then the story ends with the music finally dropping - the atmosphere is complete. Kerouac's writing is always fascinating to me but there is something about this short story as the opening to a world where the only thing we see is New York that really peaked my interest. I believe the writer opened the anthology this way in order to show us the first, and probably the most well-recognised, image of New York - the parties, the scenery and the music. Now, we are well prepared to make our way into other territories.

But what would an anthology of New York works be if Truman Capote did not feature? Well, it wouldn't really be New York would it? No, I don't think so. Master Misery is a story I've read before but have often found it strange that this is the one that was chosen to be put in the book. However, because of how she's structured this anthology so carefully, I put a lot of faith into Tesdell's choices and so, we continue on. Sylvia has moved to New York in order to assert her independence. She lives with a married couple who are rigid with convention and though they are alright, she finds them too rigid and too stifling. She meets a man called Mr Revercomb who literally pays for people's dreams but, as her life starts to unravel after this encounter - she isn't too sure anymore about what she really wants. Finding out that she has surrendered her inner life to the city and its almost folkloric sadness, she remains isolated and miserable. This is an entirely different look at the city pronounced by Jack Kerouac and yet, we still see it as a 'New York' story. A city where, like London, dreams are 'meant' to come true - people actually end up sacrificing themselves on the altar of stupidity in order to fit in with the culture and hopefully get a slice of the 'good life'. In reality, they don't achieve it at all.

Of course, I think that the novel Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney is a fantastic attempt at a second-person perspective text and this book of 'New York' features the opening chapter to the book entitled: It's Six Am, Do You Know Where You Are? In the early hours of the morning, our protagonist is in a nightclub in New York - a place he wouldn't normally want to be, and we see that through the famed line: “You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning. But here you are…” There's lots of drug use and partying which features to create the scene of the decade being portrayed, and yet one of the big themes I've always seen in this novel (that seems to begin here as well) is anonymity. There's an anonymous nature about the city that comes through here more than, I think, any other story in this anthology. The detachment at around six in the morning makes it all the more strange to read about. There's something about the city which definitely makes you feel like this happens to a lot of people. It is a reflection of the city's very own crisis of identity.

All in all, there is something incredible about the way this book portrays New York. From the beginning, we get the big overview from what we on the outside already understand about the city. But, as we zoom into different bits and pieces we get the lives of the people within it. It becomes a mash of a population who are constantly searching for themselves: but whether they find themselves is a whole different story. More than often, people come to New York to find themselves and then, in their crisis, end up getting swallowed by the city and spat back out as wholly different people.