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Ratings & Reviews for

New York Stories

Diana Secker Tesdell (Editor)

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5 stars
61 (19%)
4 stars
142 (44%)
3 stars
99 (31%)
2 stars
13 (4%)
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2 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
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Cheryl
484 reviews696 followers
September 8, 2016
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.
Profile Image for Christine Bongers.
Christine Bongers
Author 4 books56 followers
October 7, 2015
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.
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Vanessa
911 reviews1,217 followers
August 26, 2020
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.

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Rikke
615 reviews658 followers
November 24, 2019
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.
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Rebecca
155 reviews3 followers
March 9, 2023
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.
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Roy
1 review
March 3, 2020
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.
Profile Image for Rajiv Ashrafi.
Rajiv Ashrafi
456 reviews47 followers
August 28, 2013
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.
Profile Image for Katie Riedesel.
Katie Riedesel
57 reviews
February 20, 2021
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
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Rachel
132 reviews8 followers
December 15, 2016
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.
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Dinah
49 reviews7 followers
July 4, 2017
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.
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Amalia Gkavea
637 reviews2 followers
April 10, 2024
‘’The houses across the street were silent and perhaps unoccupied at this time of day; she let her eyes move with the rhythm of the tune, from window to window along one floor. By gliding quickly across two windows, she could make one line of the tune fit one floor of windows, and then a quick breath and a drop down to the next floor; it had the same number of windows and the tune had the same number of beats and then th next floor and the next. She stopped suddenly when it seemed to her that the windowsill she had just passed had soundlessly crumpled and fallen into fine sand; when she looked back it was there as before but then it seemed to be the windowsill above and to the right, and finally a corner of the roof.’’

Shirley Jackson, Pillar of Salt

New York. Forget about the city that never sleeps, the lights, the socialites, the glorious hotels and skyscrapers and whatnot. New York is the people that populate it, the stories that characterise every corner of the metropolis, the amalgamation of feelings and experiences that have created its atmosphere, its breath, its aura and the way it fascinates us. This is the heart of the beautiful collection dedicated to New York.

New York Nite Club by Jack Kerouac: The unique atmosphere of a New York club.

The Making of a New Yorker by O.Henry: The aspirations of a poet in the city of modern Art.

O City of Broken Dreams by John Cheever: A married couple travels to New York, prompted by a job opportunity. But the Big Apple has decided differently.

Pillar of Salt by Shirley Jackson: A young couple goes to New York for a two-week vacation. The experience appears exciting at first but soon, it becomes more and more uncanny, chaotic and claustrophobic. A masterpiece by Jackson.

Paul’s Case by Willa Carther: The troubles of a high-school student.

Master Misery by Truman Capote: A young woman has come to New York to follow her dream. She meets a sympathetic clown and realises that her happiness depends on a strange figure that thwarts your dreams. A deeply sad allegory by a master of the Short Story.

A Cup of Gold by Edith Wharton: A story of fateful meetings, love, propriety. Many of us first ‘’met’’ the literary New York through Wharton’s novel The Age of Innocence and this one is a bright example of her unique style.

The Magic Barrell by Bernard Malamud: A young rabbi wants to marry and only the ideal woman will do. But this is a rather difficult task.

Social Error by Damon Rinyan: A story straight out the Guys and Dolls universe and a unique era in the history of the city.

Theft by Katherine Anne Porter: Prompted by a simple theft, the heroine of the story realises all she has lost. Loves, journeys, wasted moments, words left unsaid.

The Thistles in Sweden by William Maxwell: A beautiful, peaceful story about the daily life of a neighbourhood of brownstones and quirky families.

A Snowy Night on West Forty-Ninth Street by Maeve Brennan: The unique atmosphere of Broadway lights on a winter’s night as a woman becomes our guide to the strange, vacant would-be members of the high-class society and the nightly New York that watches silently.

Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin: A moving story of the rift between two brothers, the loss of a child, the daily fight in an unforgiving world.

Children Are Bored on Sunday by Jean Stafford: A tender story of Art, feud and young love.

It’s Six A.M. Do You Know Where You Are by Jay McInerney: An enigmatic story about a man stranded in a bar at an unlikely hour. A tale of confusion, trauma and disillusionment.

New York Day Women by Edwidge Danticat: A story about motherly rules and the very complex relationship between a family and a ferocious city.

Reference #388475848 – 5 by Amy Hempel: A letter of protest over a parking ticket becomes the means for a woman to pour out her soul and give voice to her repressed thoughts.

Negocios by Junot Diaz: The tumultuous story of an immigrant through the eyes of his son.

‘’I want what is fair. I don’t want a fight. But the truth is I’m shaking – right now, writing this letter. My hand is shaking while I write. It’s saying what I can’t say – this is the way I say it.’’
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Jack
310 reviews35 followers
March 25, 2017
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.




Profile Image for Michael Wheeler.
Michael Wheeler
77 reviews
December 19, 2019
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.
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Patricia
32 reviews
December 22, 2018
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.
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Ted Gale
29 reviews
August 18, 2023
. . . 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 . . .
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Arsh
44 reviews1 follower
January 12, 2023
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.
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Mark Robertson
591 reviews2 followers
January 14, 2023
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.
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sashapecks
24 reviews
January 24, 2018
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.
Profile Image for Marissa.
Marissa
122 reviews15 followers
January 30, 2015
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.
Profile Image for Olivia.
Olivia
364 reviews12 followers
May 30, 2013
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.
Profile Image for Stacia.
Stacia
627 reviews11 followers
February 18, 2015
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.
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Moe Umad
2 reviews
May 3, 2016
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.
Betty
120 reviews
August 29, 2011
A hit-or-miss eclectic collection. But one advantage of the short story genre is that you do not have to invest a lot of time; so, if a story is not to your liking, you haven't lost much. I enjoyed the stories by Junot Díaz and Jay McInerny. Bonus: This edition has a built-in, ribbon bookmark - why don't ALL books have them?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews

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