Synopses & Reviews
An enchanting comedy of manners (with dogs!) from one of our most treasured writers Cathleen Schines brilliantly funny new novel revolves around one city block in Manhattan, a quiet little block near Central Park kept humble by rent control. Living on a street like this in New York with a dog is like living in a tiny village, one that has a rhythm all its own. Dogs bring people together unexpectedly, people who would otherwise never meet. And the dogs act as cupids for the quiet, struggling, sometimes lonely, eccentric people, the old and the young, male and female; the people who live on the block, who are, in their ways, romantics, as all New Yorkers secretly tend to be. Walking her dog, Beatrice, Jody falls under the spell of Everetts bewitching smile. Everett begins to appreciate his postdivorce life only when he falls in love with Howdy, Pollys puppy. Polly lives with her brother, George, and wants him to fall in love. George isnt so much looking for a love life as for life direction, and Howdy leads him right to it. Doris hates the trash on her block, she hates the pee on her SUVs large tires, and, above all, she hates dogs. That is, until she gets one of her own. In The New Yorkers, as in life, canine companions compel their masters to go outside of themselves, to take part in the community they live in, to make friends, and, sometimes, to fall in love. And Schine returns to what she does best: crafting a compulsively readable, elegantly written novel that seduces in the way we were once seduced by The Love Letter, Schines beloved classic.
Review
Newsday
“Cathleen Schine's latest novel is like a comfy chair in a sunny window: soft, warm, with a view of passing dogs, people, seasons. Curl up in it, and a whole afternoon can go by . . The New Yorkers is itself a love letter, its sweetness nicely salted with Schine's deft irony.” Library Journal
“[Schine] captures human joys and sorrows, comedy and drama, beginnings and endings, as the dogs compel their owners to live outside of themselves. A joy for all readers.” The Village Voice
“A swift-moving, gently poignant romantic comedy of manners. . . The breezy storytelling in The New Yorkers is deceptive: The novel offers more than a sweet story of puppy love. Schine strikes a rare, deeply personal, and very loving chord as she portrays the way these devoted pets elicit joy from the depressed (except once, when it's already too late) and humanity from the merciless, and inspire flirtations and encounters between the shy and monastic. Schine may have convinced this readera borderline-crazy cat lady who has never owned a dogthat these pets are as much New Yorkers as the people who walk them.” "Cathleen Schines new book is her best: a funny, varied, farcical roundelay of people and dogs on a New York block, which somehow manages both to draw a perfect, pointed, and unhysterical picture of New York romantic manners at fragile moment in their history, and to move, as it progresses, into a vein of authentic sweetness and sadness that seemed to have vanished from the American novel." Adam Gopnik, author of Through the Childrens Gate: A Home in New York "O. Henry said he wanted to be reincarnated enough times to live a lifetime on every block in Manhattan. The block that Cathleen Schine charmingly immortalizes in The New Yorkers would no doubt be high on his list, complete with all its dogs and their lucky owners." Billy Collins, author of The Trouble with Poetry: And Other Poems
"The New Yorkers is so entrancing and droll and downright funny that it made me forget I do not like dogs. How vexatious!" Patricia Marx, author of Him Her Him Again The End of Him Praise for The Love Letter:
“Rarely less than sublime . . . A sophisticated and witty valentine of a novel.”People
“Wonderfully inventive . . . Delightful . . . A perfect comedy.”The New York Times
Review
Newsday“Cathleen Schine's latest novel is like a comfy chair in a sunny window: soft, warm, with a view of passing dogs, people, seasons. Curl up in it, and a whole afternoon can go by . . The New Yorkers is itself a love letter, its sweetness nicely salted with Schine's deft irony.” Library Journal
“[Schine] captures human joys and sorrows, comedy and drama, beginnings and endings, as the dogs compel their owners to live outside of themselves. A joy for all readers.” The Village Voice
“A swift-moving, gently poignant romantic comedy of manners. . . The breezy storytelling in The New Yorkers is deceptive: The novel offers more than a sweet story of puppy love. Schine strikes a rare, deeply personal, and very loving chord as she portrays the way these devoted pets elicit joy from the depressed (except once, when it's already too late) and humanity from the merciless, and inspire flirtations and encounters between the shy and monastic. Schine may have convinced this readera borderline-crazy cat lady who has never owned a dogthat these pets are as much New Yorkers as the people who walk them.” "Cathleen Schines new book is her best: a funny, varied, farcical roundelay of people and dogs on a New York block, which somehow manages both to draw a perfect, pointed, and unhysterical picture of New York romantic manners at fragile moment in their history, and to move, as it progresses, into a vein of authentic sweetness and sadness that seemed to have vanished from the American novel." Adam Gopnik, author of Through the Childrens Gate: A Home in New York "O. Henry said he wanted to be reincarnated enough times to live a lifetime on every block in Manhattan. The block that Cathleen Schine charmingly immortalizes in The New Yorkers would no doubt be high on his list, complete with all its dogs and their lucky owners." Billy Collins, author of The Trouble with Poetry: And Other Poems
"The New Yorkers is so entrancing and droll and downright funny that it made me forget I do not like dogs. How vexatious!" Patricia Marx, author of Him Her Him Again The End of Him Praise for The Love Letter:
“Rarely less than sublime . . . A sophisticated and witty valentine of a novel.”People
“Wonderfully inventive . . . Delightful . . . A perfect comedy.”The New York Times Kristine Huntley - Susan Orlean - John Banville - Anthony Quinn - Gahan Wilson - John Fowles - Neil Walsh - Stephen R. Donaldson - Jacqueline Carey - Glen Cook - Elizabeth Haydon - David Drake - Robert Charles Wilson - Cory Doctorow - Bret Easton Ellis - Candace Bushnell - Dominick Dunne - Jay McInerney - Jonathan Demme, filmmaker - A.O. Scott - Martin Arnold - Steve Kroft, 60 Minutes - J. B. Priestley - Charles de Lint - Dallas Observer - Jennifer Weiner, author of In Her Shoes and Little Earthquakes - Jay Leno - Laura Zigman, author of Animal Husbandry, Dating Big Bird, and Her - Liz Smith - Gillian Engberg - Clarissa Cruz - Jay Strafford - Hallie Ephron - Patrick Anderson - Walter Jon Williams - S. M. Stirling - Connie Willis, Hugo Award-winning author of To Say Nothing of the Dog - Morgan Llywelyn - Jacqueline Carey - George R.R. Martin - Frederick Busch - Anthony Quinn - Gahan Wilson - John Fowles - Paul Di Filippo - Publishers Weekly - Kirkus Reviews - Romantic Times Bookclub Magazine - Publishers Weekly - Kirkus Reviews - Kirkus Reviews - Booklist - SciFi.com - Entertainment Weekly - Kirkus - New Scientist - Newsday - Publishers Weekly - Realms of Fantasy - San Francisco Chronicle - The Sunday Times - The Washington Post - Time Out London - Wired - Los Angeles Times - Vanity Fair - New York Times Book Review - Rocky Mountain News - Library Journal - Publishers Weekly - Southern Living - Booklist - Publishers Weekly - Romantic Times - Midwest Book Review - Cincinnati Enquirer - Booklist - Publishers Weekly - Booklist - Romantic Times Bookclub - The New York Times - The Washington Times - Los Angeles Times - West Coast Review of Books - Chicago Tribune - Washington Post - Booklist - Chicago Sun-Times - Rocky Mountain News - Chicago Tribune - New York Sun - Publishers Weekly - Fangoria - Horn Book Magazine - School Library Journal - USA Today - Entertainment Weekly - Boston Globe - Richmond Times-Dispatch - Entertainment Weekly - January Magazine - Booklist - Library Journal - Library Journal Review - New York Post - About.com - New York Observer - The New York Times Book Review - Publishers Weekly - The Knoxville News-Sentinel - The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction - Midwest Book Review - Santa Barbara News-Press - Newsweek - Library Journal - Greenwich Magazine - Time Out New York - New York Times Book Review - San Francisco Chronicle - Booklist (starred review) - Booklist - Kirkus Reviews - Publishers Weekly (starred) - Washington Post Book World - Publishers Weekly, starred review - Kirkus Reviews - Publishers Weekly - School Library Journal - Kirkus Reviews - Publishers Weekly - Altair - TV Week (Australia) - Publishers Weekly (starred review) - SF Site - New York Observer - The Economist - Publishers Weekly - Enigma - SF Site - Entertainment Weekly - Kirkus - New Scientist - Newsday - Publishers Weekly - Realms of Fantasy - San Francisco Chronicle - The Sunday Times - The Washington Post - Time Out London - Wired - Romantic Times - San Francisco Chronicle - Chicago Tribune - Washington Post - The Associated Press - San Antonio Express-News - Booklist - Kirkus Reviews - Library Journal - Booklist - The Guardian - The Observer - Financial Times - New York Observer - Houston Chronicle - Art Week - Christian Science Monitor - Charlotte Observer - Edmonton Journal - Richmond Times-Dispatch - Booklist - Publishers Weekly - Booklist
Review
"Sprightly, romantic, occasionally sad but always diverting . . . The New Yorkers will inspire you to sit, stay, and beg for more."--Connie Ogle, The Miami Herald
"Schine is a sly writer with considerable dog and people skills. . . . Fine and precise [in] execution . . . Filled with a sweetness of life."--The Boston Globe
"Poignant and frankly funny. Schine has a gift for illuminating wholly believable yet somehow unexpected characters with a single line."--Chicago Tribune
"Schine writes about her characters with affection and humor . . . and has created a love letter to the city that even a rural cat fancier could enjoy."--The Christian Science Monitor
"There's plenty of unexpected romance, but it would be a mistake to think that this is merely a love story about dogs or their people. It's really about Schine's love for the city that contains them--a Manhattan of the not-so-distant past. . . . [A] rich snapshot of urban life."--Time Out (New York)
"Schine's sleek little parable about love and loss in the big city is neatly layered with intersecting stories of each character. A sweetly savvy paean to dogs and the people who love them."--Baltimore Sun
Synopsis
A New York Times Book Review Editors Choice
Inspired by her account in The New Yorker of adopting a profoundly troubled dog named Buster, acclaimed author Cathleen Schine's The New Yorkers is a brilliantly funny story of love, longing, and overcoming the shyness that leashes us. On a quiet little block near Central Park, five lonely New Yorkers find one another, compelled to meet by their canine companions. Over the course of four seasons, they emerge from their apartments, in snow, rain, or glorious sunshine to make friends and sometimes fall in love. A love letter to a city full of surprises, The New Yorkers is an enchanting comedy of manners (with dogs!) from one of our most treasured writers.
About the Author
Cathleen Schine is the author of The Love Letter and Rameau's Niece, among other novels. She has contributed to The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine, and The New York Times Book Review.
Reading Group Guide
Discussion Questions
1. How does the novels neighborhood compare to your community? Does it remind you of any other fictional "villages"?
2. The novels title emphasizes the setting. In what way is it important for those events to take place in New York? What makes the world of dog owners special among other populations inhabiting the city?
3. How were you affected by the various shifts in point of view? What does this cast of characters have in common, and in what ways do they each represent a unique aspect of communities in general?
4. How do you picture the novels narrator, whose distinctive storytelling voice provides an air of authenticity throughout? Which twists in these intricate storylines surprised you the most?
5. Discuss the many forms of unrequited love describe in The New Yorkers. How do the characters react when their feelings of attraction arent mutual, such as the attraction Jody initially has for Everett, or Simon for Jody, or Everett for Polly, or Polly for Chris?
6. What humans were you reminded of while reading about the various personalities of the dogs in The New Yorkers?
7. How did your perception of Jody shift throughout the novel? To what degree is Beatrice responsible for her transformation? In your opinion, who (human or canine) is the novels main character?
8. Does Doris really hate dogs, or is her obsession simply a mask for some other, deeper frustration? What brings about her change of heart with Fredericka?
9. What makes George the ideal dog trainer? Do any of his techniques apply to life overall? Why is it so difficult for him to find his purpose before he begins seeing Alexandra?
10. Everett eventually becomes intensely attached to Howdy. Is dog love very different from the other kinds of love he has experienced? Why is he so resistant to pets at first? Do his feelings about his daughter and ex-wife change because of Howdy, or because of Polly?
11. If you were Jody, would you have married Simon? Does he lose interest because of Jodys hesitation, or would he have lost interest anyway after they were married, due to his self-proclaimed affinity for the single life?
12. Is there any contradiction between Simons enthusiasm for hunting and the other characters enthusiasm for their pets?
13. Is Jaime the most well-adjusted character in The New Yorkers? What enables him to create a sort of paradise for his numerous children and for everyone who visits his restaurant (except Doris), spending "his whole life in the pursuit of other peoples happiness" (chapter twenty-three)?