Synopses & Reviews
A book as effervescent and alive as the city itself.
My First New York features candid accounts of coming to New York by more than fifty of the most remarkable people who have called the city home. Here are true stories of long nights out and wild nights in, of first dates and lost loves, of memorable meals and miserable jobs, of slow walks up Broadway and fast subway rides downtown.
The contributors—a mix of actors, artists, comedians, entrepreneurs, musicians, politicians, sports stars, writers, and others—reflect an enormous variety of experiences: few have arrived with less than filmmaker Jonas Mekas, a concentration-camp survivor on a UN refugee ship; few have swanned in with more than designer Diane von Furstenberg, a princess. And an extraordinary number managed to land in New York just as something historic was happening—the artist Cindy Sherman arrived in the middle of the Summer of Sam; restaurateur Danny Meyer came on the day John Lennon was shot.
Arranged chronologically, these moving and memorable stories combine to form an impressionistic history of New York since the Great Depression. They also provide an accidental encyclopedia of New York hotspots through the ages: from the Cedar Tavern and the Gaslight to Lutèce and Elaine's, from Max's Kansas City and the Mudd Club to the Odeon and Bungalow 8, they're all here, dots on the unbroken line of the Next Next things.
Taken together, My First New York is a collection of fifty-six testaments to a larger revelation, one that new arrivals of all stripes and all eras have experienced again and again in New York, regardless of how the city proceeds to treat them: what the songwriter Rufus Wain-wright calls "having cracked the code of living life to the fullest."
Contributors include André Aciman, Susanne Bartsch, Yogi Berra, Mary Boone, Naomi Campbell, Graydon Carter, David Chang, Chuck Close, Judy Collins, Nick Denton, Danny DeVito, Agnes Deyn, David Dinkins, Ashley Dupré, Nora Ephron, Harold Evans, James Franco, Ira Glass, Michel Gondry, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Albert Hammond Jr., Keith Hernandez, Lauren Hutton, Jenny Joslin, Zoe Kazan, Larry Kramer, Padma Lakshmi, Daniel Libeskind, Michael Lucas, Lorin Maazel, Colum McCann, Audra McDonald, Jonas Mekas, Danny Meyer, Lorne Michaels, Liza Minnelli, Mike Myers, Parker Posey, David Rakoff, Dan Rather, Chita Rivera, James Rosenquist, Andy Samberg, Amy Sedaris, Chloe Sevigny, Cindy Sherman, Gary Shteyngart, Nate Silver, Liz Smith, Paul Taylor, Tommy Tune, Diane von Furstenberg, Rufus Wainwright, Kara Walker, Jann Wenner, and Tom Wolfe
Review
“A breezy celebration of the city. . . . 50 famous residents describe their first days in the citydays variously exhilarating, overwhelming, terrifying, or inspiring, but invariably unforgettable.” Booklist
Review
“No matter how rich and famous they become, newcomers generally suffer through the most absurd living conditions as a rite of passage to becoming New Yorkers. Its proven by the boldfaced contributors to My First New York.” New York Post
Review
“As wacky and wonderful as NYC itself.” Modern Tonic
Review
“At time hilarious and heartbreaking, all these stories are inspiringjust like life in NYC.” Star
Review
“These small, glittering essays make a reader feel that the sheer force of all these dreams, this persistence, might in fact rub off on you.” Los Angeles Times
Review
“Celebrate[s] all the quirkiness, beauty, creativity, eccentricity, and artistry that is New York City.” Pop Matters
Synopsis
Based on the hugely popular, recent "New York" magazine cover story, "My First New York" features memorable and moving accounts of early adventures in the city by some of the legions of remarkable people who have called it home.
Synopsis
A book as effervescent and alive as the city itself.
My First New Yorkfeatures candid accounts of coming to New York by more than fifty of the most remarkable people who have called the city home. Here are true stories of long nights out and wild nights in, of first dates and lost loves, of memorable meals and miserable jobs, of slow walks up Broadway and fast subway rides downtown.
The contributorsa mix of actors, artists, comedians, entrepreneurs, musicians, politicians, sports stars, writers, and othersreflect an enormous variety of experiences: few have arrived with less than filmmaker Jonas Mekas, a concentration-camp survivor on a UN refugee ship; few have swanned in with more than designer Diane von Furstenberg, a princess. And an extraordinary number managed to land in New York just as something historic was happeningthe artist Cindy Sherman arrived in the middle of the Summer of Sam; restaurateur Danny Meyer came on the day John Lennon was shot.
Arranged chronologically, these moving and memorable stories combine to form an impressionistic history of New York since the Great Depression. They also provide an accidental encyclopedia of New York hotspots through the ages: from the Cedar Tavern and the Gaslight to LutÈce and Elaine's, from Max's Kansas City and the Mudd Club to the Odeon and Bungalow 8, they're all here, dots on the unbroken line of the Next Next things.
Taken together, My First New Yorkis a collection of fifty-six testaments to a larger revelation, one that new arrivals of all stripes and all eras have experienced again and again in New York, regardless of how the city proceeds to treat them: what the songwriter Rufus Wain-wright calls "having cracked the code of living life to the fullest."
Contributors include André Aciman, Susanne Bartsch, Yogi Berra, Mary Boone, Naomi Campbell, Graydon Carter, David Chang, Chuck Close, Judy Collins, Nick Denton, Danny DeVito, Agnes Deyn, David Dinkins, Ashley Dupré, Nora Ephron, Harold Evans, James Franco, Ira Glass, Michel Gondry, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Albert Hammond Jr., Keith Hernandez, Lauren Hutton, Jenny Joslin, Zoe Kazan, Larry Kramer, Padma Lakshmi, Daniel Libeskind, Michael Lucas, Lorin Maazel, Colum McCann, Audra McDonald, Jonas Mekas, Danny Meyer, Lorne Michaels, Liza Minnelli, Mike Myers, Parker Posey, David Rakoff, Dan Rather, Chita Rivera, James Rosenquist, Andy Samberg, Amy Sedaris, Chloe Sevigny, Cindy Sherman, Gary Shteyngart, Nate Silver, Liz Smith, Paul Taylor, Tommy Tune, Diane von Furstenberg, Rufus Wainwright, Kara Walker, Jann Wenner, and Tom Wolfe
Synopsis
From the staff of New York Magazine comes the perfect gift for the Manhattanite in all of us. My First New York is a glorious collection of recollections and reminiscences as fifty of the citys most famous residents recapture the kicks and thrills of first arriving in the Big Apple. Actors and athletes, rock stars and porn stars, writers, artists, and politicos—from Yogi Berra to Liza Minnelli, from Chloe Sevigny to Andy Samberg to Diane Von Furstenberg—they all share their hilarious, touching, frightening, amazing early big city adventures in My First New York.
Synopsis
and#160; Armed with hundreds of blank maps she had painstakingly printed by hand, Becky Cooper walked Manhattan from end to end. Along her journey she met police officers, homeless people, fashion models, and senior citizens who had lived in Manhattan all their lives. She asked the strangers to and#147;map their Manhattanand#8221; and to mail the personalized maps back to her. Soon, her P.O. box was filled with a cartography of intimate narratives: past loves, lost homes, childhood memories, comical moments, and surprising confessions. A beautifully illustrated,
PostSecret-style tribute to New York,
Mapping Manhattan includes 75 maps from both anonymous mapmakers and notable New Yorkers, including
Man on Wire aerialist Philippe Petit,
New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov, Tony award-winning actor Harvey Fierstein, and many more.
Praise for Mapping Manhattan:
and#147;What an intriguing project.and#8221;and#151;The New York Times
and#147;A tender cartographic love letter to this timeless city of multiple dimensions, parallel realities, and perpendicular views.and#8221; and#151;Brain Pickings
and#147;Cooperand#8217;s beautiful project linking the lives of New Yorkers is one that will continue to grow.and#8221; and#151;Publishers Weekly online
About the Author
Becky Cooper is an award-winning writer and cartographer. Born and raised in Queens, she recently graduated from Harvard University with a degree in comparative literature. She is the creator of the website mapyourmemories.com, and lives in New York. New Yorker staff writer Adam Gopnik is a three-time National Magazine Award winner and the author of multiple national bestsellers, including Paris to the Moon.