Book Watch: This cool New York summer reading list might work just as well for non-New Yorkers

by Ken

Especially with a holiday weekend coming up, some of us may have turned our thoughts to getting some reading done.

Summer reading lists have become a publishing tradition, based on the apparent assumption that people who don't read many books the rest of the year suddenly turn bookworm in summer, or perhaps that summer readers are looking for a different kind of reading. Depending on who's doing the listing, I sometimes give a quick glance. (I always feel like I'm way behind on my reading, so this is likely to make me feel worse, and you can't put a price on that.) Generally, though, I don't pay a lot of attention, partly because in my confused life I don't have seasons, exactly. Oh, there are times when it's hotter outside, and times when it's colder, and it's always well to dress more or accordingly when going out, but otherwise I mostly need to know what month it is in order to make out my rent check.

I don't know what first made me look at this summer book list, "8 Books That Capture New York City in Summertime," courtesy of DNAinfo New York's Margaret Kelly. What's so nice about the list isn't just that Margaret has come up with a wildly wonderful assortment of kinds of books, though she certainly has, but that she has gathered together material that is so wonderfully specific about place and time. To the extent that she's able to offer suggestions of where to read, or at least start reading, each of her selections.

"Many writers have described what it's like to be in New York City during the summer," she writes. "The time of year is perfect to find a shady space in a park and lose yourself in a novel about the city you're in."

Which might make you think that the list would be of use only to New Yorkers. But I think this very specificity of place should make these books intriguing summerscapes for readers everywhere. After all, one of a good writer's jobs is to draw the reader into the place he/she is imagining. In fact, I think the "where to read it" suggestions are so evocative that I'm going to include them all in the list of Margaret's eight suggested titles. Then we'll look at one or maybe two of her description-explanations of her choices.

The Group, by Mary McCarthy

Where to read it: The book opens in Stuyvesant Square by St. George’s Church in Gramercy — follow in the footsteps of the group and find this charming, out-of-the-way spot.

The Subway Chronicles: Scenes from Life in New York, edited by Jacquelin Cangro

Where to read it: Does it need to be said? There's no better place to read this book than on the subway train car or station platform.

Native Speaker, by Chang-rae Lee

Where to read it: Find a bench by the water in Flushing Meadow Park, then head to a Korean barbecue restaurant on Northern Boulevard for kalbi or bulgogi.

Brown Girl, Brownstones, by Paule Marshall

Where to read it: Find a spot in the shade at Selena's beloved Fulton Park, near Chauncey Street.

Super Sad True Love Story, by Gary Shteyngart

Where to read it: Shteyngart's dystopian love story is best begun on Cedar Hill in Central Park, where Eunice and Gary find respite "amidst the brilliant greenery" on a mid-June day.

The Tenants of Moonbloom, by Edward Lewis Wallant

Where to read it: To fuel your imagination about the source of the noises coming from upstairs, read it late at night in your apartment when it's hot and you can't sleep.

Kafka Was the Rage, by Anatole Broyard

Where to read it: Absorb Broyard's memories of a bygone bohemia from a bar on Jones Street or the reading room of the Jefferson Market Library, 425 6th Ave.

The Chosen, by Chaim Potok

Where to read it: Begin this Jewish-American classic at the Hungarian Pastry Shop, a Morningside Heights cafe where students talk philosophy and Wi-Fi is not available.

Here's what Margaret has to say about Mary McCarthy's The Group:

The fall of privileged postgrads is a perennial New York story, and fans of a certain HBO series may relate to the girls of "The Group," McCarthy’s best-selling semi-autobiographical novel about six Vassar roommates, class of 1933.

In McCarthy's narrative, the young women take turns explaining their adventures in terms drawn from their liberal arts education: Libby's conflict with a boss makes for what she considers "a fascinating exercise in narrative point of view," and Dottie's date reminds her of "the summer solstice, when maids had given up their treasure to fructify the crops."

Endlessly erudite, but rarely self-aware, the hapless graduates face surprisingly modern misadventures from Madison Avenue to the mental health unit at Cornell Medical Center.

And here's what she has to say about Edward Lewis Wallant's The Tenants of Moonbloom:

In Edward Lewis Wallant's posthumously published 2003 novel, New York rent collector Norman Moonbloom introduces us to a highly eccentric — but perfectly believable — collection of tenants sharing a Manhattan building.

In between his collections, Moonbloom recalls scattered moments from his childhood: strawberry ice cream on New Year's Eve and "a summer night as huge as heaven."

Okay, well maybe one more. Here's Margaret on Chang-rae Lee's Native Speaker:

This 1996 debut novel introduces us to Henry Park, a spy who works for mysterious clients collecting intelligence on local politicians — including John Kwang, a Korean-American city councilman with mayoral ambitions.

Lee describes a summer when New York "seemed too dangerous...the street so dog mad with heat, untempered, literally streaming with possibilities, none of them good."

An espionage thriller set in contemporary Queens, Native Speaker is deepened by themes of assimilation and betrayal: "My ugly immigrant's truth," Lee has Park say, "is that I have exploited my own."

I've already got a massive ongoing pile of Books to Read, but I have to say, I'm tempted by a number of these selections. Thanks, Margaret!

Happy reading!

#