Here is New York

There is something about New York that has fascinated and captivated people since time began. It is a city rich with history, culture, style, charisma, and, yes, tragedy. However, through the years the city has had many stories to tell, and to visitors, it has long been considered the city of excitement and action, with a zillion things to visit and do.

The year is 1948 and E. B. White takes the reader on a trip down memory lane, to the city of his youth, a city of splendor and wonder. There have been some very evident changes over the years; however, some aspects will always remain, "typically New York." Perhaps residents of the city and surrounding area take much of what the author portrays for granted; however, for one who is not an American, the city still holds a uniqueness unmatched by few cities in North America.

The only downside of the book is it's length; it is extremely short, but I still highly recommend the book. As White indicates, "the city is like poetry". The magic, music and wonder of the city still draw people to its core like a magnet.


Swells With Universal Meaning   December 28, 1999
 8 out of 8 found this review helpful

White's beautifully undulating prose illumes the movement, ambiance, paradox and gravity of a city that is, ironically and miraculously, both floodgate and a floodplain of the world.


Very Interesting with some irony   January 10, 2002
 8 out of 14 found this review helpful

I recieved this book for Christmas and I found this book very much to my liking. I love New York, and I plan to move from this small, country town someday and move there, this book has truly motivated me to do so. E.B. White describes New York so well, I feel I am there. Learning about New Yorks past is very interesting. Though I found something terribly ironic on page 54 about the destruction of New York City. I was wondering if anyone else that has read the book picked up on it? And, if so, do you understand or even believe that this was written? It is remarkable, not a good remarkable, but more like strange that this was written 51 years before September 11. If anyone else has noticed this please respond. Thanks, and read thsi book, its a must if you love New York and History and even E.B. White, I totally recommend it, its very clear, descriptive and a fast read.


A Love Letter to New York City   April 24, 2006
 8 out of 8 found this review helpful

HERE IS NEW YORK is a truly spectacular 1948 essay that originally appeared in Holiday magazine. Written by E.B. White and named one of the ten best books ever written about New York, this is a quick read that will leave you years later savoring White's timeless observations.

Writing in a hotel room during a sweltering heat wave, White takes the reader through the essence of New York City and its eight million inhabitants who he notes roughly fall into three groups: the natives, the commuters and the transplants.

Warning that "no one should come to New York unless he is willing to be lucky," White lovingly explains how the city is more a collection of thousands of small neighborhoods that implausibly operate independently of each other, completely oblivious to what is occurring only a few blocks away.

Though it was written almost 60 years ago, HERE IS NEW YORK is just as accurate today as the moment it was written. Yes, the city has changed but the basic structure of life in New York remains the same.

Overall HERE IS NEW YORK is a very positive book that will leave everyone feeling welcome and needed in America's biggest city. But eerily the book presciently warns that "a single flight of planes no bigger than a wedge of geese can quickly end this island fantasy, burn the towers, crumble the bridges, turn the underground passages into lethal passages, cremate the millions."

Though it was tough to read that passage right after 9/11 as I did, I still whole heartedly recommend HERE IS NEW YORK to anyone who lives in New York, commutes to and from there, or has just moved there and is now, as White observed, generating "enough heat and light to dwarf the Consolidated Edison Company."

- Regina McMenamin


Style, Truth, Prescience   December 11, 2005
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

Early to a party, I was looking at a friend's bookcase and pulled this slim volume from a shelf. After reading the first sentence, I knew I had to have it.

Originally published in 1949, E.B. White, who no longer lived in New York City, captured the soul and spirit of the place. Nothing has changed. At the time, the United Nations building was under construction, and the bombing of London was fresh in his mind. He ends the book with a vision that perfectly balances hope with danger, in words prescient of September 11 - I re-read those paragraphs on every anniversary, it has become my ritual.

But what originally drew me to the book is not only the truth and insight of White, but his style, his felicity of expression. The author of "The Elements of Style" certainly knew the rules, and knew when to break them, as well. The second paragraph ends with a run-on sentence 198 words long, a thrilling joy ride which itself demonstrates how impossible it is to capture, in prose, the enormity and importance of this city.

I agree with Russell Baker, this is "the finest portrait ever painted of the city."