Can you
fall in love with a city? Quite obviously.
Sari Botton
has gathered essays by lovers of New York who describe how and why they fell in
love with the Big Apple. Although alike in the topic and some reoccurring
parallels, they are all unique and interesting to read. Some talk about the
idea of New York they had before going there and what reality looked like,
other are native New Yorkers who have always been there and perceived their
town in a completely different way. What they all have in common is the love
for this vibrating place where you never know what is waiting for you behind
the next corner.
What I liked
most was Whoopi Goldberg’s childhood memories, when growing up in an
international environment because her friends’ parents were mainly immigrants
coming from diverse European countries and cultivating their native languages
and traditions. I’d assume that this is what makes New York outstanding from
many other places; it is originally international and has thus created its very
own flair. Adam Sternbergh provides metaphors which well illustrate how coming
to NY feels. If you happen to date the most wanted boy or girl in school, the
one you have always idolized, you run the risk of also seeing the flaws and
getting a whole new picture of him/her. This is what coming to New York and
living there means for many who arrive with great expectations. Elizabeth Gilbert’s
account on her time as a bartender in the Coyote Ugly Saloon was by far the
most entertaining of all the stories.
All in all,
a very different look at New York absolutely worth reading.
