Bridgman reviewed Here is New York by E.B. White
Review of 'Here is New York' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
[a:E.B. White|988142|E.B. White|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1198519412p2/988142.jpg]'s [b:Here Is New York|10814|Here Is New York|E.B. White|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388383249l/10814.SX50.jpg|13435] was published as a magazine article in 1949 and at just seven thousand words, I'm probably cheating a little by calling it a book. It does, however, come in book form. I bought it for my nephew who has just moved to New York and asked me if I knew of any good history books about it. He likes real history, which this isn't, but he will find better books on his own than I would. The other book I'm giving him is [a:Jay McInerney|14079|Jay McInerney|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1178138066p2/14079.jpg]'s [b:Bright Lights, Big City|86147|Bright Lights, Big City|Jay McInerney|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1399647015l/86147.SY75.jpg|144128], which I consider history for him as it was published a few years before he was born.
Even if you dislike the big egos of New Yorkers, you'll like this book and maybe forgive them for it. It's nearly as much …
[a:E.B. White|988142|E.B. White|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1198519412p2/988142.jpg]'s [b:Here Is New York|10814|Here Is New York|E.B. White|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388383249l/10814.SX50.jpg|13435] was published as a magazine article in 1949 and at just seven thousand words, I'm probably cheating a little by calling it a book. It does, however, come in book form. I bought it for my nephew who has just moved to New York and asked me if I knew of any good history books about it. He likes real history, which this isn't, but he will find better books on his own than I would. The other book I'm giving him is [a:Jay McInerney|14079|Jay McInerney|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1178138066p2/14079.jpg]'s [b:Bright Lights, Big City|86147|Bright Lights, Big City|Jay McInerney|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1399647015l/86147.SY75.jpg|144128], which I consider history for him as it was published a few years before he was born.
Even if you dislike the big egos of New Yorkers, you'll like this book and maybe forgive them for it. It's nearly as much a portrait of America in 1949 as of the city, and I've always liked White's prose.
This small excerpt chilled me:
The city, for the first time in its long history, is destructible. 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 chambers, cremate the millions. The intimation of mortality is part of New York now: in the sound of jets overhead, in the black headlines of the latest edition.
