The Colossus of New York

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Colson Whitehead: The Colossus of New York (2003, Fourth Estate)

Hardcover, 192 pages

Published Nov. 3, 2003 by Fourth Estate.

ISBN:
978-0-00-716401-1
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Actually the best description of NYC you'll ever read

I picked it off a reading list when I was a freshmen in college and had lived in Brooklyn for a grand total of 2 months. I've been here for almost 10 years and still have never seen, heard or read a better description of my home. It's flawless go read it

Review of 'The Colossus of New York' on 'Goodreads'

A hard read, but worth it... This is an odd book. It's written in some kind of peculiar free-form writing style, with different sentences in the same paragraph switching from first person to third person, and just to confuse further switches fluidly from one person ("he") to another ("she") but you are either he or she, depending on whether... you know. Anyway, writing style aside, this is an interesting essay on life in modern-day New York. I read this on holiday in New York, and finished it when I'd got back home. The second half was much more fun - perhaps because I'd got to know NYC by then, so appreciated some of the little clever things in the book. So - good if you know NYC, though a little hard-going. Keep your wits about you when reading.

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Subjects

  • American English
  • Modern fiction
  • New York
  • Places & peoples: general interest
  • Travel