Recs if you like Open City...
Immigrant Experience
autofiction: hyperreflection as an art form
Introspective books by people who observe a lot, ponder a lot, feel a lot, and write about it. Creative memoir, self-indulgent navel-gazing, or "wan little husks" (as Joyce Carol Oates once put it)... whatever you personally think about autofiction, including whether or not it really is a genre, this somewhat experimental form of writing most definitely gives both writers and readers a chance to engage in narratives in a different way.
The city is a character
litfic books where the city plays a big role
Librarian recommends (full list)
A variety of books recommended by a librarian (appropriate for students aged 11-16 as well).
Amazing Autofiction
The best of autofiction - all the humor, drama, and introspection!
Walking as a Key Element
Fiction, memoir, or essay collections that heavily or centrally feature walking.
The Great American Novel
This is the list from The Atlantic. "In 1868, a little-known writer by the name of John William DeForest proposed a new type of literature, a collective artistic project for a nation just emerging from an existential conflict: a work of fiction that accomplished “the task of painting the American soul.” It would be called the Great American Novel, and no one had written it yet, DeForest admitted. Maybe soon."
concrete jungle where books are made of
books where nyc is integral as a setting/is its own character
