Memoirs/fiction that reads like a memoir that take place in NYC?

[Anonymous]

Or even really good fiction that reads like a memoir, I’m not too picky. But I need the city to be one of the main characters. Thanks so much!

[Anonymous]

I remember really enjoying "Manhattan When I Was Young" by Mary Cantwell, but it's been a long time.

Maybe "The Rules of Civility" by Amor Towles, although I wasn't that taken with it on a second reading.

"The Group" by Mary McCarthy - again, it's been a long time since I read it.

[Anonymous]

Trust, Hernan Diaz

[Anonymous]

Just kids

[Anonymous]

Bright Lights, Big City

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just kids

Was just going to recommend this, too

[Anonymous]

Lillian Boxfish goes for a walk (fiction based on a real person)

[Anonymous]

Most of Laurie Colwin's novels are set in NYC. They're all about family/relationships, so maybe that gives them a memoir-ish vibe?

[Anonymous]

A Little Life (warning though that it is long and violent)

[Anonymous]

Motherless Brooklyn

and anything by Paul Auster set in NY

[Anonymous]

Fleishman is in Trouble! Not a memoir but tracks very closely with some of the author's own experiences.

[Anonymous]

- https://www.amazon.com/Goodbye-All-That-Writers-Leaving/dp/1580054943

- Many of F. Scott Fitzgerald's books featured NYC

- Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

Some others I have read are here. Great list:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/the-read-down/new-york-city-books/

[Anonymous]

Another one I just remembered - what about Ruth Reichl's memoirs about her childhood and then food critic? I believe her first one was Tender at the Bone.

[Anonymous]

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn definitely reads like a memoir. I loved that book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I remember really enjoying "Manhattan When I Was Young" by Mary Cantwell, but it's been a long time.

Maybe "The Rules of Civility" by Amor Towles, although I wasn't that taken with it on a second reading.

"The Group" by Mary McCarthy - again, it's been a long time since I read it.

The fact you wanted to read a book twice is high praise even if you didn't like as much the second time around. That alone puts Rules of Civility on my list. Thank you!