Maureen Corrigan

wondering if I am forever doomed to love things and people whose reciprocation is fraught with contradictions. But New York, in image and reality, saved her, and her love for the city remains hardy. One New York City writer Sohini doesn't mention is Gay Talese, who's hailed, along with Norman Mailer, Joan Didion, and Tom Wolfe, as a pioneer of new journalism.

wondering if I am forever doomed to love things and people whose reciprocation is fraught with contradictions. But New York, in image and reality, saved her, and her love for the city remains hardy. One New York City writer Sohini doesn't mention is Gay Talese, who's hailed, along with Norman Mailer, Joan Didion, and Tom Wolfe, as a pioneer of new journalism.

wondering if I am forever doomed to love things and people whose reciprocation is fraught with contradictions. But New York, in image and reality, saved her, and her love for the city remains hardy. One New York City writer Sohini doesn't mention is Gay Talese, who's hailed, along with Norman Mailer, Joan Didion, and Tom Wolfe, as a pioneer of new journalism.

Talese, now in his early 90s, has written a lot of great pieces about New York – many of which are gathered together in a new book called A Town Without Time. The very first piece Talese published in Esquire in 1960 leads off this collection. It's called New York is a City of Things Unnoticed.

Talese, now in his early 90s, has written a lot of great pieces about New York – many of which are gathered together in a new book called A Town Without Time. The very first piece Talese published in Esquire in 1960 leads off this collection. It's called New York is a City of Things Unnoticed.

Talese, now in his early 90s, has written a lot of great pieces about New York – many of which are gathered together in a new book called A Town Without Time. The very first piece Talese published in Esquire in 1960 leads off this collection. It's called New York is a City of Things Unnoticed.

Among the thousands of things Talese notices are the night workers, truck drivers, cops, hacks, cleaning ladies who line up for movies in Times Square at 8 a.m. Other essays here ruminate on the oft-overlooked Verrazano Narrows Bridge and mobster Joe Bonanno. Worth the price of this collection alone is Talese's masterpiece, Frank Sinatra Has a Cold.

Among the thousands of things Talese notices are the night workers, truck drivers, cops, hacks, cleaning ladies who line up for movies in Times Square at 8 a.m. Other essays here ruminate on the oft-overlooked Verrazano Narrows Bridge and mobster Joe Bonanno. Worth the price of this collection alone is Talese's masterpiece, Frank Sinatra Has a Cold.

Among the thousands of things Talese notices are the night workers, truck drivers, cops, hacks, cleaning ladies who line up for movies in Times Square at 8 a.m. Other essays here ruminate on the oft-overlooked Verrazano Narrows Bridge and mobster Joe Bonanno. Worth the price of this collection alone is Talese's masterpiece, Frank Sinatra Has a Cold.

This 1966 profile of old blue eyes packs the sparkle, fizz, and complexity of genuine New York seltzer. Here's Talese reading from the opening of that profile as originally heard on This American Life.

This 1966 profile of old blue eyes packs the sparkle, fizz, and complexity of genuine New York seltzer. Here's Talese reading from the opening of that profile as originally heard on This American Life.

This 1966 profile of old blue eyes packs the sparkle, fizz, and complexity of genuine New York seltzer. Here's Talese reading from the opening of that profile as originally heard on This American Life.

Just as Sohini assures us that New York still draws in dreamers, Talese reminds us that New York is already riddled with ghosts, many of them tough-talking and hard-drinking. Eight million stories and counting about the city, but still room for more.

Just as Sohini assures us that New York still draws in dreamers, Talese reminds us that New York is already riddled with ghosts, many of them tough-talking and hard-drinking. Eight million stories and counting about the city, but still room for more.

Just as Sohini assures us that New York still draws in dreamers, Talese reminds us that New York is already riddled with ghosts, many of them tough-talking and hard-drinking. Eight million stories and counting about the city, but still room for more.

Dreary do-gooders, a mother who runs a women's retreat center in Vermont, a 40-year-old son who represents asylum seekers and lives alone in a studio apartment in Brooklyn where the air is redolent of depression and earnestness. These are not the kind of fictional characters I'd ordinarily want to usher the new year in with. But Adam Hazlett gives me little choice.

Dreary do-gooders, a mother who runs a women's retreat center in Vermont, a 40-year-old son who represents asylum seekers and lives alone in a studio apartment in Brooklyn where the air is redolent of depression and earnestness. These are not the kind of fictional characters I'd ordinarily want to usher the new year in with. But Adam Hazlett gives me little choice.

Dreary do-gooders, a mother who runs a women's retreat center in Vermont, a 40-year-old son who represents asylum seekers and lives alone in a studio apartment in Brooklyn where the air is redolent of depression and earnestness. These are not the kind of fictional characters I'd ordinarily want to usher the new year in with. But Adam Hazlett gives me little choice.

His latest novel, Mothers and Sons, is too beautifully written to pass over, too smart about how secrets feed on time, perversely taking up more room in our lives as the years go by. We first meet Peter Fisher, the adult lawyer's son, in the midst of one of his overwhelming work days.

His latest novel, Mothers and Sons, is too beautifully written to pass over, too smart about how secrets feed on time, perversely taking up more room in our lives as the years go by. We first meet Peter Fisher, the adult lawyer's son, in the midst of one of his overwhelming work days.