Literary theme analysis, by a book like {foo}
Books about Urban Life
Let the Great World Spin
by Colum McCann
Interconnected stories of ordinary lives in 1970s New York, inspired by a high-wire artist's death-defying feat.
The events of the story are told in a largely non-linear fashion, with several different narrators telling the story from different perspectives. The story is interspersed with fictionalized accounts ... (Wikipedia)
Breakfast at Tiffany's and Three Stories
by Truman Capote
Collection of stories, exploring the lives of eccentric individuals in New York City.
In autumn 1943, the unnamed narrator befriends Holly Golightly. The two are tenants in a brownstone apartment in Manhattan 's Upper East Side . Holly (age 18–19) is a country girl turned New York ... (Wikipedia)
Glue
by Irvine Welsh
A gritty portrait of characters struggling with poverty, addiction, and violent crime in Edinburgh.
Glue is the story of four boys growing up in the Edinburgh schemes, and about the loyalties, the experiences - and the secrets - that hold them together into their thirties. Four boys becoming men: ... (Goodreads)
Dubliners
by James Joyce
Collection of stories about everyday life in Dublin, exploring the Irish psyche.
This work of art reflects life in Ireland at the turn of the last century, and by rejecting euphemism, reveals to the Irish their unromantic realities. Each of the 15 stories offers glimpses into the ... (Goodreads)
Motherless Brooklyn
by Jonathan Lethem
A detective investigates a powerful crime syndicate in New York City.
Lionel Essrog is Brooklyn’s very own self-appointed Human Freakshow, an orphan whose Tourettic impulses drive him to bark, count, and rip apart our language in the most startling and original ways. ... (Goodreads)
Ulysses
by James Joyce
Epic narrative following a day in the life of an Irishman living in Dublin.
It is 8 a.m. Buck Mulligan , a boisterous medical student, calls Stephen Dedalus (a young writer encountered as the principal subject of, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, ) up to the roof of ... (Wikipedia)
Chronic City
by Jonathan Lethem
A surreal tale of a former child star and a cultural critic navigating a strange, alternate version of New York City.
The acclaimed author of Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude returns with a roar with this gorgeous, searing portrayal of Manhattanites wrapped in their own delusions, desires, and lies. ... (Goodreads)
The Coldest Winter Ever
by Sister Souljah
Coming of age story of a young girl's survival in a harsh, inner-city environment.
Renowned hip-hop artist, political activist, and bestselling author Sister Souljah brings the streets of New York to life in a powerful and utterly unforgettable first novel. I came busting into the ... (Goodreads)
Humans of New York: Stories
by Brandon Stanton
A collection of poignant and inspiring stories of individuals living in New York City.
The #1, New York Times, Bestseller! With over 500 vibrant, full-color photos,, Humans of New York: Stories, is an insightful and inspiring collection of portraits of the lives of New Yorkers. Humans ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Basketball Diaries
by Jim Carroll
A teenage boy's struggles with addiction and his journey of self-discovery.
The urban classic coming-of-age story about sex, drugs, and basketball. Jim Carroll grew up to become a renowned poet and punk rocker. But in this memoir of the mid-1960's, set during his ... (Goodreads)
The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
by Deborah Blum
Uncovering the true stories of early forensic science in 1920s New York.
Equal parts true crime, twentieth-century history, and science thriller,, The Poisoner's Handbook, is "a vicious, page-turning story that reads more like Raymond Chandler than Madame Curie"— The New ... (Barnes & Noble)
There are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America
by Alex Kotlowitz
Tragic story of two brothers living in poverty and violence in the inner city of Chicago.
This is the moving and powerful account of two remarkable boys struggling to survive in Chicago's Henry Horner Homes, a public housing complex disfigured by crime and neglect. ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Maltese Falcon
by Dashiell Hammett
Detective Sam Spade must solve a mysterious case involving a precious artifact and a deadly trio of criminals.
‘Sam’ Spade is a private detective in San Francisco , in partnership with Miles Archer. The beautiful "Miss Wonderley" hires them to follow Floyd Thursby, who has run off with her sister. Archer ... (Wikipedia)
Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets
by Sudhir Venkatesh
An exploration of urban poverty and gang life, through the eyes of an unlikely researcher.
The story of the young sociologist who studied a Chicago crack-dealing gang from the inside captured the world's attention when it was first described in, Freakonomics,., Gang Leader for a Day, is ... (Goodreads)
Factotum
by Charles Bukowski
A portrait of a struggling writer, seeking solace in alcohol and women.
Set in the 1940s, the plot follows Henry Chinaski , Bukowski's perpetually unemployed, alcoholic alter ego , who has been rejected from the World War II draft and makes his way from one menial job to ... (Wikipedia)
Skagboys
by Irvine Welsh
A gritty, raw look at the lives of a group of friends in Edinburgh, struggling with poverty and addiction.
Section 1: Tempted In 1984, Mark Renton and his father Davie have travelled to Yorkshire to take part in a picket of the coke plant. After briefly meeting his London pal Nicksy, he gets caught up in ... (Wikipedia)
The Lonely Londoners
by Sam Selvon
The story of West Indian immigrants in London, struggling to find their place in a new society.
From the brilliant, sharp, witty pen of Sam Selvon, his classic award-winning novel of immigrant life in London in the 1950s. In the hopeful aftermath of war they flocked to the Mother Country — West ... (Goodreads)
Further Tales of the City
by Armistead Maupin
A series of witty and interconnected stories set in the vibrant city of San Francisco.
The residents of 28 Barbary Lane are back again in this racy, suspenseful and wildly romantic sequel to Tales of the City and More Tales of the City. DeDe Halcyon Day and Mary Ann Singleton track ... (Goodreads)
The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone
by Olivia Laing
A journey through the art world exploring themes of urban loneliness and creative connection.
Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism, ,#1 Book of the Year from Brain Pickings,, Named a best book of the year by NPR,, Newsweek, Slate, Pop Sugar,, Marie Claire,, Elle, ... (Barnes & Noble)
After Dark
by Haruki Murakami
A night in Tokyo filled with mysterious events and surreal encounters.
Set in metropolitan Tokyo over the course of one night, characters include Mari Asai, a 19-year-old student, who is spending the night reading in a Denny's . There she meets Takahashi Tetsuya, a ... (Wikipedia)
The Thin Man
by Dashiell Hammett
A retired detective called to investigate a mysterious murder.
The story is set in New York City in December 1932, in the last days of Prohibition. The main characters are a former private detective , Nick Charles and Nora, his clever young wife. Nick, son of a ... (Wikipedia)
Last Exit to Brooklyn
by Hubert Selby Jr.
A gritty, dark exploration of post-WWII life in Brooklyn and its inhabitants.
Few novels have caused as much debate as Hubert Selby Jr.'s notorious masterpiece, Last Exit to Brooklyn, and this Penguin Modern Classics edition includes an introduction by Irvine Welsh, author of ... (Goodreads)
Astro City, Vol. 1: Life in the Big City
by Kurt Busiek
An exploration of a vibrant city, populated by superheroes and everyday citizens.
Volumes 1-6 of Kurt Busiek's Astro City are collected in this volume that also includes a sketchbook showing the development of Astro City a cover gallery of cover paintings. ... (Goodreads)
Speedboat
by Renata Adler
A fragmented narrative of a journalist's life in New York City, exploring themes of identity, relationships, and the nature of truth.
One of the most acclaimed novels of the late 20th century is back., When members of the National Book Critics Circle were polled to see which book they would most like to see republished, they chose, ... (Goodreads)
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk
by Kathleen Rooney
An elderly woman's journey through the streets of New York, reflecting on her extraordinary life.
It’s the last day of 1984, and 85-year-old Lillian Boxfish is about to take a walk. As she traverses a grittier Manhattan, a city anxious after an attack by a still-at-large subway vigilante, she ... (Goodreads)
The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes
by Adrian Conan Doyle
The classic detective stories of the world's greatest sleuth, Sherlock Holmes.
From the son of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and one of America's greatest mystery writers, John Dickson Carr, comes twelve riveting tales based on incidents or elements of the unsolved cases of Sherlock ... (Goodreads)
In the Miso Soup
by Ryū Murakami
A tour guide leads a mysterious foreigner through the neon-lit nightlife of Tokyo.
Twenty-year-old Kenji is a Japanese "nightlife" guide for foreigners—he navigates, gaijin, men around the sex clubs and hostess bars of Tokyo . On December 29 he receives a phone call from an ... (Wikipedia)
A Strangeness in My Mind
by Orhan Pamuk
A story of a street vendor's life in Istanbul, exploring his dreams, disappointments and daily encounters.
A Strangeness In My Mind is a novel Orhan Pamuk has worked on for six years. It is the story of boza seller Mevlut, the woman to whom he wrote three years' worth of love letters, and their life in ... (Goodreads)
Zoo Station: The Story of Christiane F.
by Christiane Vera Felscherinow
An autobiographical account of a teenage girl's battle with addiction, amidst a chaotic and turbulent life.
13-year-old Christiane Felscherinow lives with her mother, younger sister, and her pet cat in their small apartment in an unkempt multi-storey, concrete social-housing building in a dull ... (Wikipedia)
Bright Lights, Big City
by Jay McInerney
A young man's journey of personal growth, navigating the chaos of New York City.
The story's narrator is a 24-year-old writer who works as a fact checker for a highbrow magazine for which he had once hoped to write. By night, he is a cocaine -using party-goer seeking to lose ... (Wikipedia)
Bleeding Edge
by Thomas Pynchon
A darkly comedic murder mystery set in a tech-driven New York City.
Thomas Pynchon brings us to New York in the early days of the internet It is 2001 in New York City, in the lull between the collapse of the dot-com boom and the terrible events of September 11th. ... (Goodreads)
Telegraph Avenue
by Michael Chabon
Two friends navigate life's obstacles to keep their record store afloat in a changing neighborhood.
Set in 2004, Archy Stallings, who is black, and Nat Jaffe, who is Jewish, are proprietors of Brokeland Records, a record shop located in north Oakland for twelve years. Their used vinyl business is ... (Wikipedia)
More Tales of the City
by Armistead Maupin
A group of colorful characters navigate life and love in 1970s San Francisco.
The story begins about a couple months from where Tales of the City ended. Michael ("Mouse") Tolliver and Mary Ann Singleton go on a cruise, thanks to money given to her by her former boss, Edgar ... (Wikipedia)
Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife
by Sam Savage
A rat in a Boston bookstore learns to read and becomes obsessed with literature, leading to a life of loneliness and self-discovery.
Firmin is an autobiography of a rat born, "with my eyes wide open", as the 13th child to an alcoholic mother rat with 12 nipples in the basement of a Boston bookshop in Scollay Square on November 9, ... (Wikipedia)
The Fortress of Solitude
by Jonathan Lethem
A young man's exploration of friendship, identity and belonging in a rapidly changing world.
From the prize-winning author of Motherless Brooklyn , a daring, riotous, sweeping novel that spins the tale of two friends and their adventures in late 20th-century America. This is the story of two ... (Goodreads)
Taxi
by Khaled Al Khamissi
A young man's chaotic journey through Cairo, exploring the complexities of urban life.
تاكسي: حواديت المشاوير الذي لاقى نجاحا نقديا وجماهيريا كبيرا وغير متوقع، فأثنى عليه الكثير من الكتاب والنقاد واستضافت مؤلفه عدد من البرامج التلفزيونية مثل العاشرة مساء والبيت بيتك والقاهرة اليوم، ... (Goodreads)
A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories
by Will Eisner
Collection of interweaving stories about the struggles and joys of life in an immigrant tenement in the Bronx.
Go back to where graphic novels all started, on the Bronx street of Dropsie Avenue and A Life Force, in Will Eisner's groundbreaking 1978 creation. The human drama, the psychological insight – Eisner ... (Goodreads)
Pop Goes the Weasel
by James Patterson
Detective Alex Cross investigates a serial killer targeting Washington D.C.
The book begins by introducing the villain, Geoffrey Shafer. He is a well-dressed and wealthy man who lives in Kalorama, Washington, D.C. and drives a Jaguar XJ 12. In the beginning, he rushes into ... (Wikipedia)
Lush Life
by Richard Price
A gripping crime mystery with a sprawling cast of characters, set in the heart of New York City.
" Price is the greatest writer of dialogue, living or dead, this country has ever produced. Wry, profane, hilarious, and tragic, sometimes in a single line, Lush Life is his masterwork. I doubt ... (Goodreads)
Sin City, Vol. 2: A Dame to Kill For
by Frank Miller
Dark and gritty tale of crime and revenge set in a corrupted city.
The second volume of Frank Miller's signature series is now planned as the lead story in the upcoming Sin City 2! This newly redesigned edition sports a new cover by Miller - some of his first comics ... (Goodreads)
Whispers Under Ground
by Ben Aaronovitch
A detective is tasked with solving a mysterious murder in the London Underground.
Constables Peter Grant and Lesley May, and Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale form the magical branch of the Metropolitan Police . Grant is called in for a murder investigation at the Baker ... (Wikipedia)
The Fuck-Up
by Arthur Nersesian
A young man's life spirals out of control as he struggles with addiction, relationships, and finding his place in the world.
Arthur Nersesian's underground literary treasure is an unforgettable slice of gritty New York City life. This is the darkly hilarious odyssey of an anonymous slacker. He's a perennial couch-surfer, ... (Goodreads)
Sunset Park
by Paul Auster
A group of young people's search for purpose and identity amidst the struggles of life.
Set during the American financial recession in 2008, the college dropout Miles Heller, who has been running from his past for seven years, is forced to leave his new girlfriend in Florida and return ... (Wikipedia)
The Rose That Grew from Concrete
by Tupac Shakur
A collection of poems and lyrics written by Tupac Shakur, showcasing his raw talent and introspective thoughts.
This collection of more than 100 poems that honestly and artfully confront topics ranging from poverty and motherhood to Van Gogh and Mandela is presented in Tupac Shakur's own handwriting on one ... (Goodreads)
Marcovaldo
by Italo Calvino
A man's struggles to survive in a modern city, observing the beauty of nature amidst hardships.
The Marcovaldo series depicts the life of a poor rural man with his family living in a big industrial city in northern Italy . The central character of Marcovaldo is an unskilled labourer for the ... (Wikipedia)
A Rage in Harlem
by Chester Himes
A young woman's gold heist in Harlem sets off a chain of events involving gangsters, corrupt cops, and a naive lover.
A Rage in Harlem is a ripping introduction to Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones, patrolling New York City’s roughest streets in Chester Himes’s groundbreaking Harlem Detectives series. For ... (Goodreads)
The Acid House
by Irvine Welsh
A collection of stories exploring the dark side of Edinburgh's working-class culture.
Description from the inside sleeve:, This scintillating, disturbing, and altogether outrageous collection of stories introduces to these shores a young writer already being called "the Scottish ... (Goodreads)
The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dreams
by Darcy Frey
A gripping account of high school basketball players in Coney Island, Brooklyn, and their pursuit of a better life through the sport.
It ought to be just a game, but basketball on the playgrounds of Coney Island is much more than that — for many young men it represents their only hope of escape from a life of crime, poverty, and ... (Goodreads)
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