Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Five novels that explore the dark side in New York City

At the Christian Science Monitor, Megan Wasson identified five classic novels that beautifully explore the dark side of life in New York City, including:
Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison

A milestone in American literature for its portrayal of racial divides, Invisible Man is also a biting insight into the New York culture of the 1940's. Ellison's unnamed protagonist travels from college in the deep South to menial jobs in the city, on to become spokesperson for various political parties in Harlem and, finally, to retreat from society altogether. Passionately written and filled with layers and layers of nuances and subtleties about New York culture, "Invisible Man" is a book you won't be able to put down.
Read about the other books on the list.

Invisible Man comes in second on the list of the 100 best last lines from novels; it appears among Peter Forbes's top ten books on color, Joyce Hackett's top ten musical novels, Sam Munson's six best stoner novels, and John Mullan's list of ten of the best nameless protagonists in literature.

--Marshal Zeringue