Bibliography

This list contains citations for books that could be used as a basis for Essay 2, with short descriptions for each book. It is neither complete nor comprehensive.

BOOKS DESCRIPTIONS
Abrams, Linsey. Our History in New York: A Novel. New York, NY: Global City Press, 1995. ISBN: 9780964129207. A novel about gay and lesbian community in the city.
Baldwin, James. Go Tell It on the Mountain. New York, NY: Dial Press, 2000. ISBN: 9780385334570. A novel depicting life in Harlem at mid-century.
Barolini, Helen. Umbertina: A Novel. New York, NY: Feminist Press at CUNY, 1998. ISBN: 9781558612051. A classic novel that traces the experiences of immigrant women from Italy to New York City and across generations.
Bonanno, Joseph. A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno. New York, NY: St. Martin's, 2003. ISBN: 9780312979232. The story of one of the nation's most notorious gangsters.
Brown, Claude. Manchild in the Promised Land. New York, NY: Touchstone, 1999. ISBN: 9780684864181. The story of a young man's rise from the streets of Harlem.
Hodgson Burnett, Frances. Little Lord Fauntleroy. New York, NY: Scribner's, 1886. A fictional account of the life of a Brooklyn boy, which contrasts the poverty of New York City with the grandeur of England's aristocracy.
Cahan, Abraham. The Rise of David Levinsky. New York, NY: Harper & Brothers, 1917. The fictionalized story of a Russian Jewish immigrant who finds wealth but loses his religious and moral footing).
Chang, Leonard. The Fruit ‘n Food. Seattle, WA: Black Heron Press, 2010. ISBN: 9780930773793. A novel that boldly addresses the Korean immigrant experience and racial conflict in New York City.
Cohen, Rose. Out of the Shadow: A Russian Jewish Girlhood on the Lower East Side. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1995. ISBN: 9780801482687. [Originally published by George H. Doran Co., 1918.] The story of a Russian Jewish girl living in the Lower East Side.
di Donato, Pietro. Christ in Concrete. New York, NY: New American Library, 2004. ISBN: 9780451214218. [Originally published by Bobbs-Merrill, 1939.] An immigrant narrative about Italian workers in Depression-era Lower Manhattan.
DiMarco, Damon. Tower Stories: The Autobiography of September 11. Santa Monica, CA: Santa Monica Press, 2007. ISBN: 9781595800213. A compilation of reactions and experiences from a fairly broad demographic.
Fink, Mitchell. Never Forget: An Oral History of September 11, 2001. New York, NY: Regan Books, 2002. ISBN: 9780060514334. A journalist compiles interviews with survivors and other victims of the three attacks.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. A fictional account of a tragic romance that uses the early suburban-urban divide as a backdrop.
Helprin, Mark. Ellis Island & Other Stories. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, 2005. ISBN: 9780156030601. Short stories that include poignant glimpses of the Jewish immigration experience.
Jones, Allen. The Rat that Got Away: A Bronx Memoir. New York, NY: Fordham University Press, 2009. ISBN: 9780823231027. A teenager's journey from despair to a life he could never have imagined.
Kim, Suki. The Interpreter: A Novel. New York, NY: Picador, 2004. ISBN: 9780312422240. The dramatic story of a Korean American court interpreter who accidentally discovers her family's hidden and mysterious past.
Lorde, Audre. Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, A Biomythography. Freedom, CA: Crossing Press, 1982. ISBN: 9780895941220. The coming of age of the famed poet and author, examining her political, educational, sexual, and other identities.
Marshall, Paule. Brown Girl, Brownstones. New York, NY: Feminist Press at CUNY, 2006. ISBN: 9781558614987. An autobiographical novel about a Barbadian family's turmoil in mid-century Brooklyn as told through the eyes of the daughter.
Mazzucco, Melania. Vita: A Novel. New York, NY: Picador, 2006. ISBN: 9780312425869. The powerful story of two Italian youths who meet at Ellis Island in 1903 and survive a harsh introduction to the United States in New York's Little Italy.
McCourt, Frank. 'Tis: A Memoir. New York, NY: Scribner, 2000. ISBN: 9780684865744. An autobiographical account of the author's return to the United States in October 1949, and the long, difficult road from unskilled immigrant to Stuyvesant High School teacher to acclaimed author.
Mohr, Nicholasa. El Bronx Remembered. New York, NY: HarperTrophy, 1993. ISBN: 9780064471008. A collection of stories capturing the explosion of Puerto Rican culture in the mid-century South Bronx.
Ng, Mei. Eating Chinese Food Naked: A Novel. New York, NY: Scribner, 1998. ISBN: 9780671011451. A young Chinese American woman works through questions of identity and belonging after graduating college and returning to her family's Queens laundry business.
Rodriguez, Abraham, Jr. The Boy without a Flag: Tales of the South Bronx. Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions, 1999. ISBN: 9781571310286. A story of children growing up in the inner-city.
Santiago, Esmerelda. When I was Puerto Rican. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo, 2006. ISBN: 9780306814525. The autobiographical story of a young Latina's life in the city.
Santiago, Silviano. Stella Manhattan. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1994. ISBN: 9780822314981. The provocative fictional account of a young, gay Brazilian working through the politics of the exile community and the subculture of homosexuality.
Smith, Dennis. Report from Engine Co. 82. New York, NY: Grand Central Publishing, 1999. ISBN: 9780446675529. The autobiographical account of a white fireman in the 1970s South Bronx.
Thomas, Piri. Down These Mean Streets. New York, NY: Vintage, 1997. ISBN: 9780679781424. A Puerto Rican coming of age story with painful twists and departures from the model.
Van Vechten, Carl. Nigger Heaven. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2000. ISBN: 9780252068607. [Originally published by Alfred A. Knopf, 1926.] A voyeuristic account of black life from a white fellow-traveler of the Harlem Renaissance.
Wiesel, Elie. The Fifth Son. New York, NY: Schocken Books, 1998. ISBN: 9780805210835. The fictional account of a young American-born, Jewish man who learns the frightening secrets of his father's Holocaust experiences.