A Town Without Time: Gay Talese's New York

(Hardback)

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From legendary journalist Gay Talese, a collection of his greatest reporting on New York City.

Along with Joan Didion, Norman Mailer, Tom Wolfe and others, Mr. Talese has been acclaimed as a virtuoso of the novelistic New Journalism.Wall Street Journal

They fly in quietlyunnoticed, like the cats, the ants, the doorman with three bullets in his head, and most of the other offbeat wonders in this town without time. fromNew York Is a City of Things Unnoticed, Taleses firstEsquirestory,1960

For over six decades, Gay Talese has told New York stories. They are the stories of daring bridge builders, disappearing gangsters, intrepidVogueeditors, unassuming doormen whove seen too much. They areset inthe star-studded salons of George Plimptons apartment, inthe tense newsroom of a still burgeoningNew York Times, in anelectric studio session with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga recording their debut.

With the wit, elegance, and depth of insight that has long characterized his work, Taleses New York reporting showcases a master of the form at his finest, making intelligible the citys vibrant beating pulse, capturing the charming, the eccentric, and the overlooked. Whether prowling the night streets to discover the social hierarchy of alley cats, or uncovering the triumph and terror of building the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, or plunging into the hidden, sordid world of a recently blown-up apartment building, Talese excavates the city around him with a reporters eye and an artists flair, crafting delightful, profound, indelible portraits of the people who live there. Spanning the 1950s to today, the fourteen pieces in this collection are a time capsule of what New York once was and still isTalese proves time and time again that, even as the citychanges, his view of it remains as timeless as ever.

Reviews

Bartleby and Me is an ambler, in which [Talese] appears to give his finger to the form by filigreeing a couple of his ironclad hits and then tacking on a new gargoyle of a tale.Its a plot for the ages. New York Times Book Review Taleses conversational styleopenhanded, easygoing, characterized by fact-rich yet perfectly balanced sentencesinvites the reader to sit back and relax. His book proved just the right tonic for my downcast spirits. Washington Post on Bartleby and Me A smooth and enchanting wordsmith, Talese delivers a lovely testament to the unobtrusive if not kindred Bartleby personalities of New York City. Its a delight. Publishers Weekly New readers will discover an astute observer. . . . Candid testimony from a new-journalism icon. Kirkus Reviews on Bartleby and Me [A] virtuoso of the novelistic New Journalism. Now 91, he has published a short and charming second memoir, Bartleby and Me. [ending] with a previously unpublished piece about Nicholas Bartha, the 66-year-old internist who blew up his 19th-century Neo-Grecian townhouse on Manhattans Upper East Side in July 2006with himself in it. The meticulously reported accountincluding a fascinating social history of the property at 34 E. 62nd St.shows that Mr. Talese has lost none of his artistry. Over seven decades, from apprentice journalist to master of the form, Gay Talese can take pride that he did it his way. Wall Street Journal

Author Bio

Gay Talese was credited by Tom Wolfe with the creation of an inventive form of nonfiction writing called The New Journalism. He spent his early career at theNew York Times, then moved toEsquire, where he produced some of the most celebrated magazine pieces ever written, including Frank Sinatra Has a Cold, whichVanity Fairhas called the greatest literary-nonfiction story of the twentieth century. His books includeThe Kingdom and the Power,Honor Thy Father,Thy Neighbors Wife,Unto the Sons, andThe Voyeurs Motel. Born in Ocean City, New Jersey, in 1932, Talese lives with his wife, Nan, in New York City. They have two daughters, Pamela and Catherine.