Description
New York, 1980: a young writer arrives with more dreams than money. Before Paris to the Moon made him famous, Adam Gopnik was just another hopeful landing in Manhattan — with Martha Parker, the woman who would become his wife, and a determination to make a life at the center of American culture. At the Strangers’ Gate is his memoir of that arrival.
Gopnik writes about New York the way he once wrote about Paris: with curiosity, affection, and a sharp eye for the people who define a place. His cast includes Richard Avedon, the legendary photographer who befriended him, plus artists, editors, and eccentrics who taught him how the city works — rented rooms, impossible landlords, and all. His New York is as lovingly observed as his Paris ever was — and funnier, too.
Charming and rueful. For New York lovers and anyone who ever arrived somewhere young and hungry.
Before Paris to the Moon made him famous, Adam Gopnik was just another young writer arriving in New York with more dreams than money. At the Strangers’ Gate is his memoir of that arrival — 1980, when he came to the city with Martha Parker, the woman who would become his wife, and set out to make a life at the very center of American culture.
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nGopnik writes about New York the way he once wrote about Paris: with curiosity, affection, and a sharp eye for the people who define a place. Here his cast includes Richard Avedon, the legendary photographer who befriended him, and a host of artists, editors, and eccentrics who taught him how the city works. There are rented rooms and impossible landlords, fledgling careers and late-night conversations — the whole beautiful, precarious business of starting out.
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nBut this is more than nostalgia. It is a meditation on what cities give us and what they ask in return, and on how an arrival can shape a life. Warm, funny, and quietly wise, it is essential reading for anyone who has ever moved somewhere to become someone.
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nPublished in 2017, it pairs perfectly with Paris to the Moon — though it stands beautifully on its own.
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