READ THIS: Only In New York: An Exploration of the World's Most Fascinating, Frustrating, and Irrepressible City by Sam Roberts

Straight off the bat, this is a very appropriate Whom You Know book as it is Manhattan-centric!  A compilation of Sam Robert's greatest stories, Only In New York emphasizes how the non-normal is normal here.  Our unending fascination of Manhattan, its history and of course its present times led us to devour the book and we just loved it.  With a name like Whom You Know, of course we liked the story with the semi-colon the most. We are serious about the English language!  

Sam Robers has written about New York for ten percent of its history, so we are listening to quite the story teller in reading Only In New York.  We were pleased to learn that more people in New York claim Irish ancestry than any other city in the world including Dublin, so Peachy Deegan was pleased to see we're in the right place. 

Did you know that the author of The Wizard of Oz is a New Yorker?  Did you know that there are 90 men for every 100 women here?  However, for every 100 women living in lower Manhattan there are 126 men.

Did you know that living in Manhattan may be good for your health?  We particularly liked that story.  People in MANHATTAN are less obese regardless of race or income.  Check out our column See Manhattan on Your Feet.  Mayor Bloomberg's ban on smoking is deserving of accolades as well.

Zip code drama, History Lessons such as the importance of November 25, and many fun anecdotal topics are covered much to our delight.  Whatever your favorite parts of New York are, this book will surely delight you as it appeals to anyone that likes New York.

For 40 years, Sam Roberts has been covering what makes New York City tick.  From the power brokers to the oddball on the street corner, he considers the puzzling questions about this city that most people never would have thought to ask in print and in his popular New York Times podcasts.  With a foreword by Pete Hamill, ONLY IN NEW YORK: An Exploration of the World's Most Fascinating, Frustrating and Irrepressible City (St. Martin’s Press/ October 27, 2009/ Trade Hardcover/ 0-312-38777-6/ $23.99) collects 70 self-contained essays that take a stand on what makes New York unique—offering insights that will surprise New Yorkers and out-of-towners alike.  

Roberts draws on his experience as a lifetime New Yorker and his four prize-winning decades of interviews and insights gleaned from covering the city and its rollercoaster evolution through the worst and best of times to tackle questions:    

• Are there really more women than men living and working in New York?
• How were President Obama’s views shaped as an undergraduate at Columbia?
• Why wasn’t the cross-town street grid imposed according to the compass? 
• Is it noisier in New York City or in the country?
• Why do we have doormen?

  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 Sam Roberts has been The New York Times Urban Affairs Correspondent since 2005.  Before that, he was deputy editor of The New York Times “Week In Review” section and Urban Affairs Columnist, writing the column “Metro Matters” which appeared on the front page of the metropolitan section.  Prior to joining The New York Times in 1983, Sam worked for 15 years at The Daily News, first as a reporter, then as city editor from 1977 to 1981 and as political editor from 1981 to 1983. 

In his years as a journalist, Mr. Roberts has won awards from the Society of the Silurians, the Newspaper Guild of New York and received the Peter Kihss Award from the Fund for the City of New York.  His magazine articles have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, New Republic, New York, and Empire State Report.  He is author of Who We Are: A Portrait of America, Who We Are Now, A Kind of Genius and The Brother, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. 

You can also find Sam’s work on television as the host of “The New York Times Close Up,” an hour-long weekly news and interview program on New York 1, which he inaugurated in 1992 and is produced in association with The New York Times.   

 

 

Only In New York

An Exploration of the World's Most Fascinating,

Frustrating and Irrepressible City

By Sam Roberts

St Martin’s Press/ Trade Hardcover

0-312-38777-6/ $23.99/ 304 pgs

October 27, 2009