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The essentials: Top ten books about New York City

By Jamshid Mousavinezhad | amNY.com

5:16 PM EDT, October 30, 2007

Required reading for anyone who wants to really know New York

The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton, 1920.
An insider's look at the city's upper class in the 1870s, wrapped around a gentleman's love story.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith, 1943.

The coming-of-age tale of a girl and her Irish-American family in early 20th-century Brooklyn.

Here is New York, E.B. White, 1949.
The quintessential New Yorker contributor's love letter to the street-level characters and quirky institutions that give the city its energy.

Franny and Zooey, J.D. Salinger, 1961.
A novelette that unfolds through the precocious conversations and bickering of young Manhattan siblings and their family.

The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs, 1961.
With Greenwich Village as her model, Jacobs lays out the case against modern urban planning in favor of organic neighborhoods.

The Power Broker, Robert Caro, 1974.
The definitive Robert Moses biography mixes a psychological portrait of the larger-than-life man with an account of his monumental building projects.

Ragtime, E.L. Doctorow, 1975.
The inventive saga of three families whose stories mirror that of the country through the entry of the U.S. into WWI.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Michael Chabon, 2000.
A frenetic story of two young men who live out their dream of creating comic books, pitting good vs. evil as the country grapples with WWII.

AIA Guide to New York City, Norval White and Elliot Willensky, 2000.
The Manhattan-centric fourth edition of the erudite tome lays out the architectural significance--or lack thereof--of the city's buildings.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning, Jonathan Mahler, 2005.
What's more New York than the Yankees, Son of Sam, and a citywide blackout--three story lines that defined 1977 and an entire era?