Manhattan Transfer

I’ll quote Sinclair Lewis: I regard “Manhattan Transfer” as more important in every way than anything by Gertrude Stein or Marcel Proust or even the great white boar, Mr. Joyce’s “Ulysses.” For Mr. Dos Passos can use, and deftly does use, all their experimental psychology and style, all their revolt against the molds of classic fiction. But the difference! Dos Passos is interesting!

Manhattan Transfer, my fourth-favorite book, is the first and last thing I’ve ever read that makes me think “yes, this is what living in a city is like.” It’s Nighthawks on the page. It’s good.