Christopher Morley’s New York

A collection of fifty-five essays, written mostly in the mid-twenties but with some later examples as well, Christopher Morley’s New York presents in rich, evocative detail New York at the end of World War I - that heady time after the doughboys returned, the Twenties got roaring, the Volstead Act found itself thwarted, and a lot of progressive life got on with its business before running into the wall of the Great Depression. In the first section of the book, East Side, West Side, All Around the Town, we experience New York just as Morley did: through its bookstores, restaurants, taverns, waterfronts, and other locales that lent the city its unique, rough-and-tumble character. But we’re also treated to a vivid picture of Christopher Morley himself, particularly in the next section, The Three Hours for Lunch Club, in which Morley’s gusto in food, drink, companionship, conversation, and general bonhomie is plainly evident. Finally, in the last section, we experience another, suburban New York: Roslyn, Long Island, where for years Morley lived with his wife and family. Contrasted with the vulgar beauty of the city, the natural splendor Morley encountered on Long Island is particularly affecting.

This attractive volume is enhanced by the evocative period illustrations of Walter Jack Duncan, who illustrated so many Morley first editions.