What Cities Play Characters in Your Favorite Books?

September 16, 2011 by Daniel Beyfuss

Join inReads’ own Felicia Pride for “Starring: the City,” a panel discussion in which three authors – Tayari Jones, Lynne Tillman, and Edmund White – discuss how a city itself can function as character and offer unique insights into the lives of its residents.  Manhattan, Baltimore, and Atlanta will be the focus of the discussion, which starts at 3:00 PM at the St. Francis Screening Room (180 Remsen Street) in Brooklyn.

Cities have long played an important role in literature and have become, for some authors, a vital part of the story.

James Ellroy, for example, has had a great deal of success setting his stories in the grim streets of Los Angeles’ crime-ridden underworld.

Anne Rice, in her Vampire Chronicles, wrote beautifully about her hometown of New Orleans, capturing not only the landscape, but also the cities mysterious and exotic culture.

Stephen King, who averages about two books an hour, writes mainly about Maine – not a city, of course, but you get the idea.

What are some of your favorite books where a city or particular place plays a prominent character?