One of the ways I most easily connect with cities before visiting them is by reading about them. My partner and I are currently considering moving to a new city in the U.S. which has me hunting for books about featuring the cities we're considering.
However there are so many books out there that romanticize a city rather than accurately capture what it feels like to be there.
To give an example, I grew up in South Florida. Randy Wayne White would love for you to believe the area is a gilded beach with a dark underbelly and people with dark backgrounds. He's wrong as shit. Carl Hiassen, on the other hand perfectly captures just how non-sensical South Florida is and how goofy, and often self-aggrandizing its people are.
What are some books or authors you've read which left you feeling like a city/town/village you know was accurately captured?
by FeedMeEthereum
1 Comment
Take a look at the Tales of the City series. Maupin does a good job describing the city of San Francisco. Just note that the books are older (the first from 1978), so I don’t know how true to life they are now.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is an excellent portrayal of Savannah.
Most Pat Conroy books do a great job describing the southern mentality.