Status
Available
Call number
Publication
London : Corsair, 2015.
Description
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award Finalist Young Martin Dressler begins his career as an industrious helper in his father's cigar store. In the course of his restless young manhood, he makes a swift and eventful rise to the top, accompanied by two sisters--one a dreamlike shadow, the other a worldly business partner. As the eponymous Martin's vision becomes bolder and bolder he walks a haunted line between fantasy and reality, madness and ambition, art and industry, a sense of doom builds piece-by-hypnotic piece until this mesmerizing journey into the heart of an American dreamer reaches its bitter-sweet conclusion.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Smiler69
I tackled this this Pulitzer-winning book with as little expectations as possible, and enjoyed the first part, describing Martin's continuous rise as a precocious entrepreneur. The descriptions of New York city and some of the groundbreaking innovations at the turn of the century were wonderful, as
By the time we read about Martin erecting one hotel after another and filling each one with more and more novelties, I was intrigued at first but this ongoing list of features quickly grew tedious. I started empathizing with Martin's wife Caroline then, wishing only to go to sleep. The next morning I woke up with the book resting on me, and started reading where I'd left off, only to realize I had in fact finished the book it in the night. The ending had so failed to make an impression on me that I'd simply forgotten all about it.
Lesson learned (yet again): an award-winning book is not a guarantee of a great read.
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was the cast of characters who seemed colourful enough to me. By the time we read about Martin erecting one hotel after another and filling each one with more and more novelties, I was intrigued at first but this ongoing list of features quickly grew tedious. I started empathizing with Martin's wife Caroline then, wishing only to go to sleep. The next morning I woke up with the book resting on me, and started reading where I'd left off, only to realize I had in fact finished the book it in the night. The ending had so failed to make an impression on me that I'd simply forgotten all about it.
Lesson learned (yet again): an award-winning book is not a guarantee of a great read.
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LibraryThing member kazzablanca
The perfect book for fantasy-loving architects. A lot of detailed description of incredible, surreal architecture.
The characters didn't seem to go anywhere, though. Idiosyncracies were observed but not explored, life choices were made with no care whatsoever. I found that the protagonist's lack of
The characters didn't seem to go anywhere, though. Idiosyncracies were observed but not explored, life choices were made with no care whatsoever. I found that the protagonist's lack of
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effort spilled over onto me as the reader, and I soon found it too much of an effort to care about his decisions. This was fortunate, as he seemed to stop making decisions about halfway through the book and the storyline seemed to peter out to an anti-climactic end. Show Less
LibraryThing member MiserableLibrarian
Martin Dressler is a young man at the turn of the twentieth century with big ideas. After working in his father’s shop, he gradually works his way up the economic ladder, eventually building and owning several major hotels in New York City. His relationships with his sickly, introverted wife and
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her lively but less-attractive sister underscore his ultimate failure, his too-large dreams unrealized through his unrealistic attempts to make the “outside world” unnecessary. Show Less
LibraryThing member agnesmack
I'm glad that I didn't know much about this book before I read it. If I had known how much mythology and how many famous parables were included, I likely wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much. I have this thought that I don't like fantasy or magical realism, but I'm finding that there are more
The book takes place in the '30s and begins with young Martin Dressler working in his father's cigar store. As time (and the book) carries on, he takes a job at a local hotel, opens a cigar shop in its lobby, is promoted within the motel, opens his own chain of diners and achieves many other layers of success. With each added success, Martin is increasingly surprised at just how far he's gotten and continues to shoot even higher. So high, in fact, that he eventually falls.
This book is written like a biography. While there is dialouge dispersed throughout, it's told in a very linear way and I was left feeling that the author was mostly guessing at his characters emotions.
There are many themes throughout this book, but the one that stuck with me the most is of Martin as a dreamer. He begins modestly but takes on such feats as opening a city within a hotel. This hotel has many levels underground, complete with full city blocks, zoos, theater districts, parks with ponds and on and on. He also befriends two ladies. One of them he marries, one of them he respects. We're left watching his failed marriage and wishing that he'd married the one he clearly cared about. However, he is not interested in the practical. His hunger is only for the oft silent beautiful sister.
In summation, I enjoyed this book very much. I'm interested to read more from this author and if I didn't already have many books in queue, I would probably re-read this one to get more of a feel for some of the myths I missed the first time.
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exceptions to this rule than I'd thought. This book was certainly an example of one of those exceptions.The book takes place in the '30s and begins with young Martin Dressler working in his father's cigar store. As time (and the book) carries on, he takes a job at a local hotel, opens a cigar shop in its lobby, is promoted within the motel, opens his own chain of diners and achieves many other layers of success. With each added success, Martin is increasingly surprised at just how far he's gotten and continues to shoot even higher. So high, in fact, that he eventually falls.
This book is written like a biography. While there is dialouge dispersed throughout, it's told in a very linear way and I was left feeling that the author was mostly guessing at his characters emotions.
There are many themes throughout this book, but the one that stuck with me the most is of Martin as a dreamer. He begins modestly but takes on such feats as opening a city within a hotel. This hotel has many levels underground, complete with full city blocks, zoos, theater districts, parks with ponds and on and on. He also befriends two ladies. One of them he marries, one of them he respects. We're left watching his failed marriage and wishing that he'd married the one he clearly cared about. However, he is not interested in the practical. His hunger is only for the oft silent beautiful sister.
In summation, I enjoyed this book very much. I'm interested to read more from this author and if I didn't already have many books in queue, I would probably re-read this one to get more of a feel for some of the myths I missed the first time.
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LibraryThing member Big_Bang_Gorilla
In which a humble hotel functionary dreams of architectural grandeur as he goes about his quotidian duties. This is an outstanding book; the author is able to ground a story in period detail from the Edwardian period whilst using a narrative which is anything but conventional to produce vast prose
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poems which draw you into the protagonist's alternate world without you the reader realizing it until it's too late. Show Less
LibraryThing member Sarahfine
A little dry at times, this novel describes the rise and fall of Martin Dressler, an ingenouos entrepreneur who has a knack for making money, and uses his skills to create his dream hotel/living space. The text feels quintessentially American, and very much of the time in which it is set...when the
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onset of electricity and automobiles was luring Americans away from their cozy parlors, gas lamps and horse-drawn carriages. The book, like it's namesake, is very concerned with the advancement of the new, and how it can coexist with the antiquated to provide familiarity along-side convenience. Show Less
LibraryThing member cacky
Filled with wonderful, image-oriented writing.
LibraryThing member LauraJWRyan
Although it's been a couple of years since I read Martin Dressler it has stuck with me, and I catch myself making references to it when talking about that mall expansion project (the mall to no where it seems)...or any nutty contractor nightmare that gloms everything from hotel, shopping mall,
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restaurant, zoo, botanical gardens, circus and casino into one massive concrete and steel city within a city...these places are ridiculous. It's a mysterious book, I simply love it for what it is, and Steven Millhauser has a keen grasp of language that is magical. Show Less
LibraryThing member BobNolin
I must have missed something, because I just did not get this book. I continued reading it mainly because I'm researching the period for a novel, and his descriptions of New York in 1890-1905 were well done. The narrative portions about the city and Dressler's rise were good. The part about his
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sleeping-through-life wife were totally skippable. They added nothing to this book, in my opinion, though I'm sure the author had something in mind here. I just have no idea what it was. Another criticism was that, as realistic as the details were, the easy rise to success was not believable. It seemed too easy...like a dream. Which may be a clue. Hard to see what purpose this book was supposed to serve. Show Less
LibraryThing member figre
I was blown away by Millhauser’s short story collection Dangerous Laughter. Throw in the fact that this novel won the Pulitzer Prize, and I was really looking forward to this one.
Meh. What we have is the story of a man (Martin Dressler) who wants to build bigger and bigger buildings. The world
Meh
Meh. What we have is the story of a man (Martin Dressler) who wants to build bigger and bigger buildings. The world
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doesn’t understand those buildings, but accepts them until he just goes too far. The world then rejects his buildings. When Dressler is not involved in building those dreams, his life just kind of happens to him. Number one example - a disastrous marriage that he initiates (kind of) and then just happens. Similarly, this book just kind of happens. It breezes through some things and dwells far too long on other excruciating details. And I was left not feeling sorry for Dressler, not feeling he got what he deserved, in fact, not feeling anything. So, the final result is, well, I guess I already said it…Meh
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LibraryThing member Ifland
As in Millhauser’s previous books, this book recreates the origin of something specifically American—this time not the department store, but the chain restaurant and the modern hotel, built atop a labyrinth of luxury stores. If any other writer would have written a novel on this subject, Martin
Like in “Paradise Park” and “The Dream of the Consortium” from The Knife Thrower, Dressler’s desire to build ever more spectacular hotels that would enclose the entire world within their walls, becomes a desire to find a total replica or a perfect copy of the real world: a hotel where you could find the pleasures of the countryside or of nature or of high culture without the inconveniences of travel. A pre-Las Vegas. One could even say that Dressler’s project to build a Grand Cosmo, a hotel that would rival the world itself and ultimately make it superfluous is…the Internet. The dream of a magic world ends up becoming a perversion, the perversion of a soul always hungry for something bigger.
Millhauser’s books are not always liked by the “average reader” because for most people it is hard to move back and forth between a realist esthetics and one rooted in symbols, and this is what reading Millhauser requires. His books are apparently realist, but it is a faux realism because they all have a higher, symbolic level, and often are modern fables. But ultimately what makes him a great writer is his incantatory style, the dream-like atmosphere emanating from his prose.
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Dressler would have been simply a boring businessman, but Millhauser’s genius is to know that the origin of most things is ambivalent. He is also a first-rate anthropologist of Americana, and knows that this is the only society where pragmatism, action, and a business-like view of life are (or rather, once were) not necessarily the opposite—as in all other societies—but the other face of a dreamer’s vision. Thus, Martin Dressler is the archetype of this paradoxical and specifically American union. For Dressler, building a modern hotel is a project meant to create a world into itself, a magic world that would link together various small, separate elements. In other words, something akin to a novel. Like in “Paradise Park” and “The Dream of the Consortium” from The Knife Thrower, Dressler’s desire to build ever more spectacular hotels that would enclose the entire world within their walls, becomes a desire to find a total replica or a perfect copy of the real world: a hotel where you could find the pleasures of the countryside or of nature or of high culture without the inconveniences of travel. A pre-Las Vegas. One could even say that Dressler’s project to build a Grand Cosmo, a hotel that would rival the world itself and ultimately make it superfluous is…the Internet. The dream of a magic world ends up becoming a perversion, the perversion of a soul always hungry for something bigger.
Millhauser’s books are not always liked by the “average reader” because for most people it is hard to move back and forth between a realist esthetics and one rooted in symbols, and this is what reading Millhauser requires. His books are apparently realist, but it is a faux realism because they all have a higher, symbolic level, and often are modern fables. But ultimately what makes him a great writer is his incantatory style, the dream-like atmosphere emanating from his prose.
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LibraryThing member A.E.Rex
Curious, as in strange, but addictingly so.
LibraryThing member arouse77
this was a strange little book all around. charged with an understated but tangible fervor for capitalism, architecture, and sex it hinted ineffectually at the themes and thrust of Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead."
it seems young Martin Dressler can do no wrong. everything at which he sets his hand is
as he sails through his strange life, Martin mounts new heights of success and attempts increasingly ambitious undertakings along the way. yet all of this seems to happen without any real motive force driving his actions. it is almost as if things vaguely occur to him, he does them, and then they are wildly successful for no apparent reason. it is a singularly uninteresting way to watch events unfold.
near the end of this novel it takes on a strangely esoteric tone which is totally out of step with all that came before it in the book. we foray from a fairly believable 19th century landscape into an improbable past where nothing we have been led to expect seems true any longer.
even the eventual ruin of the main character leaves one feeling ambivalent at best. since triumph came so easily, it is hard to muster much sympathy for his fall. his unswerving devotion to his last venture seems strange and without real purpose, except to see to the end of his unbridled success.
i read this book in the course of one evening and found it almost utterly without merit. had i had something else at hand, i doubt i would have bothered to finish it.
it seems young Martin Dressler can do no wrong. everything at which he sets his hand is
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wildly successful. as such, he seems to have no character or depth. he has standards to which he adheres, but they seem to have no real origin or function.as he sails through his strange life, Martin mounts new heights of success and attempts increasingly ambitious undertakings along the way. yet all of this seems to happen without any real motive force driving his actions. it is almost as if things vaguely occur to him, he does them, and then they are wildly successful for no apparent reason. it is a singularly uninteresting way to watch events unfold.
near the end of this novel it takes on a strangely esoteric tone which is totally out of step with all that came before it in the book. we foray from a fairly believable 19th century landscape into an improbable past where nothing we have been led to expect seems true any longer.
even the eventual ruin of the main character leaves one feeling ambivalent at best. since triumph came so easily, it is hard to muster much sympathy for his fall. his unswerving devotion to his last venture seems strange and without real purpose, except to see to the end of his unbridled success.
i read this book in the course of one evening and found it almost utterly without merit. had i had something else at hand, i doubt i would have bothered to finish it.
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LibraryThing member EdwardC
One of the few Pulitzer Prize-winning novels that I thought was truly worthy of a Pulitzer.
LibraryThing member Kelberts
Reviews of this book run the gamut from fantastic to awful. I think the reason why is because this is a story that operates on multiple levels.
First, and most obvious, it's a rags to riches story about a nondescript young man whose hard work, despite lack of education, vision and willingness to
The story as a dream is also effective - there is symbolism, interpretation, wild ideas that don't always make sense (including the sleepy wife Caroline).
In a minor way, it's also a walk through historic, pre-subway New York, and the descriptions of the city as it would have been at that time are fun to imagine.
It's an unusual, unique story that doesn't necessarily fit the classic novel style. Read it with no preconceived notions.
First, and most obvious, it's a rags to riches story about a nondescript young man whose hard work, despite lack of education, vision and willingness to
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take a risk results in magnificent architectural feats - the American Dream, so to speak. The operative word, however, is Dream. Those readers caught up in the economics story will find the ending unsatisfying because Martin is a dreamer, not necessarily a Rockefeller, Carnegie or Gates.The story as a dream is also effective - there is symbolism, interpretation, wild ideas that don't always make sense (including the sleepy wife Caroline).
In a minor way, it's also a walk through historic, pre-subway New York, and the descriptions of the city as it would have been at that time are fun to imagine.
It's an unusual, unique story that doesn't necessarily fit the classic novel style. Read it with no preconceived notions.
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LibraryThing member mydomino1978
This book wasn't unpleasant, and Dressler's dreams (which he makes come true) are cutting edge for the time. But, nothing happens. This book is primarily about his drives (both mental and physical) and his inability to be satisfied no matter what he achieves. I am not sure why this won a Pulitzer
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either. This is on my shelf waiting to be traded, as I am sure I won't want to re-read it, EVER Show Less
LibraryThing member chrisgarofano
I thought that this book was pretty good. The fact that Millhauser is a Skidmore proffesor definitely made it an interesting book to read and I thought that the plot was pretty good. It wasn't the type of book that you "can't put down" but it was a fairly good read. Personally I thought that
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towards the end when Martin builds the Dressler and the New Dressler things begin to get a bit jumbled and confusing. All of the details about the hotels sort of start to meld and it seems as though Martin is in way over his head. Overall I thought the book was okay but I probably won't read it again. Show Less
LibraryThing member hemlokgang
This Pulitzer Prize winning novel is deceptively simplistic. The tale of a dreamer and the American Dream, the story builds consistently to what may be considered a predictable ending. However, the final trajectory of the story was reminiscent of "Atlas Shrugged" in its stunning and thought
The themes in the novel include: dream v. reality and the ability to become lost in either of them, creativity, ambition, the American Dream v. the American dreamer, the trajectory of New York City in the late 1800s. Excellent read!
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provoking conclusion.The themes in the novel include: dream v. reality and the ability to become lost in either of them, creativity, ambition, the American Dream v. the American dreamer, the trajectory of New York City in the late 1800s. Excellent read!
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LibraryThing member KristySP
I don't know what to think of this book--it wasn't bad, or even flawed...but it wasn't great either. I loved the turn of the century period details. The amount of historic research that must have gone into this book is amazing. l also like the idea of a novel about a "dreamer" who pushes his
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success and efficiency to such fantastical limits (Dressler seeks to create cities within cities, combining museums, amusement parks, theaters, etc. within collossal, hotel-like structures that take up blocks of New York streets.) But there was something missing in this story that I can't quite put my finger on...I can't tell if it's a problem with the narrative or if it was done intentionally. The character of Martin Dressler is very unlikable and almost completely without emotion. He has no heart or soul--only his desire to succeed, to create the ultimate, transcendent building. His relationships with women play a big role in the novel, but they were totally baffling and rather unbelievable. I don't know. I didn't dislike it---it's a very entertaining, easy read, despite some rather long winded descriptions. But there's just something I'm not getting....did anyone else read this? Thoughts? Show Less
LibraryThing member msf59
“...Was there then something wrong with him, that he couldn't just rest content? Must he always be dreaming up improvements? And it seemed to Martin that if only he could imagine something else, something great, something greater, something as great as the whole world, then he might rest
The setting is New York City, in the late 19th century. Martin Dressler is a teenager with big ideas and even bigger dreams, as he toils industriously at his father’s cigar shop. In his mid-teens he finds work at a famous hotel landmark and quickly begins to move up in the world.
By his early 20s, he owns a string of restaurants. During this rise, he has befriended a pair of sisters- one he marries and one becomes a business partner.
This novel is an odd mix of the mundane and the fantastical, as Martin’s dreams become mystically grotesque, growing so unwieldy and unlikely that he is destined for a downfall. I was reminded of the over-indulgences of Citizen Kane. The first two- thirds of the book is fairly conventional and well-written. For me, in the final third, as the American Dream begins to implode, the narrative falters. That might have been the author’s intention but it was a failing in the story for me. Guardedly recommended.
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awhile.”The setting is New York City, in the late 19th century. Martin Dressler is a teenager with big ideas and even bigger dreams, as he toils industriously at his father’s cigar shop. In his mid-teens he finds work at a famous hotel landmark and quickly begins to move up in the world.
By his early 20s, he owns a string of restaurants. During this rise, he has befriended a pair of sisters- one he marries and one becomes a business partner.
This novel is an odd mix of the mundane and the fantastical, as Martin’s dreams become mystically grotesque, growing so unwieldy and unlikely that he is destined for a downfall. I was reminded of the over-indulgences of Citizen Kane. The first two- thirds of the book is fairly conventional and well-written. For me, in the final third, as the American Dream begins to implode, the narrative falters. That might have been the author’s intention but it was a failing in the story for me. Guardedly recommended.
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LibraryThing member Pharmacdon
The story is based in New York City at the turn of the 20th century, where there are interesting side glances at how the city was changing during that period.
The book’s title is “Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer.” There are some scenes in the book where Martin is dreaming, in
Martin was a hard-working person from the beginning when he worked at his father’s cigar shop and became a bellboy at a hotel nearby. He grew and learned the hotel business and was going up the ladder of responsibilities and jobs at the hotel, where he eventually was asked to become the assistant manager. He balked because he was developing a restaurant in the area and decided to put his full attention to that endeavor, which was successful and essentially became a restaurant chain.
We follow Martin as he works hard and dreams big.
He met at the hotel where he stayed and eventually became friends with three females, a mother and two daughters. One of the daughters was friendly and eventually became a business associate, which Martin relied heavily on for advice. The other daughter was shy and remote and hardly spoke with the four of them got together, which was often. He eventually decided to marry the shy daughter. She never changed her behavior after the wedding. She is almost dreamlike in the book because of her reclusiveness and diffident demeanor.
While this was going on, Martin sold his restaurant chain and decided to the hotel where he used to work as a bell boy and modernize it. When this was successful, he eventually built three more hotels. The first two were huge successes, whereas the last one made was not. Included in these hotels was a Disney vibe, besides adding various shops, including a department store several stories below street level. At his third hotel, the Disney-type of entertainment went off the rails and became more of a sideshow at the circus.
Martin finally realizes that his hotel is failing and people aren’t interested in his “dream” hotel.
The story ends with Martin in the park across the street from his hotel and mentally watching it deteriorate. Still, it seems he is already dreaming of his next project. “Life is but a dream.”
The book’s title is “Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer.” There are some scenes in the book where Martin is dreaming, in
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and out of reality, as if he is half asleep and half awake.Martin was a hard-working person from the beginning when he worked at his father’s cigar shop and became a bellboy at a hotel nearby. He grew and learned the hotel business and was going up the ladder of responsibilities and jobs at the hotel, where he eventually was asked to become the assistant manager. He balked because he was developing a restaurant in the area and decided to put his full attention to that endeavor, which was successful and essentially became a restaurant chain.
We follow Martin as he works hard and dreams big.
He met at the hotel where he stayed and eventually became friends with three females, a mother and two daughters. One of the daughters was friendly and eventually became a business associate, which Martin relied heavily on for advice. The other daughter was shy and remote and hardly spoke with the four of them got together, which was often. He eventually decided to marry the shy daughter. She never changed her behavior after the wedding. She is almost dreamlike in the book because of her reclusiveness and diffident demeanor.
While this was going on, Martin sold his restaurant chain and decided to the hotel where he used to work as a bell boy and modernize it. When this was successful, he eventually built three more hotels. The first two were huge successes, whereas the last one made was not. Included in these hotels was a Disney vibe, besides adding various shops, including a department store several stories below street level. At his third hotel, the Disney-type of entertainment went off the rails and became more of a sideshow at the circus.
Martin finally realizes that his hotel is failing and people aren’t interested in his “dream” hotel.
The story ends with Martin in the park across the street from his hotel and mentally watching it deteriorate. Still, it seems he is already dreaming of his next project. “Life is but a dream.”
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LibraryThing member jeffome
Enjoyed the beginning journey of Martin on his life quest of betterment.....his bold, fearless willingness to plunge, and deeply i might add, into entrepreneurial endeavors, most of which were rather successful, allowing him to continue his 'upward' journey. Just lots of hard work, dedication,
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grit, courage, & of course, funds he was able to have at his disposal. But as he matured, his judge of character seemed to waver....especially where women were concerned. His obsession with Caroline seemed ridiculous to me from the start, and it became almost as absurd a she herself. That absurdity began to eat away at the believability quotient. It was also at this point that the story began to wonder into 'disbelief' territory. So, the longer the book went, the less i cared for anything that happened. The striking detail crammed into delightfully short chapters was great, and Martin's rise was initially interesting and i was totally on his side.....but then........well.......3 stars is somewhat generous for me for this. Pulitzer Prize? That is a surprise....but some years, the choices are not as good as others. I'll be interested to now read what everyone else thinks. Show Less
LibraryThing member deeEhmm
Crafted with great skill and attention to detail, often to dizzying effect. I didn't enjoy the main character's journey much, though.
LibraryThing member SeriousGrace
Martin Dressler, the ambitious son of a cigar maker, has big dreams even as a young child. He starts by delivering cigars for his father and finds an ingenious way to make profits soar. As a teenager, he starts his career employed as a young hotel bellhop. He catches the eye of the hotel owner and
This is not a coming of age story. Readers watch as Martin goes through childhood and teenage years to adulthood without exposing friendships; it's as if he doesn't have any, puberty, or any other angst-y growing up tribulation. His personality is firmly grounded in business. There is a moment when Martin decides it is time for him to lose his virginity and almost without ceremony or fanfare, he visits a brothel. This becomes a matter of fact, once a week habit he continues into adulthood. Not much is made of sex either way. However, his wedding night is particularly uncomfortable.
What is especially fun to watch is late nineteenth century New York City growing up along side Martin. The street names change over the years. Buildings grow taller. Oil lamps are crowded out by electricity one by one. The Manhattan we know today competes with Martin's metropolis of his dreams until they are both so large there isn't room enough for the both of them. But, which New York lives on?
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soon becomes his secretary and mentor. As a young man he falls under the spell of a mother and her two grown daughters while building hotels of his own. One daughter becomes his business partner when he delves into opening a chain of diners while the other daughter, Caroline, mystifies him with her silent, elusive personality. She reminds him of a girl he used to know...Strangely enough, he ends up marrying this shadowy, ghostly woman.This is not a coming of age story. Readers watch as Martin goes through childhood and teenage years to adulthood without exposing friendships; it's as if he doesn't have any, puberty, or any other angst-y growing up tribulation. His personality is firmly grounded in business. There is a moment when Martin decides it is time for him to lose his virginity and almost without ceremony or fanfare, he visits a brothel. This becomes a matter of fact, once a week habit he continues into adulthood. Not much is made of sex either way. However, his wedding night is particularly uncomfortable.
What is especially fun to watch is late nineteenth century New York City growing up along side Martin. The street names change over the years. Buildings grow taller. Oil lamps are crowded out by electricity one by one. The Manhattan we know today competes with Martin's metropolis of his dreams until they are both so large there isn't room enough for the both of them. But, which New York lives on?
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LibraryThing member pam.enser
okay, I didn't like this. maybe because it was forced on me in high school, i didn't like martin dressler himself, but i just have a bad taste in my mouth STILL from this book.
Subjects
Awards
National Book Award (Finalist — Fiction — 1996)
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 1998)
Pulitzer Prize (Winner — Fiction — 1997)
Prix Maurice-Edgar Coindreau (2001)
Language
Physical description
20 cm
ISBN
9781472151094