New York, Crime and Cricket
I’ve never been big on summer reading. I believe books are to be enjoyed year round and perhaps more than ever in the winter when there’s less to do outdoors. But in any event I’d like to recommend a novel I enjoyed very much,
Joseph O’Neill’s Netherland.
The hero is a Dutch expat, living in New York just after Sept. 11, 2001, working as an oil analyst for a major investment back (we don’t hear much about that), and becoming involved with cricket and a cricket enthusiast named Chuck, who is from Trinidad. (we do hear a lot about cricket). There’s an appreciation of New York that as rivals Woody Allen’s use of the city in his films. There’s enough about cricket to demystify the game or almost. And there’s a glimpse of small-time criminal activities as well. What happens, however, isn’t nearly as important as the way the story is told and it is told beautifully.
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Tell us what you’ve been reading as well as sending your ideas on great places to live.