My Love Affair with Manhattan by Joanie Strulowitz

The very concept of New York City conjures up a wealth of emotions in many people. For writer Joanie Strulowitz, it has always been a place of magic: an enticing playground, a cascade of art, a wonderland of fascinating characters, a youth serum to keep her feeling forever young.

Believing herself to be a New Yorker who just happened to be born in Iowa, Strulowitz felt the tantalizing call of Manhattan from the time she was four, and eventually made her home there. In this love song to the City, she pays adoring tribute to the essence of Manhattan from its intense pace and the pounding excitement in the air to the funky charm and even the glittering pavement that provides a stage on which it all unfolds.

The City is her laboratory, her art studio, and the extraordinary inspiration for this collection of captivating vignettes. In each short but sublime piece, Strulowitz evokes the luminous ambiance that has lured artists and adventure seekers to the island metropolis for generations: enthralling chance encounters, the slightly terrifying exhilaration of first subway rides, the soothing clink of silverware in a favorite sidewalk cafe, the urge to break into song when discovering a perfect little boutique.

Anyone who has lived in New York City, played tourist there, or just dreamed of paying a visit will find something to love in this transcendent appreciation of the jewel-encrusted celebration of life and art that is Manhattan.