Explanation

"Everyone at one time or another tries to explain to himself why he likes New York better than anyplace else. A man who worked for me liked it because if he couldn't sleep he could go to an all-night movie. That's as good a reason as any."
John Steinbeck, America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction

Trial by Torture

"Now there may be people who move easily into New York without travail, but most I have talked to about it have had some kind of trial by torture before acceptance. And the acceptance is a double thing. It seems to me that the city finally accepts you just as you finally accept the city."
John Steinbeck, America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction

Monstruous

"I saw the city, and it horrified me. There was something monstrous about it—the tall buildings looming to the sky and the lights shining through the falling snow."
John Steinbeck, America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction