Sodom and Gomorrah

House on East 18th

"New York City is just another name for Sodom and Gomorrah. Why, when Jesus returns in the year 2000, just like Granddaddy Ellsworth says, he won't even stop to take a leak in New York City."
Vera Jane Cook, Dancing Backward in Paradise

Dream Weavers

H&M store

"New York City is for dream weavers, sug...and loners, people chasing the tail of their desires, too poor in spirit for reflection...too ambitious, sometimes, for kindness."
Vera Jane Cook, Dancing Backward in Paradise

Good Looks

Dumbo

"New York City loves good looks. You're going there, honey. The streets are lined in dog shit and gold. The nights are filled with music and yearning. The days are worn by toil and disappointment. Dawn is filled with hope and taunted by despair. Dusk carries the weight of success and the drowning pool of failure."
Vera Jane Cook, Dancing Backward in Paradise

Heaven

Manhattan skyline and Williamsburg bridge

"I imagine when we get to heaven, it will look just like Manhattan—confusing, threatening and as seductive as a hot fudge sundae."
Vera Jane Cook, Dancing Backward in Paradise

Fantasy Island

Manhattan skyline and Williamsburg Bridge

"Manhattan was the fuel in my spirit. But, there is a fantasy island, certainly not for the meek or unadventurous. This I will tell you, after New York City has boiled beneath your blood, none can call you down. I promise you that."

Vera Jane Cook, Dancing Backward in Paradise

Land of the Chosen

"You're going there, darlin', going to the land of the corrupt and the compassionate, going to the land of the chosen, going to laugh and to weep and to dance with the lighthearted. You are going there to love and you are going there to grieve. You are going for the euphoria of an evening under the streetlamps of New York City where everything you touch is blessed, and everything you desire is a heavy weight on your back. There is your heaven, daughter. There is your wondrous hell."
Vera Jane Cook, Dancing Backward in Paradise