Surprising Beauty

"New York suddenly took on a very surprising beauty to him, a chrome-colored shine he never thought he would see there: the streets gleamed; the long views down the avenues continually took him unawares, the great majestic corridors that narrowed in the distance as though all the structures there made by man, the colossal skyscrapers and shining granite department stores as bright as mirrors, were pointing toward the monumental buildings downtown, the great human feats of steel and engineering."
Ethan Canin, For Kings and Planets

Reaching for the Stars

Madison Square Park

"I think if you ever came out here you'd change your mind about this place. How can I tell you what it's like? A new world, but more than that, a world I never knew existed. How can I describe stepping up out of the subway onto Lexington Avenue in a throng of walkers, every one of them bright and daring and reaching for the shining stars?"
Ethan Canin, For Kings and Planets

Glittering Canyons

"The buildings are glittering canyons. They seem too bright to be true, like someone cleans the whole city every night, right up to the rooftops. I know that's probably not how you think of New York but it's how I see it."
Ethan Canin, For Kings and Planets