The Thought of New York

"The slightest thought of it enchants him — the buildings so tall, the sidewalks so wide, the streets laid out in perfect rectangles so that no one could ever get lost or disappear into them, the blocks of buildings divided into neat columns and rows like a case of eggs. What fools the Dutch were to lose that little island, that case of gleaming eggs, brimming with people's eager lives just about to hatch!"
Dara Horn, In the Image

Suffering

"Sometimes I get bored riding down the beautiful streets of L.A. I know it sounds crazy, but I just want to go to New York and see people suffer."
Donna Summer, quoted in Black Los Angeles

Yin and Yang

"New York's like the beady eye of yang at the center of the Midwest's unentitled, self-effacing plains of yin."
Jonathan Franzen, Farther Away