Neighborhoods Made Famous by Books
It’s no surprise that so many great books are tied to a neighborhood or the idea of a neighborhood. Spatial memory is something that’s always with us, no matter how far removed you are from your childhood home. It’s even likely you can remember every corner and closet. The same goes for the neighborhood or town where we grew up. Those streets and schools will stay with us forever.
Fortunately, many authors have put their memories on paper for us to read and absorb, bringing us into 1960s San Francisco or turn-of-the-century New York. Below are some the best and most iconic books that make a neighborhood come to life.
'The House on Mango Street' – Pilsen, Chicago
While the book only states that it takes place in Chicago, author Sandra Cisneros grew up in Pilsen and has said the book is based on her experiences there. Told through vignettes written by the young protagonist, Ezperanza Cordero, the novel follows her coming-of-age in a poor, Latino community.
While the main arc of the vignettes is Ezperanza’s personal life and dreams of leaving the impoverished community, Cisneros also spends time focusing on the neighbors and tenants of the community. Through these stories, as well as Ezperanza’s everyday activities in her community, "The House on Mango Street" is truly a neighborhood novel. Currently, as Pilsen deals with unprecedented population growth, Cisneros’ novel offers an interesting comparison to what the neighborhood once was to what it’s rapidly becoming.
'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' - Williamsburg, New York
Betty Smith’s 1943 novel was one of the first, and certainly one of the most iconic, novels about Brooklyn before the population ballooned. While "The House on Mango Street" is a slender coming-of-age book using vignettes, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn uses four books inside the large novel to follow its protagonist – Francis – from ages 13 to 17. The story follows her as she adapts to the urban environment around her and deals with poverty, family, and unique neighbors.
View of Haight-Ashbury from Buena Vista Park.
'Slouching Towards Bethlehem' – Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco
Celebrated author Joan Didion wrote her first nonfiction book after moving to San Francisco around the time of the Summer of Love. Although not all of the essays in this collection deal directly with her observations of the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood— the heart of 1960s counterculture—a majority do. "Goodbye to All That" and "Notes from a Native Daughter"—a play on James Baldwin’s book—specifically were essays that reflected on Didion’s time in San Francisco compared to previous places she called home. The whole collection is perhaps Didion’s best and most introspective series of essays and is well worth a read whether you’re familiar with Haight-Ashbury (and its notoriously sloped streets) or not.
'Devil in the White City' – Englewood, Chicago
This nonfiction account of the 1893 Colombian World’s Exhibition features a developing Chicago South Side, so much so that it features much of Jackson Park being created out marshland on the shores of Lake Michigan. The main narrative is that of H.H. Holmes, a handsome, smooth-talking serial killer that operated a hotel that consisted of secret passages and dungeons.
Parallel with that story is the documentation of how the fair began and was constructed, mostly following leading architect Daniel Burnham as he attempts to transform Englewood into a glittering, white city. The only remaining building from the exhibition is now the Museum of Science and Industry, which is located in Jackson Park. Englewood hopes it can regain some of its World’s Fair allure after the impending construction of Barack Obama’s presidential library in the area.
'Alamo House' – West Campus, Austin
Sarah Bird and Austin literature are almost synonymous at this point. Most of her books have been set near or around the city, but Alamo House is one of the best at capturing the atmosphere of a neighborhood. West Campus is (unsurprisingly) located directly west of the University of Texas-Austin campus and Bird’s novel is based around the non-fictional Seneca House Cooperative located there. Austin has always been known as an edgier, alternative city, even after a tech-boom and recent rise in housing demand. Bird’s novel follows uniquely Austin sorority sisters, bohemian, vegetarian and anti-fraternity, as they do their best to take down their male counterparts.