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About the Book

About the Book

At the Strangers' Gate: Arrivals in New York

From the New York Times bestselling author of PARIS TO THE MOON and beloved New Yorker writer, a memoir that captures the romance of New York City in the 1980s.

When Adam Gopnik and his soon-to-be-wife, Martha, first arrived in 1980, New York City was a pilgrimage site for the young, the arty and the ambitious. But it was also becoming a place where both life’s consolations and its necessities were increasingly going to the highest bidder.

AT THE STRANGER'S GATE is a vivid portrait of this time, told through the story of one couple’s journey --- from their excited arrival as aspiring artists to their eventual growth into a New York family. Through a series of comic mini-anthropologies that capture the fashion, publishing and art worlds of the era, Adam Gopnik transports us from his tiny basement room on the Upper East Side to a SoHo loft, from his time as a graduate student-cum-library-clerk to the galleries of MoMA.

Filled with tender and humorous reminiscences --- including affectionate reflections on Richard Avedon, Robert Hughes and Jeff Koons, among many others --- AT THE STRANGER'S GATE is an ode to New York striving.

Audiobook available, read by Adam Gopnik

At the Strangers' Gate: Arrivals in New York
by Adam Gopnik

  • Publication Date: July 31, 2018
  • Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction
  • Paperback: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage
  • ISBN-10: 1400075742
  • ISBN-13: 9781400075744