New York Stories

I was watching The Daily Shown (although I prefer Colbert to Stewart) on Monday and the discussion with the guest, Edward Glaeser, I think, was relevant to The Bread Givers and the overall topic of the class. For instance, Glaeser compares the life in the suburbia and in the cities, and the latter actually comes out on top in a number of categories. While in The Bread Givers, Sara finds the suburban area, where the college is located, idyllic, but describes the city as dirty, poor, crowded, etc. At the same time, the idea of the American dream comes up, the ideal of having a family in a big house (with a white picket fence) outside the city, and that, perhaps, it no longer deserves to be called a dream because the reasons to strive for this life are quickly diminishing. Of course, Glaeser argues for cities everywhere, so the discussion is not limited to New York or even America. Clearly this city-ness New York possesses is a major part of why it is so different from many other places, even if its uniqueness comes from something else.

I hope you enjoy the video and maybe you will also find the ideas we are encountering in the text resonate in this discussion.