New York Literary Lights is an encyclopedic collection of New York writers, their works, haunts, glories, and foibles. Meticulously researched and written with a sensitivity for the nuances of character, William Corbett reveals that Edna St. Vincent Millay lived in a house seven feet six inches wide; Russian immigrant Irving Berlin once said, "Everybody ought to have a Lower East Side in their life;" Jack Kerouac entered Columbia University on an athletic scholarship; Carson McCullers"s birth name was Lula Carson Smith; and playwright Edward Albee found the name for his famous play, Who"s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? scrawled on the mirror of a 10th Street bar. Covering not only writers, but publishers, agents, magazines, bookstores, libraries, neighborhoods, and institutions, Corbett has met his goal of allowing the reader to appreciate, but not get lost in, the past--for New York thrives on the "rhythm of unceasing change." From the Academy of American Poets to Louis Zukofsky, hundreds of entries bring a freshly humble view of some of the biggest names in writing history. Whether you"re seeking history, reference, or travel guide, Corbett"s collection will satisfy. As Russell Banks says, "Reading it is like taking a leisurely stroll through the history of writing in New York City alongside a brilliant local historian who is as droll and sharp as he is learned." --Kathryn True