List of books set in New York City

This article provides an incomplete list of fiction books set in New York City. Included is the date of first publication.

Books for adults

Nineteenth century

1800s A History of New York – Washington Irving (1809)

1820s Brother Jonathan – John Neal (1825)

1860s Ragged Dick – Horatio Alger (1868)

1880s Washington Square – Henry James (1880) A Hazard of New Fortunes – William Dean Howells (1889)

1890s Maggie: A Girl of the Streets – Stephen Crane (1893) Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto – Abraham Cahan (1896)

Twentieth century

1900s The House of Mirth – Edith Wharton (1905) The Melting Pot – Israel Zangwill (1908) The Custom of the Country – Edith Wharton (1913) The Rise of David Levinsky – Abraham Cahan (1917)

1920s The Age of Innocence – Edith Wharton (1920) The Beautiful and Damned – F. Scott Fitzgerald (1922) Old New York – Edith Wharton (1924) Bread Givers – Anzia Yezierska (1925) The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925) Manhattan Transfer – John Dos Passos (1925) The Island Within – Ludwig Lewisohn (1928) Plum Bun – Jessie Redmon Fauset (1929) Ex-Wife – Ursula Parrott (1929)

1930s Jews Without Money – Michael Gold (1930) Doc Savage pulp fiction series – Kenneth Robeson (1933–1949) Miss Lonelyhearts – Nathanael West (1933) Call It Sleep – Henry Roth (1934) The Thin Man – Dashiell Hammett (1934) Fer-de-Lance – Rex Stout (1934) Turn, Magic Wheel – Dawn Powell (1936)

1940s The Fountainhead – Ayn Rand (1943) Laura – Vera Caspary (1943) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – Betty Smith (1943) The Big Clock – Kenneth Fearing (1946) The Deadly Percheron – John Franklin Bardin (1946) The Street – Ann Petry (1946) Three Bedrooms in Manhattan – Georges Simenon (1946) East Side, West Side – Marcia Davenport (1947) I, the Jury – Mickey Spillane (1947) The Last of Phillip Banter – John Franklin Bardin (1947) The Victim – Saul Bellow (1947) Consider Her Ways – Frederick Philip Grove (1948)

1950s The Caine Mutiny – Herman Wouk (1951) The Catcher in the Rye – J. D. Salinger (1951) A Walker in the City – Alfred Kazin (1951) Go – John Clellon Holmes (1952) Invisible Man – Ralph Ellison (1952) The Caves of Steel – Isaac Asimov (1953) Go Tell It On The Mountain – James Baldwin (1953) Cities in Flight (series) – James Blish (1955– 1962) Marjorie Morningstar – Herman Wouk (1955) Last Angry Man – Gerald Green (1956) Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand (1957) Bunny Lake Is Missing – Merriam Modell (writing as Evelyn Piper) (1957) Breakfast at Tiffany's – Truman Capote (1958) Brown Girl, Brownstones – Paule Marshall (1959)

1960s Franny and Zooey – J. D. Salinger (1961) Another Country – James Baldwin (1962) The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath (1963) The Group – Mary McCarthy (1963) Joy in the Morning – Betty Smith (1963) Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction – J. D. Salinger (1963) Joe Gould's Secret – Joseph Mitchell (1964) Last Exit to Brooklyn – Hubert Selby (1964) Brendan Behan's New York – Brendan Behan (1964) A Singular Man – J. P. Donleavy (1964) An American Dream – Norman Mailer (1964) The Warriors – Sol Yurick (1965) The Doorbell Rang – Rex Stout (1965) The Fortunate Pilgrim – Mario Puzo (1965) Make Room! Make Room! – Harry Harrison (1966) A Queer Kind of Death – George Baxt (1966) The Butterfly Kid – Chester Anderson (1967) The Chosen – Chaim Potok (1967) Rosemary's Baby – Ira Levin (1967) Swing Low, Sweet Harriet – George Baxt (1967) Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone – James Baldwin (1968) My Sister Eileen – Ruth McKenney (1968) The Godfather – Mario Puzo (1969) Topsy and Evil – George Baxt (1969)

1970s Desperate Characters – Paula Fox (1970) Mr. Sammler's Planet – Saul Bellow (1970) Time and Again – Jack Finney (1970) Enemies – Isaac Bashevis Singer (1972) Umbrella Steps – Julie Goldsmith Gilbert (1972) A Bomb Built in Hell – Andrew Vachss (1973) A Fairytale of New York – J. P. Donleavy (1973) Great Jones Street – Don DeLillo (1973) Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York – Gail Parent (1973) The Taking of Pelham One Two Three – Morton Freedgood (1973) If Beale Street Could Talk James Baldwin (1974) Looking for Mr. Goodbar – Judith Rossner (1975) Sophie's Choice – William Styron (1976) Players – Don DeLillo (1977) A Contract with God – Will Eisner (1978) Dancer from the Dance – Andrew Holleran (1978) Faggots – Larry Kramer (1978) Happy All the Time – Laurie Colwin (1978) The Stand – Stephen King (1978)

1980s #They have 'Last Angry Man' by Gerald Green in the 1980's section whereas it should be in the 1950's section instead L is for Lion: an italian bronx butch freedom memoir – Annie Lanzillotto (1981) The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger – Stephen King (1982) Winter's Tale – Mark Helprin (1983) Bright Lights, Big City – Jay McInerney (1984) Duplicate Keys – Jane Smiley (1984) Banana Fish (manga series) – Akimi Yoshida (1985–1994) Blood Music – Greg Bear (1985) Flood – Andrew Vachss (1985) The New York Trilogy – Paul Auster (1985–86) The Bachelor's Bride – Stephen Koch (1986) Dreams of an Average Man – Dyan Sheldon (1986) Money – Martin Amis (1986) Social Disease – Paul Rudnick (1986) War Cries Over Avenue C – Jerome Charyn (1986) The Bonfire of the Vanities – Tom Wolfe (1987) The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three – Stephen King (1987) Ice and Fire – Andrea Dworkin (1987) Knight Life – Peter David (1987) Paradise Man – Jerome Charyn (1987) Stars and Bars – William Boyd (1987) Strega – Andrew Vachss (1987) The Year of Silence – Madison Smartt Bell (1987) Blue Belle – Andrew Vachss (1988) People Like Us – Dominick Dunne (1988) The Crazy Kill – Chester Himes (1989) Emma Who Saved My Life – Wilton Barnhardt (1989) Hard Candy – Andrew Vachss (1989) I Pass Like Night – Jonathan Ames (1989)

1990s Billy Bathgate – E. L. Doctorow (1990) Children of the Night – Mercedes Lackey (1990) A Home at the End of the World – Michael Cunningham (1990) The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love – Oscar Hijuelos (1990) Moon Palace – Paul Auster (1990) Our House in the Last World – Oscar Hijuelos (1990) Skinny Legs and All – Tom Robbins (1990) Aftershock – Chuck Scarborough (1991) American Psycho – Bret Easton Ellis (1991) Day of Atonement – Faye Kellerman (1991) Sacrifice – Andrew Vachss (1991) Sliver – Ira Levin (1991) The Blindfold – Siri Hustvedt (1992) The First Wives Club – Olivia Goldsmith (1992) Good Fairies of New York – Martin Millar (1992) Sweet Liar – Jude Deveraux (1992) The Kaisho – Eric Lustbader (1993) A Mother's Love – Mary Morris (1993) Nude Men – Amanda Filipacchi (1993) Closing Time – Joseph Heller (1994) Down in the Zero – Andrew Vachss (1994) A Feather on the Breath of God – Sigrid Nunez (1994) Just Like That – Lily Brett (1994) The Alienist – Caleb Carr (1995) Footsteps of the Hawk – Andrew Vachss (1995) Full Stop – Joan Smith (1995) The Lady Who Liked Clean Restrooms – J. P. Donleavy (1995) One Coffee With – Margaret Maron (1995) World's Fair – E. L. Doctorow (1996) The Book of Night with Moon – Diane Duane (1997) A History of Violence – John Wagner (1997) Lives of the Monster Dogs – Kirsten Bakis (1997) Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer – Steven Millhauser (1997) Sewer, Gas and Electric – Matt Ruff (1997) Sex and the City – Candace Bushnell (1997) Snow in August – Pete Hamill (1997) Underworld – Don DeLillo (1997) The Waterworks – E. L. Doctorow (1997) Always Hiding – Sophia G. Romero (1998) Bringing Out The Dead – Joe Connelly (1998) The Extra Man – Jonathan Ames (1998) The Hours – Michael Cunningham (1998) Last Days of Summer – Steve Kluger (1998) Of Kings and Planets – Ethan Canin (1998) Safe House – Andrew Vachss (1998) The Willow Tree – Hubert Selby Jr. (1998) Wrong Information is being Given Out at Princeton – J. P. Donleavy (1998) The Broken Hearts Club – Ethan Black (1999) Choice of Evil – Andrew Vachss (1999) Downsiders – Neal Shusterman (1999) Glamorama – Bret Easton Ellis (1999) Liberty Falling – Nevada Barr (1999) Morningside Heights – Cheryl Mendelson (1999) Motherless Brooklyn – Jonathan Lethem (1999) The Silk Code – Paul Levinson (1999) Vapor – Amanda Filipacchi (1999) Murder on Astor Place (Gaslight Mystery series) – Victoria Thompson (1999)

Twenty-first century

2000s The 25th Hour – David Benioff (2000) The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay – Michael Chabon (2000) Bodega Dreams – Ernesto Quiñonez (2000) City of God – E. L. Doctorow (2000) Killing Time – Caleb Carr (2000) Minor Miracles – Will Eisner (2000) Murder in Central Park – Michael Jahn (2000) The Night Inspector – Frederick Busch (2000) Redemption Song – Bertice Berry (2000) The Toy Collector – James Gunn (2000) About the Author – John Colapinto (2001) Bad Connection – Michael Ledwidge (2001) Black Water Transit – Carsten Stroud (2001) Borrowed Tides – Paul Levinson (2001) Box Office Poison – Alex Robinson (2001) Clara Callan – Richard B. Wright (2001) The Corrections – Jonathan Franzen (2001) Fixer Chao – Han Ong (2001) The Foreigner – Meg Castaldo (2001) The Fourth Angel – Suzanne Chazin (2001) Going, Going, Gone – Jack Womack (2001) The Good People of New York – Thisbe Nissen (2001) The Grand Complication – Allen Kurzweil (2001) The Haunting of Hip Hop – Bertice Berry (2001) Hell's Kitchen – Chris Niles (2001) High Maintenance – Jennifer Belle (2001) The Hum Bug – Harold Schechter (2001) Jeremy Thrane – Kate Christensen (2001) Kissing in Manhattan – David Schickler (2001) Look at Me – Jennifer Egan (2001) Lucky Us – Joan Silber (2001) The Manhattan Hunt Club – John Saul (2001) Murphy's Law – Rhys Bowen (2001) Rivington Street – Meredith Tax (2001) Saturn's Return to New York – Sara Gran (2001) Shooting Dr. Jack – Norman Green (2001) Absolute Rage – Robert K. Tanenbaum (2002) The Boy Next Door – Meg Cabot (2002) The Consciousness Plague – Paul Levinson (2002) Death of Riley – Rhys Bowen (2002) Disturbing the Peace – Nancy Newman (2002) Dreamland – Kevin Baker (2002) The Nanny Diaries – Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus (2002) The Navigator of New York – Wayne Johnston (2002) Only Child – Andrew Vachss (2002) Paradise Alley – Kevin Baker (2002) Pipsqueak – Brian Wiprud (2002) Save Karyn – Karyn Bosnak (2002) Shopaholic Takes Manhattan – Sophie Kinsella (2002) The Tea Rose – Jennifer Donnelly (2002) Three Junes – Julia Glass (2002) The Anniversary – Amy Gutman (2003) The Fortress Of Solitude – Jonathan Lethem (2003) Carrie Pilby – Caren Lissner (2003) Cosmopolis – Don DeLillo (2003) Dead for Life – Ethan Black (2003) The Devil Wears Prada – Lauren Weisberger (2003) For the Love of Mike – Rhys Bowen (2003) For Matrimonial Purposes – Kavita Daswani (2003) Forever – Pete Hamill (2003) The Furies – Fernanda Eberstadt (2003) Hex – Maggie Estep (2003) Imitation in Death – J.D. Robb (2003) A Killing Gift – Leslie Glass (2003) Kunma – Frank Corsaro (2003) The Last Good Day – Peter Blauner (2003) Love Me – Garrison Keillor (2003) Lucia, Lucia – Adriana Trigiani (2003) Moral Hazard – Kate Jennings (2003) The Name of the Game – Will Eisner (2003) Oracle Night – Paul Auster (2003) Pattern Recognition – William Ford Gibson (2003) The Pixel Eye – Paul Levinson (2003) The Quality of Life Report – Meghan Daum (2003) Sheet Music – M. J. Rose (2003) Shopaholic Ties the Knot – Sophie Kinsella (2003) Small Town – Lawrence Block (2003) What I Loved – Siri Hustvedt (2003) Absent Friends – S. J. Rozan (2004) An Almost Perfect Moment – Binnie Kirshenbaum (2004) Bergdorf Blondes – Plum Sykes (2004) Between Two Rivers – Nicholas Rinaldi (2004) East Side Story – Louis Auchincloss (2004) Down Here – Andrew Vachss (2004) The Green and the Gray – Timothy Zahn (2004) In the Shadow of No Towers – Art Spiegelman (2004) Joy Comes in the Morning – Jonathan Rosen (2004) Love Monkey – Kyle Smith (2004)