Open City (2011) by Teju Cole

 1,001 Novels: A Library of America

Open City (2011)

by Teju Cole

Manhattan, New York

New York: 52/105

Manhattan: 8/34

   Open City made the Atlantic Monthly's Great American Novel list last month- I'm not surprised, though this book really does stretch the idea of a novel- that isn't a bad thing. I read this book during the pandemic after an old high school classmate turned me on to him in an email.  I didn't have much to say back then because I was reviewing a book that was published in 2011 and wasn't part of any ongoing project.  Here is the review from 2020:

Nigerian-American author and Harvard Professor Teju Cole

Published 7/22/20

Open City (2011)

 by Teju Cole

  I recommended W.G. Sebald to a friend and she responded by mentioning Teju Cole, the Nigerian-American writer (and Professor of Creative Writing at Harvard University) and his debut (and only) novel, Open City, which was widely compared to W.G. Sebald when it was published in 2011.  The comparison is apt, though there is more structure and character development in Open City than in any of Sebald's work.  The combination of observational geography and cultural essay is coupled with a genuinely engaging story about the Nigerian-American psychiatrist, Julius who narrates Open City.   

   I listened to the Audiobook which was great- I guess the print edition eschews punctuation and paragraphs, something I didn't notice listening to the Audiobook, which flows like you are listening to someone speak to you- not a common quality for contemporary literary fiction.