{"product_id":"the-penguin-book-of-the-city-edited-by-robert-drewe","title":"'The Penguin Book of the City' edited by Robert Drewe","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"\"\u003e\n\u003csection class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none [\u0026amp;:has([data-writing-block])\u0026gt;*]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]\" dir=\"auto\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto pb-8 [--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-xs,calc(var(--spacing)*4))] @w-sm\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-sm,calc(var(--spacing)*6))] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-lg,calc(var(--spacing)*16))] px-(--thread-content-margin)\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden min-h-8 relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col gap-4 grow\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv dir=\"auto\" class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal outline-none keyboard-focused:focus-ring [.text-message+\u0026amp;]:mt-1\" tabindex=\"0\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"streaming-animation markdown prose dark:prose-invert wrap-break-word w-full light markdown-new-styling\"\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eRobert Drewe gathers short fiction about urban life from a genuinely broad international field: Don DeLillo, Joan Didion, Banana Yoshimoto, Naguib Mahfouz, Gabriel García Márquez, Junot Díaz, Donald Barthelme, John Cheever, Peter Carey, Salman Rushdie, Will Self, Irvine Welsh, Maeve Binchy, Joyce Carol Oates and plenty more.\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePublished in 1997, the collection treats the city as a machine for producing particular kinds of experience: anonymity, collision, loneliness, surveillance, chance encounters, migration, class, sex, work, violence and strange forms of intimacy between people who may never see one another again. Drewe’s selection moves between New York, Los Angeles, Cairo, Tokyo and other urban worlds without trying to manufacture a single theory of metropolitan life. Instead, the city keeps changing according to whoever is moving through it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere are some extremely good pairings here: Banana Yoshimoto’s drifting, quietly uncanny “Newlywed”; Junot Díaz’s “How to Date a Brown Girl”; Didion on L.A.; Barthelme doing Barthelme; Mahfouz, Márquez, DeLillo and Cheever all compressed into the same strange municipal ecosystem. A very solid reader for anyone interested in the city as literary form rather than merely geography.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEdition \u0026amp; condition: Penguin Books Australia, 1997. First edition. Paperback. Moderate shelf wear with some age-toning and scattered foxing; binding sound and pages clean overall. Good condition.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"bower studio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46064151953491,"sku":null,"price":12.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0689\/0268\/2707\/files\/womenintranslation-2026-08-29T131831.256.png?v=1787973549","url":"https:\/\/bowerbooks.com\/products\/the-penguin-book-of-the-city-edited-by-robert-drewe","provider":"bower books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}