The United States: miles upon miles to explore, with mythical scenery and a multitude of tours to discover (from the Grand Canyon to New York, from Chicago to New Orleans...) A good book is an absolute must to keep you busy during long journeys. Below is our selection of books to read before, during... or even after your trip to the USA.
1
Manhattan Transfer
John Dos Passos
A vast social saga against the backdrop of Manhattan. Manhattan Transfer is the name of New York's marshalling yard, and it is the metropolis that is the main protagonist of the book - a rapidly changing metropolis, that of the first quarter of the last century.
2
Bons Baisers de New York
Art Spiegelman, preface by Paul Auster
It is a UFO - a beautiful book, graphic design, chronicle: the immense Spiegelman retraces the ten years of his collaboration with the prestigious magazine The New Yorker. A lively and fruitful collaboration between an underground artist, cultivating 'the art of worry' and a magazine advocating gentleness of life and refinement. Bons Baisers brings together sketches, drafts, abandoned projects, rejected covers and headline illustrations, made during a decade rich in big and small political events: Monica Lewinsky case, war in Afghanistan, Bush election, 9/11 attacks.
3
Cosmopolis
Don DeLillo
This novel describes a limousine ride on 47th Street and a day in the life of the protagonist. The downfall of a New York golden boy amid a global economic crisis. A great political thriller.
4
Ventanas De Manhattan
Antonio Munoz Molina
For months, the great Spanish writer explores Manhattan by foot with a notebook in hand, from the Village's low houses to the glass skyscrapers of Sixth Avenue. Lonely walks in a bustling city, a reflection of all possible worlds, 'walks that always had the emotion of going to discover the adventurous world at the same time as the emotion of going down inside myself'. 87 chapters and 87 windows open onto Manhattan.
5
Alack Sinner
Munoz and Sampayo, 2 volumes
The masterpiece of Munoz and Sampayo. Alack Sinner, an ex-cop, becomes a private detective and a part-time cab driver and drags his troubles around the streets of New York. Inspired by Roman Noir writing from authors Hammet and Chandler, this comic book depicts all the power and decadence of the American empire masterfully shot in black-and-white.
Bonus
- The Good Life, by Jay McInerney
- The Sweetness of the Twisted Apples, by Wallace Stegner
- Winter, by Rick Bass
- Pop. 1280, by Jim Thompson
- Tales Of The City, volume 1, by Armistead Maupin
Cover picture : Faustine Poidevin
