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)

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)
• - Abraham Cahan (1896)

Twentieth century[]

1900s[]

• The House of Mirth - Edith Wharton (1905)
• The Melting Pot - Israel Zangwill (1908)
• - Mary Jane Auch (1911)
• 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)

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)
• - 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)
• - John Franklin Bardin (1946)
• The Street - Ann Petry (1946)
• - Georges Simenon (1946)
• East Side, West Side - Marcia Davenport (1947)
• I, the Jury - Mickey Spillane (1947)
• - 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)
• 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 (1964)
• A Singular Man - J. P. Donleavy (1964)
• An American Dream - Norman Mailer (1964)
• The Warriors (Yurick novel) - Sol Yurick (1965)
• The Doorbell Rang - Rex Stout (1965)
• The Fortunate Pilgrim - Mario Puzo (1965)
• Make Room! Make Room! - Harry Harrison (1966)
• - George Baxt (1966)
• The Butterfly Kid - Chester Anderson (1967)
• The Chosen - Chaim Potok (1967)
• Rosemary's Baby - Ira Levin (1967)
• - 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)
• - George Baxt (1969)

1970s[]

• Desperate Characters - Paula Fox (1970)
• Mr. Sammler's Planet - Saul Bellow (1970)
• Time and Again - Jack Finney (1970)
• - Isaac Bashevis Singer (1972)
• - 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)
• 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)
• - Laurie Colwin (1978)
• The Stand - Stephen King (1978)

1980s[]

• L is for Lion: an italian bronx butch freedom memoir - Annie Lanzillotto (1981)
• The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger - Stephen King (1982)
• Last Angry Man - Gerald Green (1983)
• Winter's Tale - Mark Helprin (1983)
• Bright Lights, Big City - Jay McInerney (1984)
• - 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)
• - Stephen Koch (1986)
• -Dyan Sheldon (1986)
• Money - Martin Amis (1986)
• - Paul Rudnick (1986)
• - Jerome Charyn (1986)
• The Bonfire of the Vanities - Tom Wolfe (1987)
• The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three - Stephen King (1987)
• - Andrea Dworkin (1987)
• Knight Life - Peter David (1987)
• - Jerome Charyn (1987)
• Stars and Bars - William Boyd (1987)
• Strega - Andrew Vachss (1987)
• - Madison Smartt Bell (1987)
• Blue Belle - Andrew Vachss (1988)
• People Like Us - Dominick Dunne (1988)
• - Chester Himes (1989)
• - Wilton Barnhardt (1989)
• Hard Candy - Andrew Vachss (1989)
• - Jonathan Ames (1989)

1990s[]

• Billy Bathgate - E.L. Doctorow (1990)
• - 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)
• - Faye Kellerman (1991)
• Sacrifice - Andrew Vachss (1991)
• Sliver - Ira Levin (1991)
• - Siri Hustvedt (1992)
• The First Wives Club - Olivia Goldsmith (1992)
• - Martin Millar (1992)
• - Jude Deveraux (1992)
• - 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)
• - Joan Smith (1995)
• - J. P. Donleavy (1995)
• - 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)
• - 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)
• - Jonathan Ames (1998)
• The Hours - Michael Cunningham (1998)
• Last Days of Summer - Steve Kluger (1998)
• - Ethan Canin (1998)
• Safe House - Andrew Vachss (1998)
• The Willow Tree - Hubert Selby, Jr. (1998)
• - 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)
• - 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)
• - Ernesto Quiñonez (2000)
• - E. L. Doctorow (2000)
• Killing Time - Caleb Carr (2000)
• - Will Eisner (2000)
• - Michael Jahn (2000)
• - Frederick Busch (2000)
• The Princess Diaries (series) - Meg Cabot (2000)
• Redemption Song - Bertice Berry (2000)
• The Toy Collector - James Gunn (2000)
• - John Colapinto (2001)
• - Michael Ledwidge (2001)
• Black Water Transit - (2001)
• - 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 - (2001)
• The Fourth Angel -Suzanne Chazin (2001)
• Going, Going, Gone - Jack Womack (2001)
• - Thisbe Nissen (2001)
• - Allen Kurzweil (2001)
• - Bertice Berry (2001)
• Hell's Kitchen - (2001)
• - Jennifer Belle (2001)
• - Harold Schechter (2001)
• - Kate Christensen (2001)
• - David Schickler (2001)
• - Jennifer Egan (2001)
• - Joan Silber (2001)
• The Manhattan Hunt Club - John Saul (2001)
• Murphy's Law - Rhys Bowen (2001)
• Rivington Street - Meredith Tax (2001)
• - Sara Gran (2001)
• - Norman Green (2001)
• - Robert K. Tanenbaum (2002)
• The Consciousness Plague - Paul Levinson (2002)
• - Rhys Bowen (2002)
• - Nancy Newman (2002)
• Dreamland - Kevin Baker (2002)
• The Nanny Diaries - Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus (2002)
• - Wayne Johnston (2002)
• Only Child - Andrew Vachss (2002)
• Paradise Alley - Kevin Baker (2002)
• - Brian Wiprud (2002)
• Save Karyn - Karyn Bosnak (2002)
• Shopaholic Takes Manhattan - Sophie Kinsella (2002)
• The Tea Rose - (2002)
• Three Junes - Julia Glass (2002)
• The Anniversary - Amy Gutman (2003)
• Jonathan Lethem (2003)
• Carrie Pilby - Caren Lissner (2003)
• Cosmopolis - Don DeLillo (2003)
• - Ethan Black (2003)
• The Devil Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger (2003)
• For the Love of Mike - Rhys Bowen (2003)
• - Kavita Daswani (2003)
• - Pete Hamill (2003)
• The Furies - Fernanda Eberstadt (2003)
• Hex - Maggie Estep (2003)
• - J.D. Robb (2003)
• - Leslie Glass (2003)
• - Frank Corsaro (2003)
• - Peter Blauner (2003)
• - Garrison Keillor (2003)
• - Adriana Trigiani (2003)
• Moral Hazard - Kate Jennings (2003)
• - Will Eisner (2003)
• Oracle Night - Paul Auster (2003)
• Pattern Recognition - William Ford Gibson (2003)
• The Pixel Eye - Paul Levinson (2003)
• - Meghan Daum (2003)
• - M. J. Rose (2003)
• Shopaholic Ties the Knot - Sophie Kinsella (2003)
• - Lawrence Block (2003)
• What I Loved - Siri Hustvedt (2003)
• - S. J. Rozan (2004)
• - Binnie Kirshenbaum (2004)
• Bergdorf Blondes - Plum Sykes (2004)
• Between Two Rivers - Nicholas Rinaldi (2004)
• Down Here - Andrew Vachss (2004)
• The Green and the Gray - Timothy Zahn (2004)
• In the Shadow of No Towers - Art Spiegelman (2004)
• - Jonathan Rosen (2004)
• Love Monkey - Kyle Smith (2004)
• - Laurie Gwen Shapiro (2004)
• Monster Island - David Wellington (August 2004)
• Nellie's Promise - Valerie Tripp (2004)
• Oh, Play That Thing - Roddy Doyle (2004)
• - Tova Mirvis (2004)
• Solos - Kitty Burns Florey (2004)
• The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah - Stephen King (2004)
• - Irene Marcuse (2004)
• The White Rose - Jean Hanff Korelitz (2004)
• The Brooklyn Follies - Paul Auster (2005)
• The Curse of Ravenscourt: A Samantha Mystery - Sarah Masters Buckey & Jean-Paul Tibbles (2005)
• Everyone Worth Knowing - Lauren Weisberger (2005)
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer (2005)
• The History of Love - Nicole Krauss (2005)
• - Rhys Bowen (2005)
• Love Creeps - Amanda Filipacchi (2005)
• Metropolis - Elizabeth Gaffney (2005)
• - Peter Rushforth (2005)
• The Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion (2005)
• Beautiful Lies - Lisa Unger (2006)
• - Rhys Bowen (2006)
• Nightlife - Rob Thurman (2006)
• The Emperor's Children - Claire Messud (2006)
• Mask Market - Andrew Vachss (2006)
• The Plot to Save Socrates - Paul Levinson (2006)
• The Righteous Men - Sam Bourne (2006)
• - Anna Quindlen (2006)
• - Meg Cabot (2006)
• - Meg Cabot (2006)
• - Coe Booth (2006)
• - Meg Cabot (2007)
• Exit Ghost - Philip Roth (2007)
• Moonshine - Rob Thurman (2007)
• - Meg Cabot (2007)
• The Invention of Everything Else - Samantha Hunt (2008)
• Lush Life - Richard Price (2008)
• Madhouse - Rob Thurman (2008)
• Netherland - Joseph O'Neill (2008)
• The Associate - John Grisham (2009)
• Chronic City - Jonathan Lethem (2009)
• - Rob Thurman (2009)
• Let the Great World Spin - Colum McCann (2009)
• New York - Edward Rutherfurd (2009)

2010s[]

• - Adam Langer (2010)
• A Manhã do Mundo, The Morning of the World - Pedro Guilherme-Moreira (2011)
• - Pete Hamill (2011)
• Open City - Teju Cole (2012)
• - Lyndsay Faye (2012)
• The Man Who Wouldn't Stand Up - Jacob M. Appel (2012)
• - Amy Waldman (2012)
• The Biology of Luck - Jacob M. Appel (2013)
• Bleeding Edge - Thomas Pynchon (2013)
• The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt (2013)
• - Meg Wolitzer (2013)
• Modern Lovers - Emma Staub (2016)
• A Little Life - Hanya Yanagihara (2016)
• An Absolutely Remarkable Thing - Hank Green (2018)
• - John Curl (2019)

Books for children[]

1870s[]

• Eight Cousins - Louisa May Alcott (1874)
• Rose in Bloom (sequel to Eight Cousins) - Louisa May Alcott (c. 1876)

Twentieth century[]

1930s[]

• Roller Skates - Ruth Sawyer (1936)

1940s[]

• The Matchlock Gun - Walter D. Edmonds (1941)
• The Saturdays - Elizabeth Enright (1941)
• Stuart Little - E.B. White (1945)

1950s[]

• All-of-a-Kind Family - Sydney Taylor (1951)
• Camilla - Madeleine L'Engle (1951)
• Eloise - Kay Thompson (1955)

1960s[]

• The Cricket in Times Square - George Selden (1960)
• It's Like This, Cat - Emily Cheney Neville (1963)
• Harriet the Spy - Louise Fitzhugh (1964)
• The Pushcart War - Jean Merrill (1964)
• The Long Secret - Louise Fitzhugh (1965)
• The Jazz Man - Mary Hays Weik (1966)
• The Contender - Robert Lipsyte (1967)
• From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - E.L. Konigsburg (1967)
• Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth - E.L. Konigsburg (1967)
• The Young Unicorns - Madeleine L'Engle (1968)

1970s[]

• The Planet of Junior Brown - Virginia Hamilton (1971)
• Freaky Friday - Mary Rodgers (1972)
• Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing - Judy Blume (1972)
• The Genie of Sutton Place - George Selden (1973)
• - Louise Fitzhugh (1974)
• (alt. title: ESP TV) - Mary Rodgers (1976)
• Alan and Naomi - (1977)

1980s[]

• Sarah Bishop - Scott O'Dell (1980)
• Superfudge - Judy Blume (1980)
• Annie on my Mind - Nancy Garden (1982)
• - Avi (1982)
• - Mary Rodgers (1982)
• The One Hundredth Thing About Caroline - Lois Lowry (1983)
• So You Want to Be a Wizard - Diane Duane (1983)
• In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson - Bette Bao Lord (1984)
• Motown and Didi - Walter Dean Myers (1984)
• - Suzy McKee Charnas (1985)
• - Harry Mazer (1986)
• - Tor Seidler (1986)
• Slake's Limbo - (1986)
• Charley Skedaddle - Patricia Beatty (1987)
• - Paula Danziger (1987)
• Scorpions - Walter Dean Myers (1988)
• - Sonia Levitin (1989)

1990s[]

• Babyface - Norma Fox Mazer (1990)
• Berts vidare betraktelser - Anders Jacobsson and Sören Olsson (1990)^[1]
• Caperucita en Manhattan - Carmen Martín Gaite (1990)
• - Walter Dean Myers (1990)
• - Richard Peck (1990)
• - Paula Fox (1991)
• Nothing To Fear - Jackie French Koller (1991)
• The Pigman and Me - Paul Zindel (1991)
• - E.L. Konigsburg (1992)
• Jumper - Steven Gould (1992)
• Letters from Rifka - Karen Hesse (1992)
• - Avi (1992)
• - Susan Richards Shreve (1993)
• City of Light, City of Dark - Avi (1993)
• The Kingdom of Kevin Malone - Suzy McKee Charnas (1993)
• Missing Angel Juan - Francesca Lia Block (1993)
• - Vera B. Williams (1993)
• - Isabelle Holland (1994)
• - Joan W. Blos (1994)
• - Richard Wright (1994)
• 2095 - Jon Scieszka (1995)
• - Barbara Barrie (1995)
• - Richard Peck (1995)
• - Louise Fitzhugh (1995)
• - Martha Southgate (1996)
• - Ilene Cooper (1996)
• Lily's Crossing - Patricia Reilly Giff (1997)
• Where You Belong - (1997)
• - Anders Jacobsson and Sören Olsson (1998)
• - Nikki Grimes (1998)
• The Kidnappers - Willo Davis Roberts (1998)
• - Adele Griffin (1998)
• Dave at Night - Gail Carson Levine (1999)
• Downsiders - Neal Shusterman (1999)
• In the Forests of the Night - Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (1999)
• Paperboy - Isabelle Holland (1999)
• - Paul Zindel (1999)

Twenty-first century[]

2000s[]

• - Carolyn Mackler (2000)
• Miracle's Boys - Jacqueline Woodson (2000)
• Over the Wall - John H. Ritter (2000)
• Princess Diaries (series) - Meg Cabot (2000)
• - Steven Kroll (2000)
• - Michael Laser (2001)
• All The Way Home - Patricia Reilly Giff (2001)
• - James Lincoln Collier (2001)
• - Avi (2001)
• - Tor Seidler (2001)
• The School Story - Andrew Clements (2001)
• - Barbara Brooks Wallace (2001)
• - Janet McDonald (2001)
• - Mary Jane Auch (2002)
• Bluish - Virginia Hamilton (2002)
• Boy Next Door - Meg Cabot (2002)
• - Janet McDonald (2002)
• Frog King - Adam Davies (2002)
• Gossip Girl - Cecily von Ziegesar (2002)
• - Jon Scieszka (2002)
• - John Lithgow (2002)
• My Heartbeat - Garret Freymann-Weyr (2002)
• Twelve - Nick McDonell (2002)
• - Elizabeth Levy (2002)
• The World of Henry Orient - Nora Johnson (2002)
• Gregor the Overlander (series) - Suzanne Collins (2003)
• - Patricia Reilly Giff (2004)
• City of Bones - Cassandra Clare (2005)
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians series - Rick Riordan (2005)
• - Emily Barton (2006)
• - Meg Cabot (2006)
• Jinx - Meg Cabot (2007)
• The Night Tourist - Katherine Marsh (2007)
• Mine All Mine - Adam Davies (2008)
• When You Reach Me - Rebecca Stead (2009)

2010s[]

• - John Wray (2010)
• - Randy Susan Meyers (2010)
• TimeRiders - Alex Scarrow (2010)
• - Alex Scarrow (2010)
• Bunheads - Sophie Flack (2011)
• TimeRiders: The Doomsday Code - Alex Scarrow (2011)
• - Alex Scarrow (2011)
• - Alex Scarrow (2012)
• New York Stories - Renald Iacovelli (2013)
• Modern Lovers-- Emma Straub (2016)

2020s

• The City We Became - N. K. Jemisin (2020)

References[]