Metropolis by Elizabeth Gaffney (Hardcover)

Description

Bibliographic Details

• Author: Elizabeth Gaffney
• Title: Metropolis
• Publisher: ‎ Random House; First Edition (March 1, 2005)
• Language: ‎ English
• Format: Hardcover w/Library Binding (Deckle Edge) – 461 pages
• ISBN-10: ‎ 1400061504
• ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1400061501
• Item Weight: ‎ 1.75 pounds
• Dimensions: ‎ 6.4 x 1.6 x 9.4 inches
• Book Condition: Used – Very Good (Former library book; may include the markings and stickers associated from the library). 
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good (Plastic Library Dust Jacket)
• Edition: First Edition

Synopsis:

Elizabeth Gaffney’s magnificent, Dickensian Metropolis captures the splendor and violence of America’s greatest city in the years after the Civil War, as young immigrants climb out of urban chaos and into the American dream.

On a freezing night in the middle of winter, Gaffney’s nameless hero is suddenly awakened by a fire in P. T. Barnum’s stable, where he works and sleeps, and soon finds himself at the center of a citywide arson investigation.

Determined to clear his name and realize the dreams that inspired his hazardous voyage across the Atlantic, he will change his identity many times, find himself mixed up with one of the city’s toughest and most enterprising gangs, and fall in love with a smart, headstrong, and beautiful young woman. Buffeted by the forces of fate, hate, luck, and passion, our hero struggles to build a life–just to stay alive–in a country that at first held so much promise for him.

About the Author:

Elizabeth Gaffney is the author of the novels Metropolis and When the World Was Young. She's translated 4 books from German and published many short stories in literary magazines, most recently A Public Space, Conjunctions and Craft. 

A Brooklyn native and founding member of the editorial staff at A Public Space, she also teaches writing at A Public Space, The New School, NYU and at Queens University's low-residency MFA program.