On Wednesday, May 16 from 7 to 10 p.m., the New York Times Big
City Book Club will hold a live discussion of one of my all-time favorite books
-Time
and Again by Jack Finney. Although science fiction has never been one
of my usual genres I was drawn to the 1970 novel about time travel in 1995 when
I learned that the setting was Manhattan in the 1880s.
The plot concerns advertising
artist Simon Morley being chosen to take part in a secret U.S. government
project where he would travel back in time to 1882 New York City -- just to
prove it could be done. Soon Morley steps out of his twentieth-century apartment right into the winter of 1882. He
finds himself living in an apartment building which Finney modeled after the Dakota on
Central Park West. These were the years
when the Dakota and the Museum of Natural History were the only two main
structures on Central Park West.
Imagine the days when horse cars and carriages
caused traffic jams or when gaslights illuminated the streets at night; when El
trains took shoppers to the Ladies Mile, the main retail center in the
area around Broadway and 23rd Street.
Finley complements his intriguing
plot with historic photos and drawings supposedly done by Morley to show the
leaders of the secret project. It’s a
fascinating book, some consider a “classic.”
To join the New York Times Book Club and take part in the online
conversation on May 16th, go to bigcity@nytimes.com
and put “Join” in the subject line. 
