List of books set in New York City

This is a very incomplete list of fiction books set in New York City. Included is the date of first publication.

Books for adults

19th century

1800s

• A History of New York - Washington Irving (1809)

1880s

• Washington Square - Henry James (1880)

1890s

• Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto - Abraham Cahan (1896)

Twentieth century

1900s

• Sister Carrie - Theodore Dreiser (1900)
• The Melting Pot - Israel Zangwill (1908)

1920s

• The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton (1920)
• Bread Givers - Anzia Yezierska (1925)
• The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)
• Manhattan Transfer - John Dos Passos (1925)
• Plum Bun - Jessie Redmon Fauset (1929)

1930s

• Jews Without Money - Michael Gold (1930)
• Call It Sleep - Henry Roth (1934)
• Turn, Magic Wheel - Dawn Powell (1936)

1940s

• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith (1943)
• The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand (1943)
• The Big Clock - Kenneth Fearing (1946)
• The Deadly Percheron - John Franklin Bardin (1946)
• The Street - Ann Petry (1946)
• Three Bedrooms in Manhattan - Georges Simenon (1946)
• I, the Jury - Mickey Spillane (1947)
• Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison (1947)
• The Last of Phillip Banter - John Franklin Barden (1947)
• The Victim - Saul Bellow (1947)
• Consider Her Ways - Frederick Philip Grove (1948)

1950s

• Bunny Lake Is Missing - Merriam Modell (writing as Evelyn Piper) (1957)
• The Caine Mutiny - Herman Wouk (1951)
• The Catcher in the Rye - J. D. Salinger (1951)
• The Caves of Steel - Isaac Asimov (1953)
• Marjorie Morningstar - Herman Wouk (1955)
• Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand (1957)
• Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote

1960s

• Another Country - James Baldwin (1962)
• The Group - Mary McCarthy (1963)
• Joy in the Morning - Betty Smith (1963)
• Joe Gould's Secret - Joeseph Mitchell (1964)
• Last Exit to Brooklyn - Hubert Selby (1964)
• Make Room! Make Room! - Harry Harrison (1966)
• The Chosen - Chaim Potok (1967)
• Rosemary's Baby - Ira Levin (1967)
• My Sister Eileen - Ruth McKenney (1968)
• The Godfather - Mario Puzo (1969)
• Topsy and Evil - George Baxt (1969)

1970s

• Time and Again - Jack Finney (1970)
• Enemies - Isaac Bashevis Singer (1972)
• Umbrella Steps - Julie Goldsmith Gilbert (1972)
• Great Jones Street - Don Delillo (1973)
• Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York - Gail Parent (1973)
• Sophie's Choice - William Styron (1976)
• Players - Don Delillo (1977)
• An Armful of Warm Girl - W.M. Spackman (1978)
• A Contract with God - Will Eisner (1978)
• Dancer from the Dance - Andrew Holleran(1978)
• Faggots - Larry Kramer (1978)
• Happy All the Time - Laurie Colwin (1978)
• The Stand - Stephen King (1978)
• A Queer Kind of Death - George Baxt (1979)

1980s

• The Gunslinger - Stephen King (1982)
• Last Angry Man - Gerald Green (1983)
• Bright Lights, Big City - Jay McInerney (1984)
• Duplicate Keys - Jane Smiley (1984)
• Neuromancer - William Ford Gibson (1984)
• Blood Music - Greg Bear (1985)
• The Hyde Park Murder - Elliott Roosevelt (1985)
• The Bachelor's Bride- Stephen Koch (1986)
• Dreams of an Average Man -Dyan Sheldon (1986)
• Money - Martin Amis (1986)
• Social Disease - Paul Rudnick (1986)
• War Cries Over Avenue C - Jerome Charyn (1986)
• The Bonfire of the Vanities - Tom Wolfe (1987)
• The Drawing of the Three - Stephen King (1987)
• Ice and Fire - Andrea Dworkin (1987)
• Knight Life - Peter David (1987)
• Paradise Man - Jerome Charyn (1987)
• Stars and Bars - William Boyd (1987)
• The Year of Silence - Madison S. Bell (1987)
• Blue Belle - Andrew Vachss (1988)
• Little Odessa - Joseph Koenig (1988)
• People Like Us - Dominick Dunne (1988)
• The Crazy Kill - Chester Himes (1989)
• Emma Who Saved My Life - Wilton Barnhardt (1989)
• A Fairy Tale of New York - J.P. Donleavy (1989)

1990s

• Billy Bathgate - E.L. Doctorow (1990)
• Children of the Night - 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)
• Sniper's Moon - Carsten Stroud (1990)
• American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis (1991)
• Aftershock - Chuck Scarborough
• Day of Atonement - Faye Kellerman (1991)
• Sliver - Ira Levin (1991)
• The First Wives Club - Olivia Goldsmith (1992)
• Good Fairies of New York - Martin Millar (1992)
• How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents - Julia Alvarez (1992)
• Sweet Liar - Jude Deveraux (1992)
• The Kaisho - Eric Lustbader (1993)
• A Mother's Love - Mary Morris (1993)
• Banished Children of Eve - Peter Quinn (1994)
• A Feather on the Breath of God - Sigrid Nunez (1994)
• Just Like That - Lily Brett (1994)
• The Alienist - Caleb Carr (1995)
• Full Stop - Joan Smith (1995)
• One Coffee With - Margaret Maron (1995)
• Winter's Tale - Mark Helprin (1995)
• Brown Girl, Brownstones - Paula Marshall (1996)
• World's Fair - E.L. Doctorow (1996)
• A History of Violence - John Wagner (1997)
• Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer - Steven Millhauser (1997)
• Off Season - Naomi Holoch (1997)
• Sewer, Gas and Electric - Matt Ruff (1997)
• Sex and the City - Candace Bushnell (1997)
• Lives of the Monster Dogs - Kirstin Bakis (1997)
• Snow in August - Pete Hamill (1997)
• The Waterworks - E.L. Doctorow (1997)
• Underworld - Don DeLillo (1997)
• Always Hiding - Sophia G. Romero (1998)
• Eating Chinese Food Naked - Mei Ng (1998)
• Herb's Pajamas - Abigail Thomas (1998)
• For Kings and Planets - Ethan Canin (1998)
• Last Days of Summer - Steve Kluger (1998)
• The Hours - Michael Cunningham (1998)
• New York Graphic - Adam Lloyd Baker (1998)
• Solo Variations - Cassandra Garbus (1998)
• The Broken Hearts Club - Ethan Black (1999)
• Downsiders - Neal Shusterman (1999)
• Glamorama - Bret Easton Ellis (1999)
• Liberty Falling - Nevada Barr (1999)
• Morningside Heights - Cheryl Mendelson (1999)
• Motherless Brooklyn - Jonathan Lethem (1999)
• The Silk Code - Paul Levinson (1999)

21st century

2000s

• The Devil Wears Prada -
• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon (2000)
• City of God - E.L. Doctorow (2000)
• Killing Time - Caleb Carr (2000)
• Murder in Central Park - Michael Jahn (2000)
• The Night Inspector - Frederick Busch (2000)
• The Princess Diaries (series) - Meg Cabot (2000)
• Redemption Song - Bertice Berry (2000)
• The 25th Hour - David Benioff (2000)
• The Toy Collector - James Gunn (2000)
• About the Author - John Colapinto (2001)
• Bad Connection - Michael Ledwidge (2001)
• Because She is Beautiful - Cameron Dougan (2001)
• Black Water Transit - Carsten Stroud (2001)
• Borrowed Tides - Paul Levinson (2001)
• Box Office Poison - Alex Robinson (2001)
• Clara Callan - Richard B. Wright (2001)
• Closing Time -Jim Fusili (2001)
• The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen (2001)
• Dog Bites Man! City Shocked! - James Duffy (2001)
• Fixer Chao - Han Ong (2001)
• The Foreigner - Meg Castaldo (2001)
• The Fourth Angel -Suzanne Chazin (2001)
• Going, Going, Gone - Jack Womack (2001)
• The Good People of New York - Thisbe Nissen (2001)
• The Grand Complication - Allen Kurzweil (2001)
• The Haunting of Hip Hop - Bertice Berry (2001)
• Hell's Kitchen - Chris Niles (2001)
• High Maintenance - Jennifer Belle (2001)
• Hot Wired in Brooklyn - Douglas Dinunzio (2001)
• The Hum Bug - Harold Schechter (2001)
• Jeremy Thrane - Kate Christensen (2001)
• Kissing in Manhattan - David Schickler (2001)
• Lit Life - Kurt Wenzel (2001)
• Look At Me - Jennifer Egan (2001)
• Lucky Us- Joan Silber (2001)
• The Manhattan Hunt Club - John Saul (2001)
• The Muse Asylum - David Czuchlewski (2001)
• Rivington Street - Meredith Tax (2001)
• Saturn's Return to New York - Sara Gran (2001)
• Shooting Dr. Jack - Norman Green (2001)
• The Sweet By and By - Jeanne MacKin (2001)
• Absolute Rage - Robert K. Tanenbaum (2002)
• Confessions of an Ex-Girlfriend - Lynda Curnyn (2002)
• The Consciousness Plague - Paul Levinson (2002)
• Disturbing The Peace - Nancy Newman (2002)
• Dreamland - Kevin Baker (2002)
• Gramercy Park - Paula Cohen (2002)
• Little Girl Blue - David Cray (2002)
• The Nanny Diaries - Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus (2002)
• The Navigator of New York - Wayne Johnston (2002)
• Paradise Alley - Kevin Baker (2002)
• Pipsqueak - Brian Wiprud (2002)
• Save Karyn - Karyn Bosnak (2002)
• Shopaholic Takes Manhattan - Sophie Kinsella (2002)
• The Anniversary - Amy Gutman (2003)
• Beautiful Bodies - Laura Cunningham (2003)
• Carrie Pilby - Caren Lissner (2003)
• The Cordelia Squad - Mary Anne Kelly (2003)
• Cosmopolis - Don DeLillo (2003)
• A Cruel Season for Dying - Harker Moore (2003)
• Dead For Life - Ethan Black (2003)
• The Devil Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger (2003)
• Diary of a Mad Mom to Be -Laura Wolf (2003)
• Empty Stockings - Denis Hamill (2003)
• Forever - Pete Hamill (2003)
• For Matrimonial Purposes - Kavita Daswani (2003)
• The Furies - Fernanda Eberstadt (2003)
• Girl Cook - Hannah McCouch (2003)
• Hex - Maggie Estep (2003)
• Imitation in Death -J.D. Robb (2003)
• A Killing Gift - Leslie Glass (2003)
• Kunma - Frank Corsaro (2003)
• The Last Good Day - Peter Blauner (2003)
• Love Me - Garrison Keillor (2003)
• Lucia, Lucia - Adriana Trigiani (2003)
• Manhattan North - John Mackie (2003)
• Oracle Night - Paul Auster (2003)
• Pattern Recognition - William Ford Gibson (2003)
• The Pixel Eye - Paul Levinson (2003)
• The Quality of Life Report - Meghan Daum (2003)
• Sheet Music - M.J. Rose (2003)
• Shopaholic Ties the Knot - Sophie Kinsella (2003)
• Small Town - Lawrence Block (2003)
• What I Loved - Siri Hustvedt (2003)
• Absent Friends - S.J. Rozan (2004)
• An Almost Perfect Moment - Binnie Kirshenbaum (2004)
• Bergdorf Blondes - Plum Sykes (2004)
• Between Two Rivers - Nicholas Rinaldi (2004)
• Bombshell - Lynda Curnyn (2004)
• The Green and the Gray - Timothy Zahn (2004)
• In the Shadow of No Towers - Art Spiegelman (2004)
• Joy Comes in the Morning - Jonathan Rosen (2004)
• Love Monkey - Kyle Smith (2004)
• Monster Island - David Wellington (August 2004)
• The Island of Bicycle Dancers - Jiro Adachi (2004)
• Oh, Play That Thing - Roddy Doyle (2004)
• The Outside World - Tova Mirvis (2004)
• Solos - Kitty Burns Florey (2004)
• Song of Susannah - Stephen King (2004)
• Under the Manhattan Bridge - Irene Marcuse (2004)
• The White Rose - Jean Hanff Korelitz (2004)
• Brickhouse - Rita Ewing (2005)
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer (2005)
• The Hour of the Cat - Peter Quinn (2005)
• Metropolis - Elizabeth Gaffney (2005)
• Pinkerton's Sister - Peter Rushforth (2005)
• The Island of Bicycle Dancers - Jiro Adachi (2005)
• Up From Orchard Street - Eleanor Widmer (2005)
• The Plot To Save Socrates - Paul Levinson (2006)
• Rise and Shine - Anna Quindlen (2006)

Unknown publication date

• Banana Fish (manga series) - Akimi Yoshida
• Bringing Out The Dead - Joseph Connelly
• Cities in Flight (series) - James Blish
• Custom of the Country - Edith Wharton
• Doc Savage Pulp novel series
• The Doorbell Rang - Rex Stout
• Engaging Men - Lynda Curnyn
• ESP TV - Mary Rodgers
• Laura - Vera Caspary
• Looking for Mr. Goodbar - Judith Rossner
• Minor Miracles - Will Eisner
• The Name of the Game - Will Eisner
• The New York Trilogy -Paul Auster
• Old New York - Edith Wharton
• Swing Low, Sweet Harriet - George Baxt

Books for children

Twentieth century

1930s

• Roller Skates - Ruth Sawyer (1936)

1940s

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

1950s

• 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 Long Secret - Louise Fitzhugh (1965)
• Noonday Friends - Mary Slattery Stolz (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)
• "A Girl Called Al" - Constance Greene (1969)

1970s

• Tales of a Forth Grade Nothing - Judy Blume (1972)
• Alan and Naomi - Myron Levoy (1977)

1980s

• Sarah Bishop - Scott O'Dell (1980)
• Superfudge - Judy Blume (1980)
• Anna, Grandpa, and the Big Storm - Carla Stevens (1982)
• Sometimes I Think I Hear My Name - Avi (1982)
• The One Hundredth Thing About Caroline - Lois Lowry (1983)
• In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson - Betty Bao Lord (1984)
• Motown and Didi - Walter Dean Myers (1984)
• The Bronze King - Suzy McKee Charnas (1985)
• The Cave Under the City - Harry Mazer (1986)
• A Rat's Tale - Tor Seidler (1986)
• Slake's Limbo - Felice Holman (1986)
• Charley Skedaddle - Patricia Beatty (1987)
• Hiding Places - Lyn Miller-Lachmann (1987)
• Scorpions - Walter Dean Myers (1988)
• Silver Days - Sonia Levitin (1989)

1990s

• Babyface - Norma Fox Mazer (1990)
• Enter Three Witches - Kate Gilmore (1990)
• A Long Way To Go - Zibby Oneal (1990)
• The Mouse Rap - Walter Dean Myers (1990)
• Voices After Midnight - Richard Peck (1990)
• Nothing To Fear - Jackie French Koller (1991)
• The Pigman and Me - Paul Zindel (1991)
• Amy Elizabeth Explores Bloomingdales - E.L. Konigsburg (1992)
• An Ellis Island Christmas - Maxine Rhea Leighton (1992)
• Jumper - Steven Gould (1992)
• Kelly 'N' Me - Myron Levoy (1992)
• Letters from Rifka - Karen Hesse (1992)
• Lily and Miss Liberty - Carla Stevens (1994)
• Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway? - Avi (1992)
• Amy Dunn Quits School - Susan Richards Shreve (1993)
• City of Light, City of Dark - Avi (1993)
• The Kingdon of Kevin Malone - Suzy McKee Charnas (1993)
• Love You, Soldier - Amy Hest (1993)
• Missing Angel Juan - Francesca Lia Block (1993)
• The Sabbath Garden - Patricia Baird Greene (1993)
• Behing the Lines - Isabelle Holland (1994)
• Brooklyn Doesn't Rhyme - Joan W. Blos (1994)
• East Side Story - Bonnie Bader (1994)
• Rite of Passage - Richard Wright (1994)
• 2095 - Jon Scieszka (1995)
• Adam Zigzag - Barbara Barrie (1995)
• Captured by a Spy - Lucille Travis (1995)
• Falcon's Egg - Luli Gray (1995)
• Lost In Cyberspace - Richard Peck (1995)
• The Rose Horse - Deborah Lee Rose (1995)
• The Thief from Five Points - Louise Fitzhugh (1995)
• Another Way to Dance - Martha Southgate (1996)
• I Am an Artichoke - Lucy Frank (1996)
• No-Thanks Thanksgiving - Ilene Cooper (1996)
• Picture Perfect - Yvonne Lehman (1996)
• Sam's Gift - A.E. Cannon (1996)
• Friends to Die for - Jane Sughrue Giberga (1997)
• Lily's Crossing - Patricia Reilly Giff (1997)
• Snow White and Rose Red - Regina Doman (1997)
• Two Cents and a Milk Bottle - Lee Chai'ah Batterman (1997)
• Wannabe - Shelley Stoehr (1997)
• Where You Belong - Mary Ann McGuigan (1997)
• Cassandra: Live at Carnegie Hall - Nancy J. Hooper (1998)
• The Kidnappers - Willo Davis Roberts (1998)
• The Other Shepards - Adele Griffin (1998)
• Jazmin's Notebook - Nikki Grimes (1998)
• Journey to Ellis Island - Carol Bierman (1998)
• Saratoga Secret - Betsy Sterman (1998)
• Willing Spirits - Phyllis Schieber (1998)
• Dave at Night - Gail Carson Levine (1999)
• Downsiders - Neal Shusterman (1999)
• The Ghost of Gracie Mansion - Susan Kohl (1999)
• In The Forests of the Night - Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (1999)
• The Lost Village of Central Park - Hope Laurie Killcoyne (1999)
• Paperboy - Isabelle Holland (1999)
• Rats - Paul Zindel (1999)

21st century

2000s

• Empire Dreams - Wendy Wax (2000)
• Love and Other Four-Letter Words - Carolyn Mackler (2000)
• Miracle's Boys - Jacqueline Woodson (2000)
• When I Dream of Heaven: Angelina's Story - Steven Kroll (2000)
• When I Was Older - Garret Freymann-Weyr (2000)
• 6-321 - Michael Laser (2001)
• All The Way Home - Patricia Reilly Giff (2001)
• Annie Quinn in America - Mical Schneider (2001)
• Chipper - James Lincoln Collier (2001)
• Don't You Know There's A War On? - Avi (2001)
• The Revenge of Randall Reese-Rat - Tor Seidler (2001)
• The School Story - Andrew Clements (2001)
• Secret in St. Something - Barbara Brooks Wallace (2001)
• Spellbound - Janet McDonald (2001)
• The Annoyance Bureau - Lucy Frank (2002)
• Ashes of Roses - Mary Jane Auch (2002)
• Bluish - Virginia Hamilton (2002)
• Boy Next Door - Meg Cabot (2002)
• Chill Wind - Janet McDonald (2002)
• Fresh Girl - Jaira Placide (2002)
• Gossip Girl - Cecily von Ziegesar (2002)
• Hey Kid, Want to Buy a Bridge? - Scieszka (2002)
• O'Dwyer & Grady Starring in : Acting Innocent - Eileen Heyes (2002)
• Twelve - Nick McDonell (2002)
• Vampire State Building - Elizabeth Levy (2002)
• The World of Henry Orient - Nora Johnson (2002)
• A House of Tailors - Patricia Reilly Giff (2004)

Unknown publication date

• Alphabet City Ballet - Erika Tamar
• A Billion for Boris - Mary Rodgers
• The Book of Night With Moon - Diane Duane
• Eight Cousins - Louisa May Alcott
• Freaky Friday - Mary Rodgers
• The Genie of Sutton Place - George Selden
• Just Ask Iris - Lucy Frank
• Monkey Island - Paula Fox
• Nobody's Family is Going to Change - Louise Fitzhugh
• Over The Wall - John H. Ritter
• The Planet of Junior Brown - Virigina Hamilton
• Remember Me to Harold Square - Paula Danzinger
• Rose in Bloom (sequel to Eight Cousins) - Louisa May Alcott
• Scooter - Vera B. Williams
• So You Want To Be A Wizard - Diane Duane
• Summer Switch - Mary Rodgers (1982)