Helene Hanff, scriptwriter and lover of literature and life, lived in New York City most of her life.  She achieved a measure of fame from her book "84, Charing Cross Road."   

In this book, LETTER FROM NEW YORK, Hanff shares with readers excerpts from monthly broadcasts she made to the UK via the BBC radio program Woman's Hour between 1978 and 1984.  These excerpts convey with amazing vividness and richness what living in New York was like for Hanff, who lived in a small high-rise apartment in the heart of Manhattan.    Where she lived was made up of an amazing microcosm of characters no reader will soon forget.

For instance, there was Hanff's friend Arlene, 20 years her junior, twice married and divorced, who lived alone "in an eight-room penthouse, with a bedroom suitably decorated for Marie Antoinette, and a living room positively alive with silver and china ornaments and glittering chandeliers."  She and Hanff were of the same size.  But unlike Hanff, who described herself as plain and mousy, Arlene was "black-haired, flamboyantly beautiful, and the last word in high-fashion chic." What's more: she has always lived a high-powered social life in which her job often brought her into contact with some of New York's most prominent people.   And, unlike Hanff, Arlene was no dog lover, something she made abundantly clear to Hanff, once firmly saying to her: "I don't want to hear about your dogs."  

Well, imagine Hanff's surprise when she had invited Arlene to a Thanksgiving Day dinner with friends, one of whom had brought along his old English sheepdog named Bentley.   Hanff hadn't told Arlene about this.   Here is how Hanff described the evening ---

"... Bentley - who is a huge, snowy mop of a dog - was at the door to greet [Arlene] when [she] arrived, wearing a flame-coloured shimmering blouse and high black stormtrooper's boots with six-inch heels. While RIchard [Bentley's owner] made the drinks, I was busy passing hors-d'oeuvres and checking on everything in the kitchen, so it was some time before I settled with my drink and glanced at Arlene.

"She was sitting on the sofa, Bentley at her feet sitting with his back to her and his head locked in a vice between her high black stormtrooper boots.   As Richard and I gawked at her, Arlene yanked Bentley's head back, peered down into his eyes - one brown, one blue - and informed him, 'I like you. You're a very sophisticated dog.' "

Arlene and Bentley struck an immediate rapport with each other.   So much so, that Arlene told him: "No dog has ever crossed the threshold of my penthouse... But you're special.   You're coming to my New Year's Eve party."  

And so it was that Bentley, sporting a bow tie at his neck, was among 50 guests at Arlene's penthouse on New Year's Eve for a breakfast that lasted from 2:30 AM until sunrise on New Year's Day.   The party was a resounding success, though in a somewhat unusual way.  A couple of days later, when Arlene phoned Hanff to discuss the party, this is what she said --- 

"People have been phoning all day.  Would you like to know what they talked about?  Never mind the gorgeous buffet table, never mind the champagne.  Never mind the great piano player.  Never mind I looked sensational.  All anybody talked about was Bentley.  Will you tell me how I can go bananas over a dog who took the stage away from me at my own party?"

For all its 178 pages, LETTER FROM NEW YORK was a delight to read. As someone who spent a few hours in Manhattan with some of my high school classmates on the Saturday before Easter Sunday in April 1982, this book evoked happy memories for me.   Any reader will want to experience New York City for him/herself after reading it.