‘The Darkest Seinfeld Episode Ever’

In his last novel, Jonathan Lethem fled New York City, the site of his best work like The Fortress of Solitude and Motherless Brooklyn, for far-away California. For his upcoming book, due out in October, Lethem returns to the nest, locating the entire work on the Upper East Side. Lethem tells New York magazine that Woody Allen, who made his bones obsessively chronicling the lives of those who lived in this tony enclave, was much on his mind. The book’s working title was Manhattan. However, Lethem said he did look across the park for inspiration as well, calling Chronic City, “the darkest Seinfeld episode ever.” But these geographic confines do not limit the writer’s imagination. The book takes an apocalyptic turn: Snow falls in July, fog envelops entire city neighborhoods. Lethem’s certainly setting the bar high. He said of the novel, “It’s the most unprecedented work I’ve ever done.”