fee in the lobby of the famous Wal- dorf Astoria, where guests include presidents and crowned heads. Even Winston Churchill used to stay here. The next unmissable is Grand Cen- tral. I find it exciting to know that half a million passengers traverse the terminal’s main hall on a daily basis. And they all have their own life sto- ries – that which is commonly re- ferred to as destiny. What next? I could head to Times Square, where multicoloured cascades of advertisements and the latest news rush down the walls like media wa- terfalls, or to the Rockefeller Center, or to the Empire State Building to observe New York from a dizzying height. Or I could take a walk to the jewellery store Tiffany & Co., which was immortalised in Truman Ca- pote’s novel Breakfast at Tiffany’s. How to handle such an abun- dance, or rather an excess of choic- es? For starters, grasp the notion that total inclusivity is impossible. How, then, can one explain, and even less understand, the boldness, or rather the audacity for me to write about a city that doesn’t even know its own limits; a city that is constant- ly changing and expanding? Perhaps it’s because I gave up on attempt- ing a comprehensive overview, or be- cause I boiled the story down to the scope of my personal experience – to the years I spent working in New York as a correspondent; to the fact that I then traversed the ocean 30- odd times in both directions. This gives me at least a little right to talk about a city that cannot be described in full. And finally, that one can read something about my view of New York and America in the journalistic work Belly of the World, published by Prosveta (1987), and in the nov- els New York, Belgrade (2009) (also adapted for film) and Grand Central (2015), published by Laguna. I’m well aware that this is a mere crumb of everything that could be written about New York. However, I’m hopeful that, for the open-mind- ed reader, this crumb will grow to at least the size of a morsel.
KO JE DUŠAN? Dušan Miklja je diplomirao na Katedri za engleski jezik i knji- ževnost Filološkog fakulteta u Beogradu i oduvek se bavio re- čima – kao profesor, prevo- dilac, novinar i pisac. Autor je više romana, zbirki priča, pu- topisno-esejističke proze, ži- votopisa, drama i publicističkih dela. Njegov roman „Nju- jork, Beograd“ dobio je Nagra- du „Zlatni hit liber“ za jedno od najčitanijih književnih dela. Ne- davno je objavio knjigu „Gale- rija, zatvoreno zbog popisa“. Dobitnik je Nagrade za životno delo Udruženja novinara Srbije.
sion is also suggested by the façades of the city’s department stores. Not one of them lacks an American flag. The same spirit can be experienced at Macy's department store, which boasts of being the world’s largest department store. Where is Placido Domingo Central Park is certainly a must. For a city that stetches skywards due to a lack of space, it is unusual that it so generously embraces this large oasis of greenery. For those who still insist on taking photos in important places, lunch at Fiorello’s, across the street from the Lincoln Center, pro- vides a good opportunity. Those who are lucky will be seated at a table be- side the one where Placido Domingo used to sit regularly when he was in New York, as confirmed by the brass plaque engraved with his name. If you’re travelling with chil- dren, be sure to visit FAO Schwarz, dubbed “the world’s largest toy store”, where the greatest attention is at- tracted by the giant piano keys that are trampled on by barefoot children and adults alike. After experiencing all this, if you still care about what’s deemed important, you can drink cof-
WHO IS DUŠAN? Dušan Miklja is a graduate of the English Language and Literature Department of the University of Belgrade’s Faculty of Philology, who has always dealt with words – as a teacher, translator, journal- ist and writer. The author of mul- tiple novels, short story collec- tions, travelogue/essay prose, biographies, plays and journal- istic works, his novel New York, Belgrade won the Golden Hit Liber Award as one of the most widely read works of literature. He recently published the book Gallery (Closed for Inventory) and is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Jour- nalists’ Association of Serbia.
78 | Njujork » New York
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator