Books like Black suit, worn once $45 by Michael Greenberg

Michael Greenberg’s collection is a candid, humor‑laden biography that documents his days as a struggling New York writer. He recounts moments such as editing doomed scripts, selling cosmetics from an ironing board, and even attempting to write about golf—despite never having played the game. The narrative is anchored by his relationships: his father’s bleak predictions, his first wife from Greenwich Village high school, and their son who grew up fluent in both street and parlor language. Beyond family, Greenberg introduces a cast of memorable characters: a Holocaust survivor who, near death, entrusts a fortune to him; a repentant communist confessing past sins; a gender‑transitional individual; a Chilean filmmaker in search of his past; and a community of rats that enact human‑like lives underground. Through these encounters, his essays weave the familiar with the extraordinary, making the ordinary moments of survival feel deeply resonant. The result is a bittersweet, spirited portrait of creative perseverance amid urban chaos.

First publish date: 2009