Why people recommend it
City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg is a massive, sprawling debut novel set in 1970s New York City. The book received widespread attention across multiple episodes of The Book Review podcast in 2014 and 2024. Host John Williams mentioned the title after a reader recommended it, noting that the book seemed to be everywhere. Alexandra Alter highlighted the novel as one of the most anticipated upcoming books that people were excited about in the galleys being snapped up. Meanwhile, Greg Coles discussed the work by noting that its author was a critic who had previously reviewed for them, and specifically pointed out the impressive physical length of the novel at more than nine hundred pages. The combination of reader enthusiasm, critical acclaim, and its sheer scale made it a frequent topic of literary discussion.
Who recommended it
- Greg Coles Discussed
- John Williams Discussed
- Alexandra Alter Discussed
Greg Coles — 2 mentions
“a book that's gotten a lot of attention um by gu risk Hallberg uh who is also a Critic he's reviewed for us in the past his book is called City on fire”
“his book is called City on fire it's more than 900 Pages”
John Williams — 1 mention
“a reader Named Dave Brown named City on fire by Garris Colberg which makes sense because that book is everywhere this week”
Alexandra Alter — 1 mention
“so some of the books that people seem to be really excited about in the gallies that are being snapped up are uh Garris calberg City on fire which is coming out in October”