Selected Shorts: Lost & Found

Whenever someone asks me how long you have to live in New York before you can call yourself a New Yorker, I always quote Colson Whitehead’s “Lost & Found”:  “You are a New Yorker the first time you say, ‘That used to be Munsey’s’ or ‘That used to be the Tic Toc Lounge’…You are a New Yorker when what was there before is more real and solid than what is here now.”  Whitehead’s essay not only captures what it means to be a New Yorker, it also explains how the city stands as a witness to our lives. On this week’s edition of Selected Shorts,  Alec Baldwin reads “Lost & Found” from Whitehead’s The Colosus of New York. The second story is Haruki Murakami’s “U.F.O. in Kushiro,” performed by Ken Leung. Go here to listen to the podcast, or check your local station for times.