Childhood in the Big Apple

In his latest collection of essays, Adam Gopnik epitomozes his charming writing style when he writes, “And we wanted them to grow up in New York, to be natives here, as we could never be, to come in through the Children’s Gate, not the Strangers’ Gate.”

The gates Gopnik refers to are those of Central Park, which are each named for a different group of people who enter the park. It is these types of pleasant observations about the city that make up his new book “Through the Children’s Gate,” a series of essays about the Gopnik family’s return to New York after five years in Paris.

Gopnik, a regular writer for The New Yorker, explains how he and his wife decided to raise their children in New York, a city that, in his eyes, has become “a children’s city.” Gopnik’s descriptions of children’s gyms on each block in some neighborhoods and strollers that crowd the sidewalk present a vision of New York from the point of view of both child and parent.

Peppered throughout the essays are various anecdotes about Gopnik’s two children and the adventures and surprises of parenting. Particularly enjoyable to read are passages about four-year-old Olivia, who discovers (and becomes fascinated with) the words “obviously,” “actually,” and “miscellaneous.”

In describing New York parents, Gopnik does not fail to leave out the “yuppie” factor. He details the production of a “Peter Pan” play put on at his seven-year-old son’s private school, where an ad hoc committee is formed with the goal of figuring out a way for the children to fly on stage. The various suggestions, which include step ladders (“That won’t give the illusion of flight. That’ll give the illusion of their being housepainters.”) and parents dressed in black lifting the children (“Emma can’t deal with clowns at birthday parties, much less with ninja assaults.”) are thoroughly enjoyable to read.

Though largely focused on the theme of childhood, Gopnik’s essays also include anecdotes on other aspects of a New Yorker’s life, such as the widespread trend of seeing therapists. Gopnik has a lightly irreverent take on the whole matter—he writes about how his doctor frequently fell asleep during sessions, prompting him to make up stories and name drop great literary figures in an effort to keep the shrink’s attention.

Gopnik also compares life in New York and Paris. His description of the difference between getting a taxi in each city is wonderfully observant and witty. Parisians, apparently, line up civilly at designated taxi lines on each block, while New Yorkers battle it out in a free-for-all. Gopnik’s vivid account of the way New Yorkers step in front of each other in the search for a cab, slyly avoiding eye contact, is spot-on.

Some of the essays are also surprisingly relatable to the lives of college-aged students. Gopnik spends quite a few pages explaining the intricacies of the card game “Mafia,” which many student readers have, no doubt, played endlessly. He comments that “both eager cooperation and absolute paranoia are essential to the strategic game”—advice that enterprising and conniving Ivy Leaguers will take to heart.

Such astute observations, combined with witty comments and humorous re-creations of events, make for a fantastic collection of essays.

Through the Children's Gate
By Adam Gopnik
Knopf
Out Now