An Englishman in New York

The book features taxi drivers, cops, construction workers, divers, helicopter pilots, chefs, burlesque dancers, drug dealers, UN ambassadors, and even dog walkers. Jason was also struck by the significant influence that many Brits exercise on New York’s cultural agenda, leading him to include amongst his subjects writer Zoë Heller, director Stephen Daldry, artists Cecily Brown and Bill Jacklin, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Thomas P. Campbell, historian Simon Schama, actress Kate Winslet, and the musician Sting. The book offers an extraordinary insight into the British subculture that forms an intrinsic part of everyday life in New York City.

“I went for a walk in Central Park with Sting, for a cup of tea on Kate Winslet’s roof terrace, sat on Zoë Heller’s stoop, and watched Stephen Daldry cycle down 8th Avenue. I was given a private tour of both the Metropolitan Museum and Barneys’ shop windows. And amidst all the questions about why people had come here and what they had left behind, I learnt a little bit more about what it means to be English, what it means to be a New Yorker, and where the two intersect.”—Jason Bell