A while back, I put together a list of essential city-themed books, movies, music, and even blogs that fit with PubliCola's pro-city agenda. (If there's one issue we don't claim to be balanced on, it's our city lean .)

I am now compelled to add another item to the list. I cannot believe I've missed this city Talmud all these years. Written in 1958 and published in '59 on the cusp of London's youth explosion—think mod teens, scooters, and mini-skirts—Colin MacInnes' bennie-tempoed novel is a mad dash through the hep city scene tinged with race and class politics.

And to really dig it, there's always this: