2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year Everything Changed

New York University sociologist Klinenberg (Palaces for the People) revisits in this complex and at times riveting work the tumultuous and traumatic first year of the Covid-19 pandemic in New York City. Presenting powerful personal narratives drawn from in-depth interviews alongside surveys and other studies, Klinenberg captures the year’s political upheaval by showcasing a wide variety of individual perspectives, ranging from those who protested George Floyd’s murder to those radicalized by the loss of individual liberties in the name of public health. Poignant stories of people caught up in the chaos and uncertainty are the book’s greatest strength. Thankachan Mathai, a trained physicist from India who had found work as a janitor with the city’s Metropolitan Transit Authority, felt duty-bound to continue working in the very early days of the pandemic and succumbed to the disease in March of 2020. Daniel Presti, another profile subject, was launching a new bar when Covid first emerged; feeling increasingly abandoned by city government, he began to operate the bar in defiance of local health measures. In the volume’s latter half, Klinenberg leans more heavily into studies and surveys, somewhat to the detriment of the narrative. Still, readers ready to reflect on 2020 will want to check out this vivid and nuanced account. (Feb.)