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The Empire State Building Opened During the Great Depression. Its Survival Story Holds a Lesson for Today

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On May 1, 1931, an “awestruck” Franklin D. Roosevelt, then Governor of New York, spoke at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for what was then the world’s tallest building, the Empire State Building.
The new skyscraper, he said, was a symbol of “vision and faith”: vision, because only those who looked to the future could have imagined such a project, and faith, in believing the work would be “fully justified in the days to come.”
<figure class="inline-custom-size alignnone"><img alt="The Empire State Building was formally opened in a ceremony in which President Hoover, Alfred E. Smith, President of the Empire State Corporation, Governor Roosevelt, and other notables participated. This photo shows Ex-Governor Smith pointing out the sights of the city to Governor Roosevelt from 1 of 2 observation floors on May 1, 1931." class="wp-image-6030036" height="707" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" src="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?w=560&w=560" srcset="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg 1902w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=238,300 238w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=768,969 768w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=476,600 476w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=1217,1536 1217w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=1623,2048 1623w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=291,367 291w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=582,734 582w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=148,187 148w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=296,374 296w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=214,270 214w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=443,559 443w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=428,540 428w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=856,1080 856w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=1141,1440 1141w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=407,514 407w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=814,1027 814w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=280,353 280w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=560,707 560w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=793,1000 793w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=190,240 190w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=380,479 380w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=263,332 263w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=526,664 526w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=61,77 61w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=1200,1514 1200w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=640,808 640w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=760,959 760w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=1520,1918 1520w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=700,883 700w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=1000,1262 1000w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=25,31 25w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=550,694 550w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=1100,1388 1100w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=840,1060 840w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=1680,2120 1680w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=1012,1277 1012w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=320,404 320w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=600,757 600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=386,487 386w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=300,379 300w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=192,242 192w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=317,400 317w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=159,200 159w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=101,128 101w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-2.jpg?resize=198,250 198w" width="560" />
<figcaption class="image-caption" style="max-width:560px">Empire State Realty TrustFormer Governor Alfred E. Smith points out the sights of the city to Governor Roosevelt from an Empire State Building observation floor on May 1, 1931.</figcaption>
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The future President’s comments came at a moment when not everyone would have had that faith. The Great Depression had already begun; a massive new office building could have been an ill-timed waste of money.
But Roosevelt’s words proved prescient, as the building made it through the Depression, through the Second World War and all the way to its 90th birthday this week. At 1,250 feet to the 102nd-floor observatory—and another 200 to the top of the broadcast tower—the Empire State Building may no longer be the tallest building in the New York City skyline, but it’s arguably still the most recognizable skyscraper in the world.
<figure class="inline-portrait_small_2x alignnone"><img alt="An aerial photograph of The Empire State Building from October 1930. There are 88 stories finished, and when completion, will reach 102 stories." loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" src="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?w=560&w=560" srcset="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg 2400w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=300,213 300w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=768,545 768w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=600,426 600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=1536,1091 1536w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=2048,1454 2048w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=517,367 517w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=1034,734 1034w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=263,187 263w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=527,374 527w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=380,270 380w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=787,559 787w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=761,540 761w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=1521,1080 1521w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=2028,1440 2028w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=407,289 407w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=814,578 814w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=280,199 280w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=560,398 560w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=1408,1000 1408w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=190,135 190w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=526,373 526w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=61,43 61w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=1200,852 1200w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=640,454 640w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=760,540 760w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=1520,1079 1520w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=700,497 700w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=1000,710 1000w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=44,31 44w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=550,391 550w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=1100,781 1100w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=840,596 840w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=1680,1193 1680w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=1012,719 1012w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=2024,1437 2024w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=320,227 320w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=686,487 686w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=192,136 192w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=563,400 563w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=282,200 282w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=180,128 180w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-3.jpg?resize=352,250 352w" />
<figcaption class="image-caption">Bettmann Archive/Getty ImagesAn aerial photograph of The Empire State Building from October 1930. At the time, there were 88 stories finished.</figcaption>
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But that anniversary comes amid a situation that would have been familiar to those early boosters. Amid the spread of COVID-19, many of the building’s tenants, like those of other office buildings around the city and world, have closed their offices: The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/nyregion/nyc-commercial-real-estate.html" target="_blank">reports</a> that 14% of offices in midtown Manhattan were vacant as of December 2020. That’s bad news for the city’s coffers; property taxes are the largest source of revenue for the city, with commercial property taxes leading that category.
But, as office buildings grapple with how to cope after a year of working from home, the Empire State Building’s experience with economic uncertainty may offer a hint of what’s to come: recovery is possible, its story suggests, with a little bit of the faith Roosevelt embraced—and a lot of money.
<h2>The race for the sky</h2>
<figure class="inline-longform_xlarge alignnone"><img alt="Icarus, Empire State Building, 1930" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" src="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?w=1200&w=1200" srcset="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg 2400w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=300,235 300w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=768,602 768w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=600,471 600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=1536,1204 1536w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=2048,1606 2048w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=468,367 468w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=936,734 936w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=238,187 238w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=477,374 477w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=344,270 344w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=713,559 713w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=689,540 689w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=1377,1080 1377w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=1836,1440 1836w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=407,319 407w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=814,638 814w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=280,220 280w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=560,439 560w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=1275,1000 1275w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=190,149 190w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=380,298 380w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=263,206 263w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=526,412 526w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=61,48 61w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=1200,941 1200w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=640,502 640w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=760,596 760w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=1520,1192 1520w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=700,549 700w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=1000,784 1000w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=40,31 40w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=550,431 550w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=1100,863 1100w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=840,659 840w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=1680,1317 1680w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=1012,794 1012w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=2024,1587 2024w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=320,251 320w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=621,487 621w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=192,151 192w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=510,400 510w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=255,200 255w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=163,128 163w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-4.jpg?resize=319,250 319w" />
<figcaption class="image-caption">Lewis Hine—Alamy High up on the Empire State Building, 1930</figcaption>
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The Empire State Building is an embodiment of the explosion of commercial real estate spurred by the World War I recovery period and booming late 1920s economy, according to Carol Willis, founder and director of the Skyscraper Museum and author of Building the Empire State. Its opening came during a skyscraper boom in New York City: In the fall of 1929, the 927-foot-tall Manhattan Company Building (now known as <a href="https://time.com/4291666/super-pac-attacks-trump-over-911-recovery-cash/">40 Wall Street</a>) beat the 792-foot-tall <a href="https://old.skyscraper.org/EXHIBITIONS/WOOLWORTH/nw_ship.php" target="_blank">Woolworth Building</a> to become the world’s tallest building—only to have the 1,046-foot-tall Chrysler Building (temporarily) take the title soon after, thanks to a secretly manufactured <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Building_the_Empire_State/C4ntsnrgCCQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=publicity%20coup" target="_blank">185-ft.-tall spire</a> in the building’s fire shaft that was raised up in 90 minutes.
<figure class="inline-portrait_small_2x alignnone"><img alt="As possessor of a gold membership card in the bricklayers' union, former Governor Alfred E. Smith performed a thorough job when he laid cornerstone for the Empire State Building on Fifth avenue and 34th street, New York City, before a crowd of onlookers on Sept. 9, 1930." loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" src="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?w=560&w=560" srcset="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg 2400w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=300,190 300w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=768,487 768w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=600,381 600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=1536,974 1536w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=2048,1299 2048w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=550,349 550w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=1100,698 1100w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=280,178 280w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=560,355 560w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=419,266 419w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=838,531 838w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=1703,1080 1703w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=407,258 407w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=814,516 814w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=1577,1000 1577w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=190,120 190w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=380,241 380w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=263,167 263w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=526,334 526w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=61,39 61w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=1200,761 1200w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=640,406 640w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=760,482 760w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=1520,964 1520w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=700,444 700w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=1000,634 1000w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=49,31 49w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=840,533 840w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=1680,1065 1680w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=1012,642 1012w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=2024,1284 2024w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=320,203 320w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=730,463 730w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=192,122 192w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-5.jpg?resize=394,250 394w" />
<figcaption class="image-caption">Bettmann Archive/Getty ImagesAs possessor of a gold membership card in the bricklayers’ union, Alfred Smith performed a thorough job when he laid the cornerstone for the Empire State Building on Fifth avenue and 34th street, New York City, before a crowd of onlookers on Sept. 9, 1930.</figcaption>
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The Empire State Building was the brainchild of John Jakob Raskob, a pioneering American capitalist who became infamous for urging Americans to invest in the stock market two months before the 1929 crash, right around the same time that the Empire State Building plan was announced to the public. Construction went forward even after the crash, saving at least some jobs by employing 3,439 workers during the one year and 45 days it took to build.
According to one perhaps apocryphal anecdote, in early October 1929, days before the stock market crash, Raskob pitched the Empire State Building to some of the city’s biggest investors as <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Everybody_Ought_to_Be_Rich/7i8N99_HDpAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22a+country+which+can+provide+the+vision,+the+resources,+the+money+and+the+people+to+build+such+an+edifice+as+this,+surely+cannot+be+allowed+to+crash+through+lack+of+support+from+the+likes+of+you+and+me%22&pg=PA276&printsec=frontcover" target="_blank">“a monument to the future</a>,” and an inspiration for the poor in a nation that <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Nearest_Thing_to_Heaven/OA3cts0Jbv0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=heavens+empire+state+building&printsec=frontcover" target="_blank">“reached for the sky with its feet on the ground.”</a>
<figure class="inline-custom-size alignnone"><img alt="Empire State Building construction workers, 1920s" class="wp-image-6030876" height="723" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" src="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?w=560&w=560" srcset="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg 1859w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=232,300 232w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=768,992 768w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=465,600 465w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=1190,1536 1190w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=1586,2048 1586w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=284,367 284w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=569,734 569w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=145,187 145w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=290,374 290w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=209,270 209w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=433,559 433w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=418,540 418w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=837,1080 837w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=1115,1440 1115w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=407,525 407w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=814,1051 814w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=280,361 280w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=560,723 560w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=775,1000 775w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=190,245 190w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=380,491 380w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=263,340 263w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=526,679 526w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=61,79 61w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=1200,1549 1200w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=640,826 640w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=760,981 760w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=1520,1962 1520w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=700,904 700w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=1000,1291 1000w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=24,31 24w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=550,710 550w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=1100,1420 1100w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=840,1084 840w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=1680,2169 1680w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=1012,1307 1012w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=320,413 320w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=80,104 80w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=600,775 600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=377,487 377w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=300,387 300w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=192,248 192w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=310,400 310w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=155,200 155w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=99,128 99w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-11.jpg?resize=194,250 194w" width="560" />
<figcaption class="image-caption" style="max-width:560px">Irving Browning—The New York Historical Society/Getty ImagesEmpire State Building construction workers, 1920s</figcaption>
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“Gentlemen, a country which can provide the vision, the resources, the money and the people to build such an edifice as this,” he said, “surely cannot be allowed to crash through lack of support from the likes of you and me.”
But by the time construction was finished, what was supposed to be an asset—its record size, with over 2 million square feet of office space—had become its biggest liability.
<h2>‘The Empty State Building’</h2>
Once the race to build the world’s tallest buildings was finished, the race to fill them began. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Empire_Statesman/bOahalX-CxQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=robert+slayton+office+space+empire+state+building&pg=PA335&printsec=frontcover" target="_blank">Office space in New York had increased 51% from 1920 to 1930</a>, according to Robert Slayton’s Empire Statesman: The Rise and Redemption of Al Smith. Filling those offices with paying tenants would be necessary to keep the new skyline from becoming a symbol of failure.
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But, as the United States was slipping into the Great Depression, the Empire State Building was 75% empty when the building opened in 1931 and remained in the red for much of the 1930s and 1940s. The higher up the office, the higher the rents, so generally everything above the 41st floor was vacant. The building became the butt of jokes, dubbed the “empty state building.”
“So much new space came onto the market at exactly the same time,” explains Willis, “that all of those buildings were competing with each other for new tenants at a time when businesses and sales were shrinking. More new space, smaller business demands—all the new buildings suffered.”
But when it came to the Empire State Building, its investors were confident that the building would sell itself. The job of being the building’s president was given to former New York Governor and failed Presidential candidate <a href="https://time.com/4540877/alfred-smith-dinner-history/" style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">Al Smith.</a> But, while the title was supposed to be a sinecure, instead Smith went from running for the nation’s highest office to running around trying to rent the highest offices.
<figure class="inline-portrait_small_2x alignnone"><img alt="Al Smith pictured at his office atop the Empire State Building on his 69th birthday, Dec. 30, 1942" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" src="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?w=560&w=560" srcset="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg 2400w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=300,188 300w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=768,480 768w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=600,375 600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=1536,960 1536w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=2048,1280 2048w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=550,344 550w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=1100,688 1100w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=280,175 280w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=560,350 560w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=419,262 419w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=838,524 838w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=1728,1080 1728w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=407,254 407w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=814,509 814w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=1600,1000 1600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=190,119 190w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=380,238 380w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=263,164 263w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=526,329 526w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=61,38 61w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=1200,750 1200w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=640,400 640w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=760,475 760w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=1520,950 1520w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=700,438 700w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=1000,625 1000w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=50,31 50w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=840,525 840w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=1680,1050 1680w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=1012,633 1012w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=2024,1265 2024w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=320,200 320w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=730,456 730w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=192,120 192w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-9.jpg?resize=400,250 400w" />
<figcaption class="image-caption">Bill Wallace—NY Daily News Archive/Getty ImagesAl Smith pictured at his office atop the Empire State Building on his 69th birthday, Dec. 30, 1942</figcaption>
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Smith started by encouraging Governor Roosevelt to move state agencies into the building. That didn’t happen, but Smith later went to Washington to again “beg” Roosevelt, who became President in 1933, to move government offices into the building, according to Robert Caro’s The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York. “Federal agencies were moved out of offices as far away as Philadelphia to fill up the New York skyscraper,” Caro writes, “[It] was still not earning enough to meet the mortgage payments.”
Smith also turned to publicity stunts. A newspaper-delivery blimp dropped a 100-foot line to dangle a bundle of papers to the building’s newsstand. Smith brought heads of state visiting the city to the Empire State Building. (The King of what’s now Thailand was reported to have joked that he was <a href="https://archive.org/details/empirestatesmanr00robe/page/n261/mode/2up?q=%22siam%22" target="_blank">used to seeing white elephants</a> where was from). From <a href="http://menus.nypl.org/menu_pages/63097/explore" target="_blank">the 86th floor observatory deck</a>, actress <a href="https://time.com/4186886/frances-marion/">Mary Pickford</a> released hundreds of <a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/mary-pickford-a-canadian-american-actress-acting-for-the-news-photo/566221163?adppopup=true" target="_blank">balloons</a> that could be exchanged for two tickets to the circus. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1937/04/21/archives/the-tallest-man-atop-the-tallest-building.html" target="_blank">The world’s tallest man visited the world’s tallest building</a>. And to celebrate the end of Prohibition in 1933, six Clydesdale horses carted a five-ton wagon with two cases of Budweiser to the Empire State Building, and the following year, a bar billed as <a href="https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1934/06/04/94537181.html?pageNumber=36" target="_blank">“the world’s highest bar”</a> (selling 25-cent martinis) opened alongside the so-called “world’s loftiest” <a href="http://menus.nypl.org/menu_pages/63097/explore" target="_blank">soda fountain</a> and tearoom on 86th floor.
The publicity that did the most, however, didn’t come from Smith. When 1933’s King Kong fed moviegoers the sight of a gorilla dangling Fay Wray from the top of the Empire State Building, Slayton says, it didn’t entice renters but did help cement the building’s status as a national icon. Potential tenants were also offered perks like towel service, ice water, telephones and reception area access, according to John Tauranac’s The Empire State Building: The Making of a Landmark. (Dictation services were extra.)
<figure class="inline-longform_large alignnone"><img alt="From top left: British politician Anthony Eden with Al Smith atop the building on Dec. 16, 1938; Al Smith entertains Winston Churchill on Feb. 9, 1932; Al Smith and Actor Ed Wynn (right) in the lobby, 1930s; Al Smith uses the building's telescope to get a good look at Robert Wadlow, world's tallest man on April 20, 1937; Mary Pickford, a Canadian-American actress, sends hundreds of balloons into the sky from the 86th floor; King Kong, 1933" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" src="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?w=1000&w=1000" srcset="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg 2670w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=300,181 300w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=768,463 768w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=600,362 600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=1536,926 1536w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=2048,1235 2048w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=550,332 550w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=1100,663 1100w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=280,169 280w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=560,338 560w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=419,253 419w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=838,505 838w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=1791,1080 1791w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=407,245 407w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=814,491 814w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=1658,1000 1658w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=190,115 190w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=380,229 380w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=263,159 263w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=526,317 526w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=61,37 61w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=1200,724 1200w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=640,386 640w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=760,458 760w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=1520,917 1520w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=700,422 700w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=1000,603 1000w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=51,31 51w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=840,507 840w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=1680,1013 1680w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=1012,610 1012w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=2024,1220 2024w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=320,193 320w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=730,440 730w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=192,116 192w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-6.jpg?resize=415,250 415w" />
<figcaption class="image-caption">Empire State Realty Trust (3); Getty Images (2); Everett (1)From top left: British politician Anthony Eden with Al Smith atop the building on Dec. 16, 1938; Al Smith entertains Winston Churchill on Feb. 9, 1932; Al Smith and Actor Ed Wynn (right) in the lobby, 1930s; Al Smith uses the building’s telescope to get a good look at Robert Wadlow, world’s tallest man on April 20, 1937; Mary Pickford, a Canadian-American actress, sends hundreds of balloons into the sky from the 86th floor; King Kong, 1933</figcaption>
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That reputation drew tourists and celebrities passing through the city to its observation deck. According to Slayton’s research, people paid $1 for admission to the observatory deck during the height of the Depression (about $20 today). By 1938, the observatory deck was bringing in $1 million annually (over $18 million today).
“The Empire State building actually made money on the observation deck all through the ’30s, so that was the saving grace, as the offices did not fill up,” says Willis.
So, without tenants to bring in more money, the Empire State Building’s investors just had to ride it out.
“Raskob did something that he hated to do, which was he put his own money into it,” says historian David Farber, author of Everybody Ought to be Rich: The Life and Times of John J. Raskob, Capitalist.
<figure class="inline-custom-size alignnone"><img alt="Eclipse watchers squint through protective film as they view a partial eclipse of the sun from the top deck of the Empire State Building on Aug. 31, 1932." class="wp-image-6030700" height="582" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" src="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?w=560&w=560" srcset="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg 2400w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=288,300 288w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=768,799 768w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=577,600 577w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=1477,1536 1477w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=1969,2048 1969w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=353,367 353w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=706,734 706w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=180,187 180w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=360,374 360w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=260,270 260w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=538,559 538w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=519,540 519w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=1038,1080 1038w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=1385,1440 1385w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=407,423 407w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=814,847 814w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=280,291 280w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=560,582 560w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=962,1000 962w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=190,198 190w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=380,395 380w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=263,274 263w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=526,547 526w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=61,63 61w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=1200,1248 1200w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=640,666 640w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=760,790 760w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=1520,1581 1520w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=700,728 700w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=1000,1040 1000w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=30,31 30w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=550,572 550w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=1100,1144 1100w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=840,874 840w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=1680,1747 1680w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=1012,1052 1012w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=2024,2105 2024w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=320,333 320w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=600,624 600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=468,487 468w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=300,312 300w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=192,200 192w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=385,400 385w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=123,128 123w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-10.jpg?resize=240,250 240w" width="560" />
<figcaption class="image-caption" style="max-width:560px">APEclipse watchers squint through protective film as they view a partial eclipse of the sun from the top deck of the Empire State Building on Aug. 31, 1932.</figcaption>
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Some of the buildings’ biggest backers—Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, which loaned the money to build it, and Raskob’s longtime friend Pierre DuPont—started moving into the building themselves, treating it “almost as charity,” as Caro wrote.
They also negotiated lower tax payments with the city and the loan with Met Life. As Slayton explains the rationale for holding onto the Empire State Building, “Basically, MetLife owned the mortgage, and they didn’t want to foreclose on it for one simple reason: What are they going to do with it? They weren’t able to do anything better than what Al Smith was doing, and they knew it. So they just held on to it.”
The building wouldn’t become profitable until after the Second World War. When the economy boomed in the post-war era, so too did office rentals at the Empire State Building. But it still wasn’t considered prime office space: when real estate broker Robert L. Stevens and a syndicate bought the building after Raskob’s death in 1950, Stevens <a href="https://time.com/vault/issue/1951-06-04/page/91/">explained</a> that “we didn’t buy it because it’s the world’s tallest building but because it looked like a cheap piece of real estate.”
TIME <a href="https://time.com/vault/issue/1961-09-01/page/63/">reported</a> that the Empire State Building had gone from “a flop” to being “a moneymaker,” boasting a 99% occupancy rate when another syndicate bought it for $65 million in 1961, the most ever paid for a building back then. “It gets into your blood,” the broker on the deal, Harry B. Helmsley, told the magazine, “when you look out of your window and see a building you do not own.”
<figure class="inline-longform_large alignnone"><img alt="A view of the Empire State Building through clothes lines in New York City, Aug. 28, 1931." loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" src="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?w=1000&w=1000" srcset="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg 2400w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=300,229 300w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=768,586 768w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=600,458 600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=1536,1172 1536w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=2048,1563 2048w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=481,367 481w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=962,734 962w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=245,187 245w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=490,374 490w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=354,270 354w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=732,559 732w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=707,540 707w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=1415,1080 1415w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=1886,1440 1886w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=407,311 407w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=814,621 814w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=280,214 280w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=560,427 560w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=1310,1000 1310w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=190,145 190w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=380,290 380w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=263,201 263w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=526,402 526w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=61,47 61w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=1200,916 1200w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=640,489 640w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=760,580 760w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=1520,1160 1520w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=700,534 700w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=1000,763 1000w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=41,31 41w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=550,420 550w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=1100,840 1100w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=840,641 840w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=1680,1282 1680w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=1012,772 1012w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=2024,1545 2024w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=320,244 320w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=638,487 638w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=192,147 192w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=524,400 524w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=262,200 262w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=168,128 168w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-12.jpg?resize=328,250 328w" />
<figcaption class="image-caption">Keystone-France/Gamma-Rapho/Getty ImagesA view of the Empire State Building through clothes lines in New York City, Aug. 28, 1931.</figcaption>
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<h2>Where the Empire State Building Stands Today</h2>
The full effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on office buildings is still playing out in real time and may not be fully apparent for several years, industry analysts tell TIME. Unlike apartment leases that may run for a year or two, office leases tend to be in seven-to-ten year terms, so shifts may come more slowly. But as leases come up for renewal, tenants will likely be keeping their options open, analysts say, looking to get the most state-of-the-art office space for the least amount of money.
Whatever office tenants do rent, post-pandemic appreciation for the possibilities of remote work will likely lead many businesses to opt for a smaller space than what they had before, says Jonathan Litt, veteran commercial real estate analyst and founder and CIO of the investment management firm Land & Buildings.
Restaurants and shops in commercial districts will feel the decrease in foot traffic too, he points out. That’s because it’s so much easier to work from home now than it was during past economic downturns. “The big difference from other crises that we’ve met, is that the technology is there, and it works. And it works really well,” he says. 
In the meantime, there’s more interest in subletting office space, as business owners try to figure out what going back to the office will look like, says Victor Rodriguez, director of analytics at CoStar, a commercial real estate data and analytics company. At the moment, there is around 101 million square feet of office space available to rent in Manhattan, and 24 million square feet of that is available to sublet—a 51% increase from office space available for sublet during the Great Recession.
At the Empire State Building, there’s another factor to contend with: not only are offices emptying across the city, but tourism traffic has taken a hit too. In 2019, the highest proportion of its revenue came from the office leases (45%), followed by the observatory at 38%. Observatory revenue in 2020 was down 77% from 2019. Historically, <a href="https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2021/04/29/empire-state-realty-trust-esrt-q1-2021-earnings-ca/" target="_blank">two-thirds</a> of observatory visitors come from abroad, and given travel restrictions and the continued threat of the virus over the last year, the building does not expect to match pre-pandemic levels until spring 2022.
“One could glibly say that the Empire State Building is an observation deck with some offices,” says Jason M. Barr, an economist at Rutgers University and author of Building the Skyline: The Birth and Growth of Manhattan’s Skyscrapers, who blogs about the current economics of skyscrapers at <a href="https://buildingtheskyline.org/skynomics-blog/" target="_blank">Skynomics blog</a>.
But the management is optimistic.
“Ninety years ago, it was called the ‘Empty State Building,’ and the primary source of revenue that supported it was visitors to the observatory. We’re not empty now; we’re over 90% leased,” says Anthony E. Malkin, chairman and CEO of the building’s current ownership group, the Empire State Realty Trust, Inc., whose grandfather was one of the men involved in the 1961 syndicate.
And, the buildings owners believe, looking to the future will help sustain those numbers.
“The Empire State Building,while always the icon of the New York City skyline, was really, on the interior, not competitive—almost 1,000 small suites, very low-rent, low-credit tenants,” Malkin says. “What we did is we moved to a program to reposition the building in a dynamic way, as a leader in energy efficiency, building health and indoor environmental quality, as a way to differentiate to attract better tenants that accredits longer lease terms.”
<figure class="inline-portrait_small_2x alignnone"><img alt="The sun sets on the skyline of midtown Manhattan on April 23 as seen from Weehawken, New Jersey." loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" src="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?w=560&w=560" srcset="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg 2400w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=300,197 300w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=768,504 768w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=600,394 600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=1536,1007 1536w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=2048,1343 2048w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=550,361 550w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=1100,721 1100w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=280,184 280w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=560,367 560w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=412,270 412w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=838,550 838w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=823,540 823w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=1647,1080 1647w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=407,267 407w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=814,534 814w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=1525,1000 1525w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=190,125 190w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=380,249 380w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=263,172 263w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=526,345 526w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=61,40 61w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=1200,787 1200w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=640,420 640w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=760,498 760w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=1520,997 1520w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=700,459 700w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=1000,656 1000w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=47,31 47w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=840,551 840w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=1680,1102 1680w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=1012,664 1012w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=2024,1327 2024w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=320,210 320w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=730,479 730w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=192,126 192w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/empire-state-building-13.jpg?resize=381,250 381w" />
<figcaption class="image-caption">Gary Hershorn—Getty ImagesThe sun sets on the skyline of midtown Manhattan on April 23 as seen from Weehawken, New Jersey.</figcaption>
</figure>
Though <a href="https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/buildings" target="_blank">Dubai’s Burj Khalifa</a> is now the world’s tallest building, New York City is still <a href="https://old.skyscraper.org/EXHIBITIONS/SUPERTALL/intro.htm" target="_blank">the world capital of super-tall buildings</a>, with seven buildings as tall or taller than the Empire State Building. And the city continues to set height records. Among skyscrapers completed in 2020 is the world’s tallest residential building, the 1,550-ft.-tall Central Park Tower.
And the Empire State Building is still open for business, 90 years later—suggesting that a building with icon status, and owners who can afford to hang tight until the economy comes back around, can last.
“Cycles in skyscraper construction reflect the economic cycles,” says Willis. Despite economic downturns, natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy and acts of terrorism, “New York has always recovered from these setbacks, and New York came back with added value and added new buildings each time.”
While the definition of the office is evolving, as long as New York City continues to be the capital of a variety of industries, there will be demand for office space.
As Barr explains, many New York City office buildings tend to be “expensive to operate,” but “safe, steady moneymakers,” because “New York City remains the center of so much.”
With reporting by Alejandro de la Garza
<img alt="" height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/time/politics/~4/UIf6zlmQXkM" width="1" />

The Empire State Building Opened During the Great Depression. Its Survival Story Holds a Lesson for Today

On May 1, 1931, an “awestruck” Franklin D. Roosevelt, then Governor of New York, spoke at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for what was ...

14:37

Here Are the 12 New Books You Should Read in May

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The best new books of May run a gamut as long and welcoming as a bookstore aisle. They range from fitness obsessions to a fictional religious compound, from NASA to Native poetry. They ask questions about place, purpose and paths—particularly ones not taken. Celebrated authors like Rachel Cusk and Alison Bechdel make much-anticipated returns, and Stacey Abrams delivers a buzzy legal thriller. Read on to find the best books to read in May.
<h2>The Secret to Superhuman Strength, Alison Bechdel (May 4)</h2>
<figure class="image-wrapper no-caption"><img align="none" alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-5958526 size-portrait_small_2x" height="373" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" src="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?w=560" srcset="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg 2400w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=550,367 550w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=1100,733 1100w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=280,187 280w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=560,373 560w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=405,270 405w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=838,559 838w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=810,540 810w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=1620,1080 1620w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=840,560 840w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=1680,1120 1680w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=407,271 407w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=814,542 814w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=1500,1000 1500w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=190,127 190w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=380,253 380w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=263,175 263w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=526,351 526w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=61,41 61w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=616,411 616w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=1232,821 1232w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=321,214 321w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=642,428 642w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=925,617 925w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=1850,1234 1850w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=640,427 640w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=760,507 760w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=1520,1013 1520w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=700,467 700w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=1000,667 1000w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=47,31 47w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=1012,675 1012w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=2024,1349 2024w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=320,213 320w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=730,487 730w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=345,230 345w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=270,180 270w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=192,128 192w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-alison-bechdel.jpg?resize=375,250 375w" width="560" /></figure>
In her graphic memoirs Fun Home and Are You My Mother?, cartoonist Bechdel crafted wrenching and comic narratives about her relationships with her father and mother. Her latest graphic memoir charts a different relationship: the one between her and exercise. The book explores the fitness fads she’s participated in over the last six decades, including running, cycling classes and “feminist martial arts” as the author explores her fixation on fitness and how it relates to her journey of self-discovery. 
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Buy Now: The Secret to Superhuman Strength on <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780544387652" target="_blank">Bookshop</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0544387651/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0544387651&linkId=f6134975fc390080b600dd0572085087" target="_blank">Amazon</a>
<h2>Leda and the Swan, Anna Caritj (May 4)</h2>
<figure class="image-wrapper no-caption"><img align="none" alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-5958535 size-portrait_small_2x" height="373" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" src="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?w=560" srcset="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg 2400w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=550,367 550w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=1100,733 1100w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=280,187 280w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=560,373 560w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=405,270 405w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=838,559 838w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=810,540 810w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=1620,1080 1620w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=840,560 840w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=1680,1120 1680w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=407,271 407w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=814,542 814w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=1500,1000 1500w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=190,127 190w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=380,253 380w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=263,175 263w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=526,351 526w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=61,41 61w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=616,411 616w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=1232,821 1232w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=321,214 321w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=642,428 642w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=925,617 925w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=1850,1234 1850w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=640,427 640w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=760,507 760w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=1520,1013 1520w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=700,467 700w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=1000,667 1000w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=47,31 47w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=1012,675 1012w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=2024,1349 2024w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=320,213 320w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=730,487 730w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=345,230 345w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=270,180 270w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=192,128 192w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-anna-caritj.jpg?resize=375,250 375w" width="560" /></figure>
The night Charlotte Mask mysteriously goes missing from her college campus, third-year student Leda thinks she slept with her new crush Ian, but she isn’t sure. Leda can’t remember much of the evening, except that she ran into Charlotte outside a frat house, which might mean she was the last one to see the young woman before she disappeared. As the days pass with no sight of Charlotte, Leda becomes obsessed with finding her and piecing together what really happened that night. What ensues is a disturbing, but affecting narrative about consent, power and loneliness.
Buy Now: Leda and the Swan on <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780525540144" target="_blank">Bookshop</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525540148/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0525540148&linkId=1fb3de528c54cfa170223180cf3c6247" target="_blank">Amazon</a>
<h2>Second Place, Rachel Cusk (May 4)</h2>
<figure class="image-wrapper no-caption"><img align="none" alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-5958544 size-portrait_small_2x" height="373" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" src="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?w=560" srcset="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg 2400w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=550,367 550w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=1100,733 1100w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=280,187 280w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=560,373 560w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=405,270 405w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=838,559 838w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=810,540 810w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=1620,1080 1620w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=840,560 840w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=1680,1120 1680w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=407,271 407w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=814,542 814w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=1500,1000 1500w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=190,127 190w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=380,253 380w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=263,175 263w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=526,351 526w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=61,41 61w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=616,411 616w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=1232,821 1232w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=321,214 321w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=642,428 642w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=925,617 925w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=1850,1234 1850w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=640,427 640w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=760,507 760w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=1520,1013 1520w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=700,467 700w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=1000,667 1000w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=47,31 47w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=1012,675 1012w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=2024,1349 2024w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=320,213 320w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=730,487 730w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=345,230 345w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=270,180 270w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=192,128 192w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rachel-cusk.jpg?resize=375,250 375w" width="560" /></figure>
Like her acclaimed Outline trilogy, the novelist’s latest dissects huge questions about humanity and love through characters leading rather ordinary lives. This time, the narrative is centered on a woman and her guesthouse on the coast, where she’s just invited a famous artist to stay. His paintings left a lasting impression on her years before, but his presence in her home proves complicated, upsetting the delicate balance of her household.
Buy Now: Second Place on <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780374279226" target="_blank">Bookshop</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374279225/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0374279225&linkId=ef6f0829f724f47c80e7fe54e9db08b2" target="_blank">Amazon</a>
<h2>Living Nations, Living Words: An Anthology of First Peoples Poetry, Joy Harjo (editor) (May 4)</h2>
<figure class="image-wrapper no-caption"><img align="none" alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-5958587 size-portrait_small_2x" height="373" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" src="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?w=560" srcset="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg 2400w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=550,367 550w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=1100,733 1100w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=280,187 280w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=560,373 560w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=405,270 405w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=838,559 838w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=810,540 810w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=1620,1080 1620w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=840,560 840w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=1680,1120 1680w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=407,271 407w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=814,542 814w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=1500,1000 1500w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=190,127 190w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=380,253 380w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=263,175 263w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=526,351 526w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=61,41 61w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=616,411 616w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=1232,821 1232w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=321,214 321w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=642,428 642w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=925,617 925w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=1850,1234 1850w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=640,427 640w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=760,507 760w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=1520,1013 1520w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=700,467 700w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=1000,667 1000w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=47,31 47w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=1012,675 1012w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=2024,1349 2024w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=320,213 320w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=730,487 730w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=345,230 345w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=270,180 270w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=192,128 192w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joy-harjo.jpg?resize=375,250 375w" width="560" /></figure>
For her signature laureate project, Harjo, the first Native U.S. poet laureate, created an interactive digital map to “introduce the country to the many Native poets who live in these lands.” This anthology serves as a companion, featuring the voices of Natalie Diaz, Ray Young Bear and Craig Santos Perez, among others. Their poems explore displacement, persistence and heritage, coalescing into a powerful collection that celebrates the crucial role of Native poets in American literature.
Buy Now: Living Nations, Living Words on <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780393867916" target="_blank">Bookshop</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393867919/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0393867919&linkId=b084b35cbba5b4fb358283edc7e16421" target="_blank">Amazon</a>
<h2>Pop Song: Adventures in Art and Intimacy, Larissa Pham (May 4)</h2>
<figure class="image-wrapper no-caption"><img align="none" alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-5958592 size-portrait_small_2x" height="373" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" src="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?w=560" srcset="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg 2400w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=550,367 550w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=1100,733 1100w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=280,187 280w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=560,373 560w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=405,270 405w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=838,559 838w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=810,540 810w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=1620,1080 1620w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=840,560 840w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=1680,1120 1680w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=407,271 407w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=814,542 814w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=1500,1000 1500w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=190,127 190w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=380,253 380w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=263,175 263w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=526,351 526w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=61,41 61w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=616,411 616w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=1232,821 1232w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=321,214 321w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=642,428 642w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=925,617 925w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=1850,1234 1850w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=640,427 640w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=760,507 760w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=1520,1013 1520w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=700,467 700w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=1000,667 1000w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=47,31 47w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=1012,675 1012w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=2024,1349 2024w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=320,213 320w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=730,487 730w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=345,230 345w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=270,180 270w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=192,128 192w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-larissa-pham.jpg?resize=375,250 375w" width="560" /></figure>
In her debut work of nonfiction, Pham explores various ways of falling in love with art, people and life, through 11 pieces that serve as a memoir-in-essays. The first piece sets the tone, as Pham describes what she gets out of running and her feelings on what author Haruki Murakami has said on the subject. Throughout Pop Song, Pham blends her most intimate thoughts with stirring cultural criticism, with essays that make mention of Frank Ocean’s music, Agnes Martin’s paintings and more. Simultaneously, Pham wrestles with her own heartbreak and trauma as she finds solace in the art that surrounds her.
Buy Now: Pop Song on <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9781646220267" target="_blank">Bookshop</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1646220269/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1646220269&linkId=e60d42df76f34cba48ba628c55c5c614" target="_blank">Amazon</a>
<h2>Secrets of Happiness, Joan Silber (May 4)</h2>
<figure class="image-wrapper no-caption"><img align="none" alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-5958594 size-portrait_small_2x" height="373" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" src="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?w=560" srcset="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg 2400w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=550,367 550w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=1100,733 1100w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=280,187 280w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=560,373 560w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=405,270 405w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=838,559 838w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=810,540 810w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=1620,1080 1620w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=840,560 840w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=1680,1120 1680w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=407,271 407w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=814,542 814w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=1500,1000 1500w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=190,127 190w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=380,253 380w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=263,175 263w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=526,351 526w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=61,41 61w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=616,411 616w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=1232,821 1232w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=321,214 321w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=642,428 642w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=925,617 925w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=1850,1234 1850w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=640,427 640w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=760,507 760w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=1520,1013 1520w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=700,467 700w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=1000,667 1000w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=47,31 47w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=1012,675 1012w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=2024,1349 2024w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=320,213 320w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=730,487 730w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=345,230 345w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=270,180 270w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=192,128 192w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-joan-silber.jpg?resize=375,250 375w" width="560" /></figure>
Ethan is a lawyer living in New York who learns a crushing blow about his father: he has a secret second family, including two children, with a Thai woman in Queens. As Secrets of Happiness unfolds, the families are unexpectedly thrown into each other’s orbits in a narrative that travels the world, from Manhattan to Bangkok. As Ethan navigates these revelations along with a thorny love triangle of his own, Silber weaves together an intricate story about love, loyalty and betrayal.
Buy Now: Secrets of Happiness on <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9781640094451" target="_blank">Bookshop</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1640094458/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1640094458&linkId=2db55d35e4bdb9ae51ece73d65572fab" target="_blank">Amazon</a>
<h2>Sorrowland, Rivers Solomon (May 4)</h2>
<figure class="image-wrapper no-caption"><img align="none" alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-5958597 size-portrait_small_2x" height="373" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" src="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?w=560" srcset="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg 2400w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=550,367 550w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=1100,733 1100w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=280,187 280w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=560,373 560w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=405,270 405w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=838,559 838w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=810,540 810w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=1620,1080 1620w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=840,560 840w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=1680,1120 1680w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=407,271 407w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=814,542 814w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=1500,1000 1500w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=190,127 190w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=380,253 380w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=263,175 263w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=526,351 526w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=61,41 61w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=616,411 616w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=1232,821 1232w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=321,214 321w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=642,428 642w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=925,617 925w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=1850,1234 1850w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=640,427 640w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=760,507 760w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=1520,1013 1520w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=700,467 700w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=1000,667 1000w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=47,31 47w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=1012,675 1012w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=2024,1349 2024w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=320,213 320w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=730,487 730w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=345,230 345w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=270,180 270w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=192,128 192w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-rivers-solomon.jpg?resize=375,250 375w" width="560" /></figure>
After fleeing her religious compound for the woods, teenager Vern gives birth to twins and hopes to shield them from the rest of the world. But as time passes, her body begins to change in ways that force her to confront her past and the community she left behind. Solomon captures Vern’s journey in a gripping narrative that is equal parts speculative fiction and Gothic tale, all while unraveling a fictional world that is not dissimilar to our own, particularly in its depiction of racism and white supremacy.
Buy Now: Sorrowland on <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780374266776" target="_blank">Bookshop</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374266778/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0374266778&linkId=015d3fb3594fc9bb2b40f10dc66468fb" target="_blank">Amazon</a>
<h2>While Justice Sleeps, Stacey Abrams (May 11)</h2>
<figure class="image-wrapper no-caption"><img align="none" alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-5958599 size-portrait_small_2x" height="373" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" src="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?w=560" srcset="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg 2400w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=550,367 550w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=1100,733 1100w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=280,187 280w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=560,373 560w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=405,270 405w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=838,559 838w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=810,540 810w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=1620,1080 1620w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=840,560 840w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=1680,1120 1680w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=407,271 407w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=814,542 814w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=1500,1000 1500w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=190,127 190w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=380,253 380w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=263,175 263w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=526,351 526w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=61,41 61w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=616,411 616w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=1232,821 1232w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=321,214 321w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=642,428 642w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=925,617 925w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=1850,1234 1850w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=640,427 640w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=760,507 760w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=1520,1013 1520w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=700,467 700w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=1000,667 1000w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=47,31 47w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=1012,675 1012w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=2024,1349 2024w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=320,213 320w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=730,487 730w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=345,230 345w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=270,180 270w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=192,128 192w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-stacey-abrams.jpg?resize=375,250 375w" width="560" /></figure>
The Georgia politician and voting-rights activist has written eight romance novels under a pseudonym, but she’s publishing her newest book, a thriller, under her own name. This legal suspense novel follows a young law clerk who, much to her surprise, becomes the legal guardian of a Supreme Court justice after he falls into a coma. As the protagonist finds herself in an unexpected and powerful position, she must navigate the chaos of Washington politics.
Buy Now: While Justice Sleeps on <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780385546577" target="_blank">Bookshop</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385546572/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0385546572&linkId=b911b95972d351930c6f5e0b7bf50deb" target="_blank">Amazon</a>
<h2>The Window Seat: Notes From a Life in Motion, Aminatta Forna (May 18)</h2>
<figure class="image-wrapper no-caption"><img align="none" alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-5958606 size-portrait_small_2x" height="373" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" src="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-aminatta-forna.jpg?w=560" srcset="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-aminatta-forna.jpg 2400w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-aminatta-forna.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-aminatta-forna.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-aminatta-forna.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-aminatta-forna.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-aminatta-forna.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, 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In Forna’s first book of nonfiction since her 2002 memoir The Devil That Danced on the Water, the novelist ruminates on experiences throughout her life to tackle questions surrounding identity and belonging. The pieces in her new collection range in subject and scope, from shadowing the lone veterinarian in Sierra Leone to drawing connections between Barack Obama’s life and her father’s to describing her experience walking all over the world as a Black woman. The result is a moving examination of places and people, filled with Forna’s carefully constructed observations and analysis.
Buy Now: The Window Seat on <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780802158581" target="_blank">Bookshop</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0802158587/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0802158587&linkId=e23439870de187affa1208dab4922b4d" target="_blank">Amazon</a>
<h2>Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment, Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass. R Sunstein (May 18)</h2>
<figure class="image-wrapper no-caption"><img align="none" alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-5958607 size-portrait_small_2x" height="373" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" src="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-daniel-kahneman.jpg?w=560" srcset="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-daniel-kahneman.jpg 2400w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-daniel-kahneman.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-daniel-kahneman.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-daniel-kahneman.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-daniel-kahneman.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-daniel-kahneman.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, 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In Noise, authors Kahneman, Sibony and Sunstein want us to consider why bad judgements are made. They ask how a person—perhaps a doctor or a judge—can be faced with a situation and make a decision today, but, on a totally different day, may not make that same call. They believe part of the reason is due to noise, the “variability in judgements that should be identical.” In their book, the authors describe the impact of noise across fields, from medicine to law to child services, and break down how it goes unnoticed and how it can be remedied.
Buy Now: Noise on <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780316451406" target="_blank">Bookshop</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316451401/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0316451401&linkId=cfa214814c42f96fcad89466dff41897" target="_blank">Amazon</a>
<h2>My Remarkable Journey, Katherine Johnson (May 25)</h2>
<figure class="image-wrapper no-caption"><img align="none" alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-5958609 size-portrait_small_2x" height="373" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" src="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-katherine-johnson.jpg?w=560" srcset="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-katherine-johnson.jpg 2400w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-katherine-johnson.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-katherine-johnson.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-katherine-johnson.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-katherine-johnson.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-katherine-johnson.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, 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https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-katherine-johnson.jpg?resize=616,411 616w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-katherine-johnson.jpg?resize=1232,821 1232w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-katherine-johnson.jpg?resize=321,214 321w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-katherine-johnson.jpg?resize=642,428 642w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-katherine-johnson.jpg?resize=925,617 925w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-katherine-johnson.jpg?resize=1850,1234 1850w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-katherine-johnson.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-katherine-johnson.jpg?resize=640,427 640w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-katherine-johnson.jpg?resize=760,507 760w, 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In her posthumously published memoir, the mathematician, who died in 2020, details her life and all that she endured, from growing up as a child prodigy in the segregated schools of West Virginia to her rise at NASA, where her research helped land a man on the moon. Though My Remarkable Journey focuses on the life of Johnson, who was a subject of Margot Lee Shetterly’s Hidden Figures, it also pays tribute to the educators who supported her in following her dreams.
Buy Now: My Remarkable Journey on <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780062897664" target="_blank">Bookshop</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062897667/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0062897667&linkId=a8ca1e29e2e241bb8cc166d373beaaf2" target="_blank">Amazon</a>
<h2>Heaven, Mieko Kawakami (May 25)</h2>
<figure class="image-wrapper no-caption"><img align="none" alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-5958614 size-portrait_small_2x" height="373" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" src="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-mieko-kawakami.jpg?w=560" srcset="https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-mieko-kawakami.jpg 2400w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-mieko-kawakami.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-mieko-kawakami.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-mieko-kawakami.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-mieko-kawakami.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/books-to-read-may-mieko-kawakami.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, 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The protagonist of Kawakami’s newly translated novel is shoved in lockers and mocked at school for his lazy eye. His only respite is an unexpected friendship with another student who is also a victim of bullying. But how can a relationship really last when its foundation is built on shared experiences of humiliation? The author moves toward an answer in this quietly devastating tale of middle school drama.
Buy Now: Heaven on <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9781609456214" target="_blank">Bookshop</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1609456211/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1609456211&linkId=8498c33871bf85858e14cb0473e2daed" target="_blank">Amazon</a>
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