Krasznahorkai views Manhattan It all began one summer evening in Berlin. Over the course of dinner, László told me he was going to New York for a year as a fellow of the New York Public Library. ‘That’s great,’ I said. ‘What will you be doing?’ This is how he recalls it in the book: ‘I am honoured by your interest in what I am doing here, and so even if you should not expect a direct answer, because I am not going to give one, you can of course still expect an account, that is, perhaps, a sort of take on Chekhov’s On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco.’ All images: Ornan Rotem/Sylph Editions