New York on $5 a Day: A Novelist's Memoir, 1963-64

​In 1963, the novelist Ardyth Kennelly left the backwater of Portland, Oregon, and headed to the Big Apple, hoping to revive her writing career and become “a woman of the world.” With her trusty guidebook New York on $5 a Day, she found famous places to go and cheap places to eat—as well as wonderful surprises and in-the-flesh celebrities at every turn.

Like many of Kennelly’s novels, her memoir is a colorful collage of stories. She tells of her encounters with everyday New Yorkers, but also delves into little tales from the past: three tragic deaths in France, a “cricket team” in Mormon Utah, and the last harem girl left in Constantinople.

Among the unusual people Kennelly befriended during her sojourn in New York were the English witch Sybil Leek, the forgotten writer Anzia Yezierska, and the poet Sanders Russell. She had an apartment in the Village, a tall and handsome Austrian beau, a “Beatle haircut” editor, and little idea who was running for president (she didn’t have a TV). She returned to Portland in late 1964.

​Available from online retailers such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble, or order through your local bookstore.

Paperback: $6.95
ISBN: 978-0-9904320-4-3

E-book: (available soon): $1.99
ISBN: 978-0-9904320-5-0

You can also ask your local library to purchase a copy.