This essay focuses on Henry James’s representation of New York City in the short stories “Crapy Cornelia” (1909) and “A Round of Visits” (1910). Written after his 1904-1905 trip to the United States, from the point of view of a returning expatriate, these stories provide compelling evidence of the extent to which James had been able to draw from his mixed feelings of bewilderment, dismay, but also exhilaration, when faced with before the overpowering spectacle of the metropolis, to probe the state of American society. Portraying New York, then in the midst of a profound architectural, economic, and ethnic transformation, as the avatar of emerging twentieth-century culture, James offered reflections on the human condition in the modern world which are still very relevant today.
