Will Eisner's New York: Life in the Big City.(Brief article)(Book review)

Will Eisner's New York: Life in the Big City WILL EISNER, INTRO. BY NEIL CAIMAN. Norton, $29.95 (448p) ISBN 0-393-06106-X

Collecting four of Eisner's later graphic novels--New York, The Building, City People Notebook and Invisible People--this volume takes as its subject the city Eisner lived in and drew for most of his life. Eisner treats the city like a lover; its flaws are on display, its cantankerous nature is well-known, but the abiding tenderness that comes from lifelong intimacy is evident on every page. In New York, people on trains fantasize about one another while never making eye contact in "An …