Lost in the City is a collection of fourteen stories written by Edward P. Jones. The collection shows a personal look through various protagonists into the Black community in Washington, D.C, taking place between the 1950s and 1980s. The collection is predominately told in third-person omniscient point of view with only two stories deviating. The protagonists are a wide range of ages, from a child entering kindergarten to the elderly. Jones is unflinching in his writing, showing the dichotomy of “good” and “evil” within each character. He deconstructs the ideas that one who has run-ins with the law is inherently a “bad guy,” just as someone who seems to be a productive member of society can do strange, occasionally cruel, things. All the stories stand alone, but together, they paint an image of Washington D.C. that does not, as discussed in the story “Young Lions,” appear on postcards.
His intimate knowledge of place allows him to use Washington as a symbol for his characters, so the reader, just like Lydia in the title-story, finds it impossible to get lost in the city. Even if the reader is unsure after an initial reading of what the narrative spine is that holds the stories together, they can remember the vivid descriptions of the characters as if they were real people telling their real stories. At first glance, it appears that exploring interpersonal relationships and the location of the stories are the only two things connecting the stories within. However, the meat of every narrative is how the protagonist interacts with other members of the Black community within the city and the disconnect many of them feel with both the community and city alike.
