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Cynthia Weiner revisits 1980s NYC and her own youth

Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up In writing 'A Gorgeous Excitement,' Weiner says she wanted to recreate a particular time and place — a much looser and more freewheeling New York in the 1980s — when she and her friends explored the city and often faced much more danger, whether from drugs or from men, than they understood. 'I wanted to create a character who would be in that same sort of innocent state or naive state and have no sense of what kind of danger she might be in,' she says. 'I wanted to capture that mood of dread.' Advertisement At the time, Weiner points out, the drinking age was still 18 in some areas (and easily skirted with fake IDs) and cocaine was prevalent. 'It was so popular and available in the ′80s, which does seem crazy looking back,' she says. 'You'd go to a bar and there'd be lines on the table.' For Weiner, her friends, and the book's main characters, parents weren't exactly on top of what their teenagers were doing. 'It was such a different time,' she says. 'We didn't have cellphones. Parents didn't know where their kids were; they had no idea.' Advertisement Cynthia Weiner will read at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 13, at . And now for some recommendations . . . In ' ' (Celadon) Elon Green (whose previous book, ' Elissa Altman's memoirs have plumbed the author's break from her childhood religion (' ' ' (David Godine), Altman shares what she's learned about overcoming shame and fear to write boldly about what's at the heart of one's life. A writing guide, yes — but this book goes well beyond craft advice into the realm of life lessons. Chris Bohjalian has been writing top-notch historical novels and thrillers for ages — I particularly like ' ' ' (Doubleday) brings all the propulsive plot and sensitive character development one has come to expect from Bohjalian; here, he spins a tale of unlikely romance between a wounded Union soldier from Vermont and a gritty Virginia woman whose husband has left her in charge of the family gristmill while he fights on the Confederate side. Advertisement Kate Tuttle edits the Globe's books section. Kate Tuttle, a freelance writer and critic, can be reached at