By the early 1960s, Behan reached the peak of his fame. He spent increasing amounts of time in New York City, famously declaring, "To America, my new found land: The man that hates you hates the human race." By this point, Behan began spending time with people including Harpo Marx and Arthur Miller and was followed by a young Bob Dylan. However, this newfound fame did nothing to aid his health or his work, with his alcoholism and diabetes medical conditions continuing to deteriorate: "Brendan Behan's New York" and "Confessions of an Irish Rebel" received little praise. He briefly attempted to combat this by a dry stretch while staying at Chelsea Hotel in New York, but once again turned back to alcohol and relapsed back into active alcoholism.