The Odd Woman and the City: A Memoir

Vivian Gornick turned 80 recently and she mines a long life of experience and observation with a pen turned even sharper with age. Anyone with years, and a bit of grit, anyone with a penetrating curiosity and an appreciation for the eclectic, will love reading this book. If you also happen to come from or find comfort in the street life of New York City, the little book is a must read. If you are an aged feminist, all the better. Multiple interesting characters and one charming, and touching, tale after another fill these pages, interspersed with the sarcasm and wit of conversations with her alter ego, a character named Leonard, [imagine the sharp-eyed Leonard Cohen channeling the jaded Oscar Wilde.] He forms a sort of chorus for Gornick’s reflections, and their shared despairs, a kindred New York spirit with an unembellished perspective that is often quite amusing and always enlightening. I love everything she writes [particularly The Situation and the Story] but this may truly be her best yet. Hoping for more.

A theme that runs through this book is that one does not truly live life while vested in a committed relationship, rather the meaningful growth happens during the transitory period between the meetings; the problem is, such a philosophy often leads to loneliness, as it apparently has in her case. She feels that New York City is the perfect place for quick encounters, quasi friendships, and short-lived lover affairs, because the city is bustling with every-changing characters, many with their own story to tell, and for the most part, noncommittal. Her description of the city reminds me of the character played by Dustin Hoffman in “Midnight Cowboy” where the small time con man is just trying to survive in New York. Gornick appears to feed off of the quirks exhibited by these street people she often runs into on the avenues. In a sense, they justify her existence. Not wanting to be “her mother’s daughter”, is the plan for her, but her yearning to live off of the “expressiveness” of these people who have not fled to the suburbs, is likely to keep her on track with this unwanted ending. Her attempt to rationalize her mostly solo existence, by referencing Freud’s theory, that one’s solitary goals are anguishing, but almost impossible to give up because they are needed for the inner souls, is not particularly compelling- for her, or in general. To me, she just seems somewhat selfish. She is good at times describing people. While at an apparently pretentious social dinner, she notices a blonde at the table “who picked fretfully at her food and wore a thin layer of anxiety over her make-up”. Throughout the book, she mentions her sidekick, “Leonard”, a gay man, she frequently takes long talking-walks with, where they discuss their present and past lives. He seems, emotionally speaking, similarly situated to Gornick; they both appear quite intelligent. One classic line attributed to him is, when he said in response to people blaming the crucifixion of Jesus on the Jews, “It was the Romans who killed him, why don’t they blame the Italians?” I can recommend this book.

I LOVE Vivien Gornick's writing. I love her brain, her p.o.v There are so many sentences and passages, that made me feel like someone had just articulated how I see things. or just made me see something differently. I am a New York exile and this book made my longing for NYC even more palpable. She captures the rough, hard-edged gifts the city offers, the flowering of conversations that startle and illuminate, and make you feel the peculiarity of living in this mass of humans. She is alive to all the stimulation that she's surrounded by, and her interactions reflect on her experience of solitude and being the odd woman, aging, and un-partnered. Her insights are by turns, amusing, surprising, critical, painful, or the expression of her fondness for the rest of us humans spinning together on this planet.

I liked this book until about 2/3 of the through it. Her reflections about urban living--the odd coincidences, the tenacious connections we make, the choices we make and why-had me saying "Yes! that's my life!" Truly it felt like she was walking beside me on my own odd urban journey. I was enjoying it so much I had to slow myself down because I didn't want it to end. Then, it fell apart. The characters got very thin-Leonard turns to cardboard; the style became tiresome. It's bizarre to say that such a small book would benefit from better editing but it truly would. The ending felt especially lazy; without giving it away she practically let's Samuel Beckett (speaking through the voice of yet another person) finish it for her. The reason for three stars? Gornick articulated my exact feelings when I feel pressured to share or to decide when I am not ready. To paraphrase the quote "I needed to explore when they wanted me to explain..." Golden, just golden.

This is such a wonderful book. Not really a memoir, it’s more reflections on past and present by an important feminist theorist/critic now in her 70s, living in New York. The living in New York part is crucial because Gornick is choosing to focus on her life as a (now) single, childless woman who finds inspiration and contentment in her daily ramblings around the city. The author grounds her experience in a theoretical framework—the flaneur as anonymous eye happily wandering modern urban spaces—but you’d get her point anyway. Gornick finds much meaning in the random everyday encounters provided by the rich streetlife of a great city. We travel with her down those streets and, given that’s she’s a great story teller, it’s a lot of fun. The Odd Woman and the City integrates Gornick’s observations of city life with fascinating reflections on what it means to be a feminist woman of a certain age, a solitary apartment dweller, a friend of other solitary New Yorkers, etc. Bits of philosophy, literary criticism and autobiography alternate to good effect. Particularly if you share age, experience and a love of urban environments with the author, you are sure to enjoy her book.

A true flâneur (if there's a feminine form), somewhat uneven in its edginess (the gay friend stand-in Leonard is a tired character in New York memoirs: retire him). Her recorded heard on the street exchanges are hit or miss. Gornick is at her best in personal reflection and more in-depth recollection of people who have crossed her path. The streets that rise up to meet her in her beloved city are the greatest of all her characters. Her writing can be outstanding at times.

Vivian is always an engaging writer. She gets right inside her head and says it all. How amazing to read that inner dialogue. I love her portraits of the women she has known and famous revolutionary women from recent history. Vivian brings them to life, with all their woes and tribulations as if they were your close friends. This book is another intimate look at the present world around Vivian's life in New York city.

I read this book in two hours and felt it to be a kind of compelling memoir. I don't know that it will have a huge audience, but if you are the" odd woman in a vibrant city"--doing your daily walking tours, knowing every neighborhood and enjoying them all for what they are and centering much of your life around your thriving environment, both outer and inner... (and writing about it)---this book will seep into your pores. It is an interesting read and single women might find it comforting in the best sort of way.

‘Write about what you know about’ done with flair and precision.

El libro es genial. Lo he leído en español y quería tenerlo y releerlo en inglés. Si lo compras, no olvides pedir un reembolso del dinero sin devolver el libro porque es una FALSIFICACIÓN. Amazon ha hecho una fotocopia ilegalmente y te lo intenta colar como original, no es la primera vez que me pasa y siempre reclamo todo.

The paper quality of this edition is just terrible for the price you pay. But the book is excellent.

être cérébrale ne veut pas dire brilliant.

I enjoyed this book. She writes well and seems quite personable. Not the longest book but worth the asking price in my opinion.