bailedGopnik held himself to an unrealistically high standard since it's impossible to describe the magic of being young and starting out your adult life in New York City. One thing that experience is certainly not though, is boring. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for this book. I read only half of it and bailed.
If we can't be tender about our own longings, knowing that even at their best they take a disillusioned turn, then what is the sense of living? If we can't regard our own yearnings with a longing for the first time when we felt them, then there is not much more to life than consuming things, settling scores, and growing old and bitter.
Adam: "The 6 train has been my train since 1980. I'm terrified to think about how many times I've walked through these turnstiles and that I'm old enough to remember tokens. The subway experience and also the experience of New York City has changed so much. My book is a memoir and about the eternal pilgrimage of young couples who come to the city to build a life. The past is always a different place where they do things differently."
At the Strangers' Gate: Arrivals in New York | 
