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The Odd Woman and the City
The Odd Woman and the City: A Memoir | Vivian Gornick
11 posts | 8 read | 12 to read
A contentious, deeply moving ode to friendship, love, and urban life in the spirit of Fierce Attachments A memoir of self-discovery and the dilemma of connection in our time, The Odd Woman and the City explores the rhythms, chance encounters, and ever-changing friendships of urban life that forge the sensibility of a fiercely independent woman who has lived out her conflicts, not her fantasies, in a city (New York) that has done the same. Running steadily through the book is Vivian Gornick's exchange of more than twenty years with Leonard, a gay man who is sophisticated about his own unhappiness, whose friendship has "shed more light on the mysterious nature of ordinary human relations than has any other intimacy" she has known. The exchange between Gornick and Leonard acts as a Greek chorus to the main action of the narrator's continual engagement on the street with grocers, derelicts, and doormen; people on the bus, cross-dressers on the corner, and acquaintances by the handful. In Leonard she sees herself reflected plain; out on the street she makes sense of what she sees. Written as a narrative collage that includes meditative pieces on the making of a modern feminist, the role of the flaneur in urban literature, and the evolution of friendship over the past two centuries, The Odd Woman and the City beautifully bookends Gornick's acclaimed Fierce Attachments, in which we first encountered her rich relationship with the ultimate metropolis.
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AnneCecilie
AnneCecilie
The Odd Woman and the City: A Memoir | Vivian Gornick
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Pickpick

A love letter to New York. The city where Gornick was born and has lived her entire life.

A look at her friendships and her relationships

A look at authors like Dickens and Hugo and unknown ones like Charles Reznikoff, Mary B. Miller, and how they view the city.

The memoir is told in vignettes, and I loved it.

When the library opens again I‘ll read her first memoir.

Leftcoastzen I love Vivian! I bet you will enjoy all her books 5y
AnneCecilie @Leftcoastzen I will absolutely check out more of her books 5y
sheshedbooks Thank you! 5y
65 likes3 comments
blurb
AnneCecilie
AnneCecilie
The Odd Woman and the City: A Memoir | Vivian Gornick
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#BookReport

📚 I‘ve read a chapter a day in HP for #PotterADay
📚 I‘ve read some poems
📚 Everything else finished

🎧 Continue the forth Department Q book

So I‘ve read everything I wanted to read this week, and there‘s still many hours left of Saturday 😊
I‘ll go out for a walk now listening to my audio and when I get back, I‘ll decide what I pick up next

tagged users iconCinfhen
sheshedbooks Well done! Looking forward to your thoughts on FEN and Gornick's book. :D Have a safe and enjoyable walk. 5y
Linsy Nice! My book goals have been a bit ignored this week, unfortunately, except Potter. And I haven't even taken the pic for yesterday yet! 😅 (edited) 5y
Cinfhen Nice that you‘re able to go out for a walk, ENJOY ... we are only allowed out for 15 minutes if we are walking a dog ! 5y
See All 6 Comments
AnneCecilie @greenreads Thank you. My reviews are up in Litsy, if you want to check them out and hasn‘t already. Not much to say with 451 characters, but I tried. 5y
AnneCecilie @Linsy Thanks, I‘m trying to take advantage of all the extra time I have for reading when I don‘t have to commute, but works from home. 5y
AnneCecilie @Cinfhen It‘s one of the few things we‘re still allowed to do, actually it‘s encouraged. 5y
60 likes6 comments
blurb
AnneCecilie
AnneCecilie
The Odd Woman and the City: A Memoir | Vivian Gornick
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Starting this, and I must confess that it was the cover that got my attention first. There‘s just something about this cover that I love

Lindy It‘s a dynamic image. Everything draws the eye towards the man and his shadow, upper left. 👍 5y
AnneCecilie @Lindy I never thought about that, but maybe that is what drew me in. 5y
56 likes2 comments
blurb
AnneCecilie
AnneCecilie
The Odd Woman and the City: A Memoir | Vivian Gornick
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#WeeklyForcast

Since I‘ll be spending a lot more time at home in the foreseeable future, I thought I should read some literature I don‘t normally read

📚 I‘ll join in on #PotterADay for the fourth book. I‘ve been wanting to read the illustrated edition since it was published
📚 read a poem or two a day
📚 read a nonfiction and a short story collection
📚 finish Disappearing Earth an start the tagged

🎧 continue the fourth Department Q book

tagged users iconCinfhen
Kalalalatja Good plans! 5y
Cinfhen Solid plan and lots of good options 5y
57 likes2 comments
review
Well-ReadNeck
Well-ReadNeck
The Odd Woman and the City: A Memoir | Vivian Gornick
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Pickpick

Riding my NYC book kick. This memoir was a series of short remembrances.

73 likes
blurb
Ariya1
Ariya1
The Odd Woman and the City: A Memoir | Vivian Gornick
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Exactly!

blurb
Leftcoastzen
Leftcoastzen
The Odd Woman and the City: A Memoir | Vivian Gornick
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#rockinmay #newyorkminute
I love Vivian Gornick!Native New Yorker ,memoirist,feminist, essayist, I enjoy everything she writes.Odd woman so beguiling ,in that sometimes city life can be a solitary life , yet you are connected to the randomness of New York and interconnected to your fellow New Yorkers in odd ways you might not imagine.Her interests far ranging ,I wish I could meet her for coffee and see where the conversation takes us

tagged users iconCinfhen
Cinfhen Lovely & thoughtful...agree with your nuggets of wisdom 💕💕 8y
batsy I loved Gornick's The End of the Novel of Love! She's got a brilliant, curious mind. ❤️ Love your description of this book, looking forward to reading.
[tagged book]The End of the Novel of Love
8y
Leftcoastzen @batsy I loved that one too!remiss in noting her pal Leonard ,plus fierce attachments also includes NYC life 8y
7 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Rebekahjolson
Rebekahjolson
The Odd Woman and the City: A Memoir | Vivian Gornick
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RebeccaH
RebeccaH
The Odd Woman and the City: A Memoir | Vivian Gornick
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This is a book about cities, walking, friendship, mothers, literature, and more. What's not to like? #recommendsday

31 likes1 stack add
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ReadingsBooks
ReadingsBooks
The Odd Woman and the City: A Memoir | Vivian Gornick
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'What independence has come to mean to me: The pain of solitude. The pleasure of self-knowledge." - Vivian Gornick.

2 likes1 stack add
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Brona
Brona
The Odd Woman and the City: A Memoir | Vivian Gornick
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Sadly this is DNF. I was excited and caught up at the beginning as Gornick discussed her friendship with Leonard. But then the snippets of street conversation just lost me. I didn't care enough to continue.

4 likes1 stack add