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jykchan10's review
5.0
I will forever keep this book with me. I’m bad with words, but this book makes me want to treasure life and experience all the joyous and tragic parts of it, because that’s what it means to be alive, to be human, to connect, to feel, to love.
punkinmuffin's review against another edition
4.0
[b:Insomniac City: New York, Oliver, and Me|30038960|Insomniac City New York, Oliver, and Me|Bill Hayes|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1485975500s/30038960.jpg|50443176] by [a:Bill Hayes|302605|Bill Hayes|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1486600814p2/302605.jpg] is a gently gorgeous memoir about grief, finding joy in unexpected places and falling in love. Hayes was in his late 40s when he lost his partner of 16 years to an unforseen heart attack. Grieving the sudden, terrible loss, he packed a couple of suitcases and booked a one-way flight to New York from San Francisco. A lifelong insomniac, Hayes took to wandering the city streets at night as well as during the day. His memoir recounts numerous random encounters with everyday, ordinary yet extraordinary individuals. Sometimes Hayes takes their picture with his camera. Some of them tell him stories. Others make art for him. Throughout, Hayes approaches his subjects with such an open mind and heart that the reader is left feeling something like love for him and these people he meets.
Some time earlier, the famous writer and neurologist [a:Oliver Sacks|843200|Oliver Sacks|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1222681187p2/843200.jpg] had read a proof of Hayes' book [b:The Anatomist: A True Story of Gray's Anatomy|1884902|The Anatomist A True Story of Gray's Anatomy|Bill Hayes|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320421081s/1884902.jpg|1886066]. He wrote to Hayes (still resident in San Francisco) and they began corresponding. They met for lunch when Hayes took a trip to New York. Once he moved there, they began to spend more time together. Sacks (incidentally, another insomniac) was more than thirty years older and had never "come out". Nevertheless, Hayes was deeply smitten and the two began a relationship which would continue until Sacks' death in 2015. The memoir deftly interweaves sketches of their private life together with Hayes' parallel deepening relationship with his new home city. The end product is a book that is intimate and loving, a tribute to the essence of who Sacks was and to the ceaseless, rushing heart of New York City.
Some time earlier, the famous writer and neurologist [a:Oliver Sacks|843200|Oliver Sacks|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1222681187p2/843200.jpg] had read a proof of Hayes' book [b:The Anatomist: A True Story of Gray's Anatomy|1884902|The Anatomist A True Story of Gray's Anatomy|Bill Hayes|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320421081s/1884902.jpg|1886066]. He wrote to Hayes (still resident in San Francisco) and they began corresponding. They met for lunch when Hayes took a trip to New York. Once he moved there, they began to spend more time together. Sacks (incidentally, another insomniac) was more than thirty years older and had never "come out". Nevertheless, Hayes was deeply smitten and the two began a relationship which would continue until Sacks' death in 2015. The memoir deftly interweaves sketches of their private life together with Hayes' parallel deepening relationship with his new home city. The end product is a book that is intimate and loving, a tribute to the essence of who Sacks was and to the ceaseless, rushing heart of New York City.
wiggltuff's review against another edition
5.0
Feels odd to rate a memoir but I LOVED the writing style. This book made me FEEL
denisecg's review
5.0
Beautiful and inspiring. One of a handful of books that softened and unstitched me.