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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
DNF'd this. it was for my book club and it ended up being a tad boring. as a new yorker i enjoyed seeing how cantwell talks about the city, but that was the biggest draw for me.
When I first started reading this book, I thought it was going to be a real 'nice' and quaint look at the way people once lived in Manhattan. I'd relish in the romanticism for New York the way it was and the way it still is that way...
But like most people everywhere, reality isn't all shiny and happy and Mary Cantwell candidly describes the downs of her personal life in those years. I thought a lot of being a woman then and being a woman now -- and I'm still thinking about it days after finishing the book.
And New York, of course. I smiled a lot while I read this because I recognized some of her descriptions of the city as if I had remembered them myself.
But like most people everywhere, reality isn't all shiny and happy and Mary Cantwell candidly describes the downs of her personal life in those years. I thought a lot of being a woman then and being a woman now -- and I'm still thinking about it days after finishing the book.
And New York, of course. I smiled a lot while I read this because I recognized some of her descriptions of the city as if I had remembered them myself.
I don't remember what led me to this, but it was a perfect fit for the reading window I had today. It's a little self-indulgent, but deliciously name-droppy. There's some fine, therapy-earned insights into her failing relationship with her husband, but I was less interested in the build-up to divorce than I was in the gorgeous descriptions of Greenwich Village in the 50s and 60s and the insider view of the magazine business back then.
I picked this up because it was on a list of works that would contribute background to Mad Men.
But it's much more than that. Beautifully written, witty -- it is a lens into a young woman's life who in some ways is not really suited to being married with children. Her true life is as a writer in magazines and publishing, but it takes her some time to really lock in. Great scenes in New York: neighborhoods, street life, restaurants . . . also some very telling scenes of Paris in the 1960s.
Cantwell was born in 1930, as was my dad; my mother was born a bit later. In any case, the book is like spying on my parents' young lives -- Cantwell's story is of Manhattan, publishing, and fashion, theirs the midwest and academica; still, the book captures a lot about being a young adult in the late 50s and the 60s that is buried in popular culture.
But it's much more than that. Beautifully written, witty -- it is a lens into a young woman's life who in some ways is not really suited to being married with children. Her true life is as a writer in magazines and publishing, but it takes her some time to really lock in. Great scenes in New York: neighborhoods, street life, restaurants . . . also some very telling scenes of Paris in the 1960s.
Cantwell was born in 1930, as was my dad; my mother was born a bit later. In any case, the book is like spying on my parents' young lives -- Cantwell's story is of Manhattan, publishing, and fashion, theirs the midwest and academica; still, the book captures a lot about being a young adult in the late 50s and the 60s that is buried in popular culture.
This is stuff that holds up. Reading it again I'm reminded how many of my insights rightly belong to her. If there are essential truths to the life of the city, she has them.