A review by westonculture
The Odd Woman and the City: A Memoir by Vivian Gornick

3.0

I received a copy of this book as a goodreads giveaway. I also received a reading copy through work. I came across it when I was looking for books about New York. I loved the idea of the "odd woman" as flaneur; a feminist reflecting on Life. I wasn't familiar with Gornick's previous work but the reviews were outstanding so I came to it with some fairly high expectations. Okay, so you know what comes next ... I was a tad underwhelmed by it. Sure, it has some wonderful insights and observations and the writing is often poetic ... But I just didn't connect with it. Perhaps it's a New York thing. Perhaps there are too many knowing nods to what has gone before that I'm just not aware of. Perhaps if I'd read Fierce Attachments I'd feel differently. It's obviously resonated with many a reader but I came away from it thinking, this book is not for me.