A review by serendipitysbooks
The Odd Woman and the City by Vivian Gornick

emotional reflective medium-paced

3.75

 The Odd Woman and the City is a fragmentary memoir exploring aspects of the author's life in New York City. A lot of it is scaffolded around weekly walks she takes with her friend Leonard, as well as people and things she has seen on her own walks. Themes like loneliness and aging are explored alongside musings on friendship and living in a big city. I liked catching a hint of the flavour of New York, particularly the West Side, and enjoyed some of the writing and commentary. But there wasn't really a strong narrative arc, and the book felt a little formless or purposeless to me. That's possibly appropriate for a book about a flaneur, but it left me feeling a little dissatisfied. It's clear that the author is independent and strong-minded, but also that I disagree with her on several things. Her comments about a disabled boy she saw on public transport may have been honest, but they left me feeling queasy.
 
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