3.5
Approaching Eye Level
ByPublisher Description
Seminal essays on loneliness, living in New York, friendship, feminism, and writing from nonfiction master Vivian Gornick.
Vivian Gornick's
is a brave collection of personal essays that finds a quintessentially contemporary woman (urban, single, feminist) trying to observe herself and the world without sentiment, cynicism, or nostalgia. Whether walking along the streets of New York or teaching writing at a university, Gornick is a woman exploring her need for conversation and connection—with men and women, colleagues and strangers. She recalls her stint as a waitress in the Catskills and a failed friendship with an older woman and mentor, and reconsiders her experiences in the feminist movement, while living alone, and in marriage.
Turning her trademark sharp eye on herself, Gornick works to see her part in things—how she has both welcomed and avoided contact, and how these attempts at connections have enlivened and, at times, defeated her. First published in 1996,
is an unrelentingly honest collection of essays that finds Gornick at her best, reminding us that we can come to know ourselves only by engaging fully with the world.
"Gripping." —
"Gornick bravely faces—and, even more remarkable, clearly renders—loneliness and the ongoing search for human connection. . . . Her prose is sharp and her characterizations—of her friends, modern life, and of herself—ring true." —
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3.5
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About Vivian Gornick
is the author of several books, including the acclaimed memoir
, named the best memoir of the past 50 years by the
in 2019; the essay collections
and
, both of which were nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism; and
, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography. She began her career as a staff writer for
in 1969, and her work has since appeared in
,
,
,
, and many other publications.
Other books by Vivian Gornick
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