Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - المدينة الوحيدة: مغامرات في فن البقاء وحيدًا

“God I was sick of carrying around a woman’s body, or rather everything that attaches to it.”

Wow! My copy is dog-eared from the countless quotes I wanted to remember and include here. What a beautiful and articulate piece of writing about analysing and challenging loneliness and what a delicate and finely-wrought talent for storytelling.

Content Warnings

klor's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

3.75

A character study of loneliness weaved through American artists and art history. There's a lot of love that Laing put in this book that just hits you in the chest despite the notion of loneliness getting repetitive sometimes. Now I have new artists to check out, it's almost inspiring how everyone battles their own loneliness in different ways

Content Warnings

literategirl's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Content Warnings

manicmeg's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

2.5

I didn’t enjoy this but it was well written and researched. Will not pick up again

Content Warnings

allthatjazz's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.5

Content Warnings

savvylit's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

"...The lonelier a person gets, the less adept they become at navigating social currents. Loneliness grows around them, like mould or fur, a prophylactic that inhibits contact, no matter how badly contact is desired. Loneliness is accretive, extending and perpetuating itself."

Where The Lonely City excels is in its biographical portraits of lonely artists. Beginning with Edward Hopper and Andy Warhol, Laing also compassionately portrays the lives of two lesser-known artists: Henry Darger and David Wojnarowicz. Laing's continued discussion of loneliness' relationship to these artists' creativity and community is extremely fascinating. The Lonely City constantly pushes readers to consider all the ways that someone can feel lonely or ostracized - even in a densely populated urban setting. Using the four aforementioned artists, she creates a very moving meditation on cultural normativity and it's inexorable connection to loneliness.

All that being said, I do think this book was a tad bloated. Like Laing's own walks around New York City described in this book, The Lonely City is quite meandering. I think this book would have benefited from focusing purely on biography and drawing conclusions from the artists' lives. However, Laing injects several random-seeming mentions of her own life which throw off the overall flow. For instance, she mentions a devastating breakup that she experienced - and then never discusses it again. I know it's definitely more than possible to weave personal anecdotes into biography. But in the case of The Lonely City, it is just not well-executed

Content Warnings

aviruri's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

Loneliness is personal, and it is also political. Loneliness is collective; it is a city. As to how to inhabit it, there are no rules and nor is there any need to feel shame, only to remember that the pursuit of individual happiness does not trump or excuse our obligations to each another. We are in this together, this accumulation of scars, this world of objects, this physical and temporary heaven that so often takes on the countenance of hell. What matters is kindness; what matters is solidarity.

Content Warnings

More...