(Review to follow)
(ARC)
Autobiography
Memoir
Paperback,
272 pages
ISBN-13:
978-0525511989
Publisher:
Random House
Release
Date: October 8th, 2019
Saturday, October 19, 2019
THE VIEW FROM APARTMENT FOUR: ON LOVING AND LEAVING NEW YORKby Skip Rozin
THE VIEW FROM APARTMENT FOUR: ON LOVING AND LEAVING NEW YORK
by Skip Rozin
by Skip Rozin
✯✯✯ Review by Astrid Galactic
The View From Apartment Four: On Loving and Leaving New York by Skip Rozin is a pleasant enough book, especially if a piece of your heart has a place in NYC; however, it's not as New York centric as its title would lead one to believe. Yes, it centers around the author's time as a tenet in this specific apartment in NYC, but the reader ends up feeling as though they missed a bit of the city during his autobiographical storytelling as he tells more about his life during those years rather than a lifetime's worth of explorations and nuances of the heart and soul of NYC. There certainly is some of that but not as much as one might hope for.
We get to know exactly where the apartment is and the feel of its place within the building and neighborhood. We also get a little bit of an idea of some of the other residents within the building. We also get to know more about Skip, his desires and frustrations of becoming a writer in NYC. Eventually, a wife and kids enter the picture which has its own drama. The apartment has its part to play in the story but less and less of it actually involves NYC as the story is told. Still important but getting lost along the way.
The pieces I liked best were when I got the feeling that I just happened to meet Skip in some NYC café where we struck up a conversation with each other and I learned that he was a writer with things to say. Once we drained our coffee cups, we decided to move on to get a drink in some local watering hole where he continues to regale me with stories of his quest to have his stories published while writing in his uptown apartment. Strolling along, peeking in shop windows and discussing tidbits about some of the buildings and areas we pass by, we reach the subway to go our separate ways and thank each other for a wonderful evening of many in the city that never sleeps. That flavor of NYC is what sometimes made this an enjoyable read. Unfortunately, there weren't enough of these. Maybe it was the title that had me expecting more.
The one section I could have done without was when he elaborated on being a sports writer. Of course, I don't care for sports, so that left me cold, but it left me feeling that it didn't really belong. At least, not as detailed as it was.
As mentioned, it was an enjoyable enough book but not quite the thrill that I was hoping for.
Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book for a fair and honest review.
(NetGalley ARC/eBook)
Autobiography
Memoir
Paperback, 376 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1733156301
Publisher: 77 Street Press
Release Date: August 27th, 2019
THE OTHER'S GOLD by Elizabeth Ames
THE OTHER'S GOLD by Elizabeth Ames
✯✯✯ Review by Astrid Galactic
Often I felt that they would take an issue that was questionable and take it to the most extreme of awfulness which eventually ended up destroying others' lives. I kept thinking that was the point of the book and would be realized later in the reading but it never really got there. It just got more personalized towards the women who all suffered from some sort of psychological dysfunction that always became the nucleus of the entire group. Or maybe I just got lost as I lost interest about 3/4ths of the way through the book. I did hit the wall for a bit and had to stop reading for a few days. Thought it was my tired eyes, but when I went back, I realized that I just wanted to run away and escape these crazy loons and their over the top drama.
The other thing that disturbed me was that no matter how good any of the males were, I felt that they were, at very best, regarded as being a lesser species to any females. Personally, I find that very offensive. There were other issues that I felt were being pushed within this book that annoyed me but I'll let them go for now for fear of going off on a diatribe.
The writing was sensitive and the pacing was good. Ames knows how to write what could be an interesting story. It's evident in her work. For the most part, it's the characters that need to be worked on and their reason for being within the book that need to be refined. Also, if she has an underlying story to tell, she needs to be much clearer. There were concepts there that I sensed were trying to come through but so hidden and confused that I'm not sure if I was forcing the book to make more sense than it did or if Ames just didn't clarify her ideas as clearly as she should have.
If it weren't for the fact that I'm committed to finishing a book once its started, I would not have seen the last word. From the beginning, I had so many hopes for this book because it was evident that Ames has a wonderful writing style, but as the characters broke down and fell apart, so too did the story as a whole. Don't get me wrong, I love reading about dysfunctional people. It just didn't work here, maybe because they were so annoying as well as there just didn't seem to be a ulterior purpose for telling us their stories. The book seemed a little to me like a broken necklace that held a few nice beads. Parts that could be laced together to make a beautiful work of art just broke apart and got lost without a real purpose of existing together other than that they had been roommates.
(ARC)
Fiction
Paperback, 496 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0593152317
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: August 17th, 2019
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