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
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