The Nostalgist By Griffin Hansbury
The Nostalgist booking
Griffin Hansbury is the author of the novel Some Strange Music Draws Me In Vanishing New York and Feral City writing as Jeremiah Moss and The Nostalgist A Pushcart Prize winner and Lambda Literary Award finalist his writing has appeared in several publications including n 1 the New York Times and the New Yorker and Paris Review online A trailblazer in the field of psychoanalysis he was the first analyst to practice and publish as openly transgender He lives in Manhattan. The Nostalgist nonfiction articles Stoop shouldered and balding beneath a porkpie hat Jonah Soloway is an old man before his time Effectively orphaned when an SUV took his mother s life he has retreated into a solitary world of vintage artifacts and comic books But he longs to make a human connection even if it means twisting the truth to get it When he dials the number on Rose Oliveri s 9 11 missing poster and reaches her mother Vivian one innocent lie leads to another and before Jonah knows it reality becomes uncertain even to him Stalked by Rose s ghost Jonah finds himself falling deeper into his own fabrications as he wanders a city turned surreal in terrorism s settling dust But when he meets Jane an irreverent student of psychoanalysis he ll be forced to choose between illusion and the possibility of a true relationship Both a poetic journey into the heart of post 9 11 New York and a darkly comic commentary on how we cope with loss The Nostalgist is a striking debut novel from a masterful new author Praise for The Nostalgist The gifted Griffin Hansbury has written a highly intelligent and haunting novel set in New York City during the early wake of 9 11 that is as much about longing for a past that never existed as it is about mourning for actual lives lost The Nostalgist is a moving resonant and distinctive debut Ralph Sassone author of The Intimates Like Joseph O Neill s Netherland Griffin Hansbury s lyrical solidly crafted novel brings you deep into the fabric of New York City and right into the minds of ordinary New Yorkers who are actually extraordinary than they think Hansbury captures the very weird post 9 11 months with honesty humor precision and heart Mike Albo author of The Underminer The Nostalgist
If I ever wrote a book I would want it to be this one it is written so thoughtfully so perfectly expressed and vividly painted Jonah is obviously expressing the author s thoughts about 9 11 in its aftermath about the mood of New York and the phoney grief pouring out but also the genuine curiousness and numbness experienced his inability to connect with people around him is painful to read but we watch him emerge and become open to company through two equally lost women Made me miss New York terribly a superb novel 325 A great book written by a great new author I read 90% of this novel in two whole days because I was so interested in what the main character Jonah was going to do next It was a page turner even though the plot carried on much slower than I would have wished Though it was a slow evolving story it was great and each word was satisfying It s an engaging book and the characters are so much fun to analyze I enjoyed the psychoanalytical aspect of the novel represented through the character Jane The way she dug deep to solve Jonah s psychological issues was a jaw dropper because she was able to reveal so much about Jonah s hidden issues through her interrogative personality The scenes with Jane and Jonah were my favorite If you like stories that dig deep into the human mind and the way we cope with traumatic experiences this book is perfect for you a true representation of post 9 11 disorder It touches a reader like me personally because it is set in New York City and I am familiar with many of the references the author made about the setting. Book The nostalgistic I really enjoyed the journey to the end almost of this book 325 It was very good and felt very real 325 I hate big cities I live in a midsize city that is about 1 30th the size of New York based on population I m sure there are townfolk around us that think we re too big I myself try to keep to a small section that I find comfortable and friendly Anyway I don t want you to think that because I hate big cities I would also hate a book about them Actually Hansbury s chosen content goes a long way in reminding me of what I dislike the most about places like New York But my oh my his characters are winners Jonah Soloway s presence alone on these pages would have done it for me And the author s ability to paint a flowing description of the miniscule details of Soloway s slow deliberate movements through the neighborhoods as he tries to find himself and make a meaningful connection almost had me nostalgic for the life of the Big Apple itself Almost Loved the book still hate big cities 325 What a great joy it is to discover a great debut novel I admittedly don t read as many book reviews as I used to or even should so it was pure kismet that this rather bland cover caught my attention at Barnes Noble It was sadly the kind of encounter that would never happen when shopping online. Book The nostalgistic S to my fellow Mawrtyrs Okay I know one small moment that contributed to my enjoyment a very clever scene incorporating a famous Bryn Mawr College slogan on a t shirt I can t say without playing spoiler Just read it 325 It s apparent this writer is also a poet Some poignant word choices throughout the novel that elevate the prose significantly I wonder if parts of the novel began as poems in the wake of 9 11 This novel is worth reading just as a record of what it was like to be a New Yorker in the months following the attack but that alone isn t a reason to read it What is loneliness Why do people tell lies and believe their own lies and allow themselves to be lied to How do we find love I also really connected to the way the author wrestled head one with America s disgusting obsession with the gory details of the attacks But ultimately there s a great plot in this novel and a great scene of resolution that reminded me of dialogue of a stage play I m anxious to read Hansbury s next book I think this one is just a warm up to something really great to come 325 This was a book that was super depressing well written but I didn t really like A sad sounding guy who is in his middle age walks past a missing sign for a girl who was lost in 9 11 He decides to call her family and pretend that he knew her The plot itself is very twisted I didn t like most of the book but I did enjoy reading his interactions with the girl s family 325 I appreciated the use of various poetic devices The language he deploys is absolutely poetic Like any book it has moments of drudgery that seemed forced The redundant tedious and seemingly unnecessary references to sexuality especially toward the end seemed a bit trite but for me the beautiful portraits of Manhattan combined with the impressive range of descriptive characters saves the story for me It is Freudian throughout constantly examining the psyches of the characters It s a fresh read when compared to some of the other commercial garbage that is floating around today s market of fiction 325 The author first an acclaimed poet now a novelist brings lyrical depth and texture to a very sad gut wrenching set of stories wrapped around one about loss longing grief aloneness I am still reeling from reading the final page of the story along with its acknowledgments If a story needs to be read about the effects of loss from 9 11 this is one of a few books to lean on Be patient the author loves words not quick messages he revels in choice phrases and labyrinthian events not short stories But for anyone who loves a meaningful phrase a tour of New York streets and sewers an analysis of family dynamics this is the book I look forward to reading his poetry perhaps as a way to heal from the laws of loss we all must live by and masterfully shown in this thoughtful collection of characters 325 A man is haunted by the losses surrounding the attacks of 9 11 the losses of across his city and the concurrent loss of his mother and the final estrangement of his father He Jonah Soloway is slow plodding a careful artist a person who seeks consolation in small pieces of life and in his drawings A person who even in the best of times would be hard pressed to exist in the world He appears to survive through the improbable invention of a relationship with the stranger the woman he knew not at all the woman he decides to build a fantasy around and whose mother comes to replace the losses he suffered. The Nostalgist Literature fictionmanai Some wonderfully poetic writing and a few scenes like one of the early confrontation with the lost woman s father who suffers from his own great loss But I couldn t buy into the premise in final analysis 325.