Goodbye to All That: Writers on Loving and Leaving New York

True stories about writers living in NYC that are fun, easy to read, thoughtful, and short enough to fill that time between bed and sleep.

“There is the ache of not having another place in the world where I might ever feel so alive and alone, invisible while visible, ever again. Alone in exactly the right kind of way.”Goodbye to All That: Writers on Loving and Leaving New York is a collection of essays from writers who have loved, left and maybe still long for those days when they could write and live in New York.(This review combines this essay collection with the second collection Never Can Say Goodbye: Writers on Their Unshakable Love for New York because both collections are so similar.)The essays in both books represent a wide range of writers, from those who have always called the city their home to those who felt a pull or a calling to move to New York just to write, in many cases because pop culture has long established that “it's just what you do.” They explore their lives, loves, random jobs to pay the rent, terrible places to live, and the love affair that they feel with the city—with a few referencing the movie Manhattan as to give some sort of a visual representation of that type of infatuation with a place.What becomes clear in both collections is that most of the writers participating entered New York at a vastly different time than it appears today. Many talk about moving to the city in the seventies, eighties and nineties (almost all essayists arrived in the pre-9/11 era) when there were still a few reasonable rents to be found and Times Square was a danger zone. It is not at all surprising that many of these writers ended up leaving some time after 2000 with skyrocketing rents and a somewhat harder time breaking into and keeping your head above water in the writing industry.In both collections, there are a mix of those who left and never came back, those who still visit, and those who have stayed the course because New York is the only place to be. But every single essay seems to present a longing, even if the writer stayed. There's a longing to have that first feeling again of putting your feet on the sidewalk. There's the longing for all-night food delivery or being able to walk to any type of establishment you want to without ever seeing the same face twice. There's a longing for that one moment where the stars align before the city changes again.These essays represent every reason why writers all over the world think that New York is the only place to be, but also wishing there was someplace more affordable or more forgiving than New York to thrive as a writer. Detroit keeps being recommended for those who want to have similar experiences to New York in the eighties, with just one problem—Detroit will never be New York. As one essayist puts it: “These days, being a creative person in New York is, in many cases, contingent upon inheriting the means to do it.”But still I think these essays make a point that writers of all types should probably throw caution to the wind and have a New York period—whether that's a decade, a summer or one really good weekend. It needs to be explored an observed to be believed, because very few people on this earth come from a place as crowded, diverse, and amazing as New York. And you can't miss out on something like that.

I enjoyed reading many of these short essays on what drew these writers to live in New York, then what compelled them to leave. This cycle of drawing then repelling people is common; I know many people, including myself, that have experienced it.Some of the essays are more enjoyable and effective at making the point than others. Some simply seem to employ shock to make their point, while making no original or compelling point at all. Theirs are more autobiographical and vain than expository. Or perhaps they are just masochistic or simply blame New York for their lack of greater success.For a book-length exploration of a writer struggling to ply her trade in the city then being drawn, by love, to farming in upstate New York, see The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love by Kristin Kimball. She returns many times to the qualities of the city that draw and repel. Just by the cover of Kimball's book, we know that it's a woman's story. But nowhere, except in the negative comments, do we know that Leaving All That reflects an exclusively young, female perspective. There's certainly a great deal of interest in that perspective, then why hide it? Why not Women Writers on Loving and Leaving New York? There's something profoundly disingenuous, even deceitful about this. Just a marketing ploy?But all the arguments here boil down to this: New York City has an attraction that writers, and many artists, cannot resist, perhaps to their detriment. Come if you must, but leave before it eats you up. We all learned that in the Sunscreen commencement speech. Only a few of the essays offer meaningful insight, but it's conceited to compare to Didion's essay in Slouching Toward Bethlehem, and all of these essays pale in comparison. They might have stood up better without the tribute to Didion as the organizing conceit.A point perhaps under-explored here is the growing irrelevance of place for a writer. At least geographically. Publishers are now more interested in your following on the Internet when considering publishing you, not where you live.It would be interesting and perhaps more relevant now to collect the stories of artists that still need to ply their trade in the city, like actors.

Native Ny'er . Moved away 6 years ago. Now thinking of moving back. This book is the quintessential what happens to people who move to NYC. This is a textbook play by play of how it goes for most people.However those that grow up here have a very different experience also worthy of a book. This book however is about the ones who come in from out of town.A fun read and very educational.

I was excited to read the book being a former resident of the city. A few essays in the story lines become redundant. Some poor writing, some decent reads. All in all the story is the same, the authors are different. Can’t say the book is really that good of a read…

I bought this on the basis of the title and concept, but was disappointed by the scope of the book which is pretty narrow.Interesting as an insight into a very particular (but small) slice of the New York experience, as most of the contributors are women of similar ages, talking about similar reasons for living in and then leaving NYC.I also felt it needed a slightly more vigorous editorial hand, as too many of the contributors used exactly the same quote (about leaving the party early) from the Joan Didion essay that inspired the collection, and it started to feel a bit like copied homework!Not bad, but could have been better if there had been a wider range of ages and experiences discussed.

All good! Fab writing!I loved the book, and I could solo relate - read it if you have EVER felt lost, or at home, anyplace.Even if you have no interest in NYC, this is a great book.

I wanted this as a present for a friend who likes New York and has done a bit of writing himself, so this book fitted the bill. Good book, came promptly, happy with it, as was my friend.

If you have any interest in New York and it's vibe,you should like this.These stories tell how you can love and hate New York at the same time.

A piece of jewellery! Beautiful language, lovely storeis.