Customer Reviews

Our History in New York

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Having just read this lovely book for the second time, I want to add to what other reviewers have said: this is not just an intricate, intimate portrait of contemporary New York life, it is a highly unusual love story. The deep, steady love of Chloe, the narrator, for Helen, her partner, is evoked, not through graphic sex scenes or expressions of emotion, but through the tender, open-hearted, respectful portrait of Helen's character. (How rare is that! ) Helen, the witness of the common people's history of New York -- with her quirky humour, quick observation and incredible memory --- becomes almost mythic in the way Chloe describes her. I can't remember when I've read love made manifest through an appreciation of the loved one's political passions and engaging conversation. Check out the way Helen patiently lulls the overwrought Chloe to sleep by describing, in brilliant visual detail, the videos of England she has seen that day ... This is more tender and moving than almost any description of lovemaking! Another quality I love about this book is its pleasurable wit and humour. Some of the anecdotes (like Lucien Freud's strange, silent appearance on a TV talk show), and some of Chloe's wry , obliquely expressed insights into characters and events, are delectably, laugh-out-loud funny. Pass the word about this book!

Our History includes ACT UP meetings at the Center, AIDS, the Quad, Silence = Death symbols and t-shirts saying "Godzilla was gay." It is, in fact, a subtle yet poignantly accurate portrait of a critical time in the lives of lesbian and gay New Yorkers. Abrams paints relationships delicately against a backdrop of time, using the shared routines of life to illuminate the unique value of every passing moment. This is a seminal piece of lesbian fiction.

Our History in New York, the lastest Linsey Abrams novel, is a perfect complement to the memoir craze sweeping the nation. It's fiction, yes, but it deftly achieves what the better memoirs do: it immortalizes everyday life, writing it into art. The book says, "Everything is complex, uplifting, interesting, layered, connected." Abrams manages to interlock and make meaningful a walk along 14th street, an ACT-UP meeting, a small dinner party at a friend's house. The tone is slightly distanced, which I think universalizes the story. It's simultaneously a slice of life of a lesbian couple in the East Village, and the exerience of maturing and watching one's relationships, perspective, and priorities transform.