City of Girls: A Novel

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1726) launched the scientific era with the publication of “Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy”, at a time when philosophy was considered to encompass all knowledge, including scientific knowledge. That, of course, has all changed. Science, in the modern era, is truth. Philosophy is, to many, but certainly not to me, gibberish.I distinguish the two today in this fashion: 1. Science is what we know or can reasonably expect to know. 2. Philosophy is what we don’t know and may never be able to know.Unfortunately, science has won the war for minds, or, at least, students. Scientists are smart and objective. Philosophers are just, well, they might be smart, but they’re weird. I am definitely of the philosopher class although I have no advanced degree in anything. No real philosopher would even think to wonder if I did.I am with Newton, however. I think all future scientists should be forced to study philosophy. I don’t know how you can know anything if you don’t also ponder what you don’t know. A confident scientist lacks the objectivity to be a true scientist in my book.So how does this pertain to this book?This book is all about Vivian. And that does get a little burdensome at times. And the characters are not people, but clichés pretending to be people. The dialogue, of course, mirrors the people, as well it must. And, yes, this book could have been written in a heartbeat and just for the money, as some reviewers have claimed, by such a talented writer.But I’m guessing not. First of all, I grew up in a town not ten miles where Vivian grew up and there was no family like hers within a hundred miles. But, more importantly, the clichés are just, well, too clichéd, and as one who loves the written word that is not easy to pull off. This author had a hidden motive.And I believe I saw it, sometimes briefly, but throughout the book.The message is that we know sh** about life or each other. And that is a powerful message. A philosophical one, for sure. But true.In the end I don’t believe this is a novel about the NY theater scene in the 1940s, the war, and it was a big one, emotional scarring, or even female emancipation. This is a story that could be titled: “Who the heck do we think we are?”I loved it. The writing is superb. Snappy, for sure, but that’s a lot harder to pull off than it may seem. The characters are more than over the top but they are based in reality. Peg, the alcoholic lesbian theater owner, was my favorite. She holds the wisdom of the ages.There is an awful lot of talk about sex. Vivian loves it – with lots of different men she doesn’t know - because, she says, it brings her satisfaction, if not fulfillment or happiness. But she never takes the reader to bed with her and I’m okay with it because male protagonists have been doing the same thing since paper was invented.To the people who follow my reviews, and there are apparently more than a few of you – thank you - I don’t think this is the greatest book of the decade. But it is good. Most importantly it is not a novel by today’s standards. It is either a sick and sexually deviant romance novel, a feminist manifesto, or a novel of great philosophy. I choose the latter.Pick at your peril.But if you like my reviews you will probably like this book. I don’t buy in to all of the themes, but well done, I say. A solid 5!

Good fiction, great storyline, interesting characters. Held my interest. Only reason I gave a 4 instead of a 5 star is that it was too long. It started dragging out after 300 pages or so. Way too long a segment with Frank and night walks!

Vivian, in her 90s is answering a letter from a younger (by this time, she's in her 70s), who wants to know what Vivian's relationship was with her father, now that her mother has passed away. Vivian recounts her story starting when she was 19 years old and had been kicked out of college and then sent by her parents to New York City to live with her wild and crazy aunt who owns a small theater and writes plays. Vivian is introduced to a whole new way of life, and she loves everything about it. She's pretty, and she can sew, so she becomes the costume designer and seamstress for the plays, and she begins to hang out with beautiful girls who dance in the plays. Lots of wild nights, lots of sex, but no love interest. How she met the younger woman's father is revealed somewhere about 80% through the book. I found her and all the characters to be fascinating. The way she feels about men and about sex was very different than any other woman I've ever read about. I found her refreshing, and I plan to give copies of this book to a few friends who would love it for the same reason I did, but also to a friend who lives in the area in Manhattan that the writer describes so well. Fantastic story, and may I just say that your proofreaders did an amazing job!

This book was a bit of a great surprise for me. I was taking a gamble on it I thought .See I absolutely loved The Seven Husband's of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid and someone mentioned if you loved that book I think this read would be a really great pick for you .Now I wasn't sure about that because like everyone I read Eat Pray Love which was very mindful and I appreciated that read I just wasn't really looking for that type of read again.I wanted a juicy ,sexy ,intriguing sizzling ,fall in love with the characters, hate some of them, scandalous read .That's what I wanted and was looking for and thank you so much author Elizabeth Gilbert because that was exactly what I got .I understood after I started and finished this book over the weekend why someone said it has a similar feel and vibe to The Seven Husband's. It's not identical by any means but it was exactly what I was looking for and absolutely wanted and loved in this read.I devoured it .I laughed( it was clever and witty and funny at many times )and I wanted to throttle young Vivian in her firstgo around as a teenager in the city but I also grew to absolutely love her as a character throughout the rest of the book. .This is a story about a young girl who doesn't fit into the world that a young woman in the early 1940's as a teenager is suppose to fit into it.Vivian loves adventure, sex,being wild , definitely reckless but she is also so naive, sweet and too easily swayed and impulsive to make good choices at times , which we all were in our teens for sure I know was at times .Yet we have the absolute pleasure to watch her grow, learn from her mistakes, embrace her true self whether you as a reader believe she is self harming or just being completely comfortable in her own life you become proud and alittle sad for her at times .We meet so many interesting characters along the way , so many touched my heart and I'm serious when I write that I laughed out loud more times than I ever thought possible with our complicated Vivian .This read was everything I hoped and more .This is not your Eat Pray Love Elizabeth Gilbert writer/author and I freaking loved that .Surprised yes very happily so, highly recommend yes absolutely. Loved the beginning, middle and end so much. ,loved the sizzle the growth of Vivian as a person, loved the emotions it stirred up in me .If You loved The Seven Husband's of Evelyn Hugo or Daisy Jones and The Six I think you will definitely want to read this book too. I'm so grateful for someone telling me that it had that type of vibe ,because then I bought it and I loved it.Thank you author Elizabeth Gilbert for giving me a very entertaining reading weekend .Truly enjoyed every facet of this book.Who knew that the author of Eat Pray Love could bring on the sizzle ,heat and passion of such a cool read .And it was a very cool read .

Such an enjoyable read, many adorable characters to befriend. I am approaching 85 years and I found so many parallels with my own life that have given me a fresh understanding to the perils of bigotry, and thechastisements we inflict upon ourselves. Elizabeth Gilbert is an intelligent and inspiring writer. With a delicious sense of humour

This is the best book I’ve read in a long time. Strong characters and love the setting in New York. My book group reading it this month. Thoroughly recommend

Another well written, heart touching, deep book from Elizabeth Gilbert. Can’t describe how much I wanted to hold Vivian and meet everyone. This book is simply amazing.

Me faltan palabras para describir este libro, por encima parece una entretenida y excitante novela. Pero conforme va avanzando, sientes más y más la profundidad de la historia, de los personajes, y cómo vivamos en la época y lugar que sea, la vida está llena de misterios, de emociones y no va “en línea recta”. Elizabeth Gilberta: con lágrimas en los ojos, gracias.

Non l'ho ancora finito, ma mi sta piacendo un sacco!! La scrittrice è bravissima, con il suo linguaggio lineare, chiaro, senza inutile retorica.Ho già letto altri libri della Gilbert e non delude mai!