I've yet to read any of Lopate's books, and regret this. Thanks for your words about Waterfront — your descriptions brought back many memories of my time in NYC in my mid 30s (grad school, then work). When I moved away for the second and last time, in '98, I read Kathleen Norris's edited collection Leaving New York ('95), which features essays by writers (Capote, Morrison, Didion, etc.) who lived in and then moved away from the city. Waterfront sounds like just the right followup.
I've yet to read any of Lopate's books, and regret this. Thanks for your words about Waterfront — your descriptions brought back many memories of my time in NYC in my mid 30s (grad school, then work). When I moved away for the second and last time, in '98, I read Kathleen Norris's edited collection Leaving New York ('95), which features essays by writers (Capote, Morrison, Didion, etc.) who lived in and then moved away from the city. Waterfront sounds like just the right followup.
https://tonofworms.wordpress.com/2012/05/06/leaving-new-york-writers-look-back-edited-by-kathleen-norris/
Cheers, and enjoy your retirement!
Thanks, Mari! And thanks for the book rec—that one slipped through the cracks for me!