The Lonely City by Olivia Laing audiobook review – solitude and creativity in Manhattan
Olivia Laing's 2016 book "The Lonely City," a blend of memoir and cultural analysis about urban isolation, has been released as a new audiobook narrated by actor Tilda Swinton to mark its tenth anniversary. Laing, who is non-binary, recounts moving to Manhattan after a breakup and being struck by the particular loneliness of city life, threading their personal experience through portraits of artists including Edward Hopper, Henry Darger, Andy Warhol, and David Wojnarowicz, exploring the connection between solitude and creativity. Swinton's reading, her first for an audiobook, is described as sharp and reflective, and Laing reads a new afterword.