Insomniac City is by Bill Hayes, the partner of Oliver Sacks in his final 2-3 years. This is a book rather than a set of essays, but we are including it just to round out the coverage of OS. And, it should be noted, we have occasionally included other books-rather-than-essays such as OS’s lovely A Leg to Stand On.

That said, I don’t have a lot to say about Insomniac City. It is an account of Hayes’ arrival in and growing appreciation of NYC (as well as Hayes’ photographs), with alternating chapters describing his relationship with OS.

Hayes’ accounts of NYC didn’t engage me. He has what feels to me like an overly romantic/heroic view of NYC which doesn’t ring true to me, perhaps, though, because I’ve never lived there. I was much more positive about his accounts of his daily life with Sacks. It was nice to get a glimpse of Sacks through other eyes, and find that his eccentricities and charm persisted. I found it especially nice to see that Sacks, who had been alone most of his life, experienced a kind and loving relationship in his last few years.

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