Bill Hayes came to New York City in 2009 with a one-way ticket and only the vaguest idea of how he would get by.  But, at forty-eight years old, having spent decades in San Francisco, he craved change.  Grieving over the death of his partner, he quickly discovered the profound consolations of the city’s incessant rhythms, the sight of the Empire State Building against the night sky, and New Yorkers themselves, kindred souls that Hayes, a lifelong insomniac, encountered on late-night strolls with his camera.  And he unexpectedly fell in love again – with his friend and neighbor, the writer and neurologist Oliver Sacks (Awakenings, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, etc .) whose exuberance is captured in funny and touching vignettes throughout the book. What emerges is a loving tribute to New York and a portrait of Sacks at his most personal and endearing, from falling in love for the first time at age seventy-five to facing illness and death (Sacks died of cancer in August 2015).  Please consider joining the SAGE Book Group as it reviews – Insomniac City: New York, Oliver and Me by Bill Hayes, All are welcome – no reservation is required.

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