Open City    by Teju Cole Order:  USA  Can Random House, 2012 (2012) Hardcover, Softcover, CD, e-Book Read an Excerpt     Reviewed by Barbara Lingens Written as a kind of diary of walks taken in New York, this story touches on art, music, religion, culture, race, immigrants, on life itself. While quietly contemplating the flow of the city around him, Julius, a newly trained psychiatrist originally from Nigeria, reminisces about his childhood, the death of his father, his breakup with his girl friend. His isolation seems complete. It is only his work that brings him in contact with others in a regular way. And most of those are his patients. So he is left to his solitary observations and chance interactions with people as lonely as he is. In his ruminations about what he sees in the people and places he visits, we are presented with a panorama of what life is like for us today in all its pathos and glory. This is a unique story, very powerful in its way, which has received many awards. Readers eager for different approaches to the novel will find great satisfaction here. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Contemporary books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews