Release Date: February 29, 2024
Size: 8.5x9
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-57869-165-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023921128
eBook: 978-1-57869-166-1
Booksellers and Libraries: Order Info Here or with Ingram.

Synopsis

True stories and accidental snapshots about undying love, old lesbians, dementia, mothers & daughters, and a disappearing city.

In this engaging new collection of personal essays and full-color photographs, Moed tells true stories of caring for her mother Florence, a broke, Julliard-trained pianist who stumbles into dementia on the Lower East Side. This funny, poignant memoir asks questions both familiar and touching: “What happened to the neighborhood?” and “What happened to my mom?”

It Was Her New York is for anyone who has ever experienced the aging of a parent, the gentrification of a neighborhood, or the unexpected discovery of stifled love and hidden sexuality.

Praise

“Beautiful, moving memories of a mother, in words and snapshots.”

—Booklife Editor’s Pick
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“Get ready to have your emotions twisted and turned as you dive into the intricate web of life, love, and loss within the bustling metropolis. It Was Her New York is not just a tale—it's a heart-penetrating experience that will leave you speechless and craving for more.”

—Midwest Book Review
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"This memoir is a heartfelt exploration of family dynamics, the complexities of identity, and the ceaseless evolution of a city that never sleeps. Moed’s writing is both poignant and evocative. She blends humor with sorrow and paints a vivid picture of her mother—a spirited musician whose resilience and struggles are deeply moving. The book shines not just in its storytelling but in its ability to capture the essence of New York City. Moed’s New York is not just a backdrop but a living, breathing character that influences and shapes the lives of those who call it home."

—Literary Titan
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“It Was Her New York is like walking a different wavelength through the city and seeing a world outside the usual hubbub. With its unique sensitivity, it has an irresistible quietness.”

—Jeremiah Moss, author of Vanishing New York: How a Great City Lost Its Soul
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“This collection reveals an enduring New York with tough, zany, heartbreaking stories of these two women and all their fellow New Yorkers that capture the small details and great big soul of the city we love.”

—Carola Dibbell, author of The Only Ones (an Oprah Magazine Favorite Book of the Year, 2015)
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“Unflinchingly stark and brutally honest, but not at the expense of compassion, humor and a vibrancy of life, all captured with a thoughtful elegance.”

—Joel Anderson Thompson, television writer-producer (House, Krypton, Superstition, Roswell, New Mexico)
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“The people of It Was Her New York survive and triumph in their city with an unconquerable spirit. They become a beacon of hope in this beautifully crafted world, one that is recognized and universally understood by all.”

—Phillip Giambri, author of The Amorous Adventures of Blondie and Boho: Two East Village Dive Bar Coyotes
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“Warning: Be prepared to laugh, cry, smile to yourself in recognition, and be overwhelmed by the lyrical language and the moving photos. It is the story of a New York childhood on the Lower East Side. It is the story of the pain of a mother’s decline. It is the story of Her New York and once you read its sights, sounds and insights, it will be Your New York too.”

—Deborah Edel, cofounder, Lesbian Herstory Archives
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“What’s it like to lose a cherished family member to old age and creeping dementia? What is it like to live in Manhattan and watch as the city of your youth also disappears as it becomes the primary province of the thoughtlessly rich? In It Was Her New York, C.O. Moed reveals her life and her mother’s final years as she simultaneously paints the city with biting wit and a heartrending brush of memories so fresh and full of love and pain that you want to go to Coney Island with her right now.”

—David Leaf (www.leafprod.com), Peabody and WGAW award-winning writer, director, and producer of The U.S. vs John Lennon, The Night James Brown Saved Boston, Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson & the Story of SMiLE, UCLA professor and the author of God Only Knows: The Story of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys & The California Myth
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“Deep love is here for a mother and for streets filled with the history of people on the move. And a New York daughter’s moxie is here too in words, pictures, and humor, attempting to keep loss in the wings for just a little longer.”

—Joan Nestle, cofounder, Lesbian Herstory Archives

reviews & In the News

And It Don’t Stop, Robert Christgau's weekly newsletter, July 24, 2024: Grim, Funny Memories of a Vanished Manhattan

Midwest Book Review MBR Bookwatch, April 2024: Suzie Housley's Bookshelf

Democratic Underground, March 20, 2204: Just Put Down C.O. Moed's "It Was Her New York"

Literary Titan, March 11, 2024: It Was Her New York: True Stories & Snapshots 4-Star Review!

Bureau of General Services Queer Division Book Launch Video, March 3, 2024: It Was Her New York: True Stories and Snapshots

Booklife by Publishers Weekly: Editor’s Pick, IT WAS HER NEW YORK: true stories and snapshots

Women Writers, Women’s Books, February 27, 2024: Changing Sudden Crisis into Sudden Stories by C.O. Moed

StoryComic Episode 334, February 20, 2024: C.O. Moed on Capturing New York’s Heart in ‘It Was Her New York

Meet the Author