I'm so happy it helped! It is one of the most unique and beautiful things I've ever read -- an entire book-length meditation on what it is like to live alone, what that means in society, how to do it happily, the ways it is misconstrued by others, etc.

I hope you enjoy it -- take care out there.

The Lonely City, by Olivia Laing

It's absolutely stunning -- a lovely, empathetic, beautifully written, and thoughtful examination of what it's like to be alone -- how to do it well, and without toxicity -- as well as of how loneliness is often unjustly perceived, etc.

It honestly changed my life for the better.

I love all of Carl's books, but I still remember how much that one saddened, worried, and flat-out scared me. It's the only one I don't reread regularly.

And, of course, it was so damn prescient. It's like he looked forward two-plus decades straight into the gaping maw of today's volatile, toxic, antiscience world.

As Carl was always such a positive, joyous voice for science and the future of humanity, it's sad to me that he had lost so much hope for us as humans (at least, for the relative short term).

Not that he was wrong. Like I said, it's the only one of his books I don't regularly revisit. It's just too sad, and too accurate.