How We Live Now: Scenes from the Pandemic

by Bill Hayes

From the author of the beloved and critically acclaimed Insomniac City, a poignant and profound tribute in stories and images to a city amidst a pandemic-an ode to our shared humanity.

A bookstore where readers shout their orders from the street. A neighborhood restaurant turned to-go place where one has a shared drink-on either end of a bar-with the owner. These scenes, among many others, became the new normal as soon as the world began to face the COVID-19 pandemic.

In How We Live Now, author and photographer Bill Hayes, with his signature insight and grace, captures these moments of life in real time-as things unfold day-by-day, hour-by-hour, in this strange new world we're now in (for who knows how long?), with its new sets of rules and guidelines, its suddenly deserted streets, shuttered restaurants, bars, shops, and stores. As he wanders the increasingly empty streets of Manhattan, Hayes meets fellow New Yorkers and discovers stories to tell, but he also shares the unexpected moments of grace and gratitude he finds from within his apartment, where he lives alone and-like everyone else-is staying home, trying to keep busy and not bored as he adjusts to enforced solitude with reading, cooking, reconnecting with loved ones, reflecting on the past-and writing.

Featuring Hayes's inimitable street photographs, How We Live Now chronicles an unimaginable moment in time, offering a long-lasting reminder that what will gets us through this unprecedented, deadly crisis is each other.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Photography, History, New York, Biography, Biography Memoir

160 pages, Hardcover

First published August 25, 2020

About the author

The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in nonfiction, Bill Hayes is a frequent contributor to the New York Times and the author of several books.

A photographer as well as a writer, his photos have appeared in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Granta, New York Times, and on CBS Evening News. His portraits of his partner, the late Oliver Sacks, appear in the recent collection of Dr. Sacks’s suite of final essays Gratitude.

Hayes has been a Visiting Scholar at the American Academy in Rome, the recipient of a Leon Levy Foundation grant, and a Resident Writer at Blue Mountain Center. He has also served as a guest lecturer at Stanford, NYU, UCSF, University of Virginia, and the New York Academy of Medicine.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

"I am climbing the walls here. But I also know I am among the most fortunate: I have a roof over my head, food in my fridge, and my health to be thankful for. So, if this is how we have to live - with masks and gloves and almost no human contact for several more months - then so be it, this is how we have to live. I just want to see what's on the other side of this ****ing mountain." -- on pages 144-145

New York Times contributor / non-fiction author (and former longtime companion to the late neurologist / historian Oliver Sacks of Awakenings fame) Bill Hayes documents the initial months of the pandemic lockdown in March and April 2020 from a Manhattanite's point of view in the timely photo-essay/journal How We Live Now. The assorted 'on-the-spot' pictures from the streets of the Big Apple are some of the best things in the book, but unfortunately they're presented in a relatively small format and in black & white -- they cry out for full-page / full-color treatment. The essays also tend to be a little inconsistent - the ones on his love life, or lack thereof, seemed repetitive - but were stronger when he informally spoke to assorted residents (shopkeepers, firefighters, physicians & neighbors) about how they were functioning amidst the changes in routine. Occasionally, though, Hayes has some effective moments of insight about the Coronavirus' effect on people and their city.

[Stoic Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, that was a quick read and I enjoyed this book greatly. Enjoyment is probably not the right word. Maybe, solidarity or empathy. HOW WE LIVE NOW is about the scenes from daily life during the height of Covid-19 pandemic early this year. Bill Hayes made a journal mainly scribbling what he thought, felt, heard, saw, captured during those times. He created a portrait of what life was like in sprawling New York when everything seemed strange and scary and weird, like it never happened before. Very easy to read, intimate, accessible and timely.

[Autumn Kovach · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't normally buy brand new books off the shelf but I knew I wanted to read this one immediately and possibly own it as basically a timepiece of this year. I love Bill's writing and this snapshot of thoughts and images of NY in March/April was very comforting to read about as the isolation, halting of life and stillness was a shared experience by all New Yorkers. There really isn't much to say about what it was like -- it felt like nothing. But to have the simple feelings expressed and captured in images was a consoling summary of this weird time we'll never forget.

[aqilahreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a poignant and profound tribute in stories and images to a city amidst the covid-19 pandemic.  

really love these bits!!! author and photographer, bill hayes offers his insights and personal little moments to remind us that we do not have to look very far to get through this unprecedented and difficult times. its such a heart-warming read too that no matter how much this pandemic has affected our lives, the human spirit will still find a way to crave social interaction and hope. 

honestly after reading this book, it makes me think how it would be so great to document some personal observations especially during this pandemic. no matter how difficult things are during these times, sometimes we tend to forget to tell ourselves to breathe, still see the good side of it and be aware and grateful of the things around us. to document them will definitely help to keep ourselves to be in the moment. a short and relatable read that i would recommend especially during this pandemic.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Excellent writing, the pictures were so beautiful. This is a touching,sweet,sad all at once. Brought tears to my eyes,gave me goosebumps, made my heart sing. I highly recommend this book

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost 5 stars. Love the author's reflections on pre and post pandemic New York. The teensy vingettes are vivid and emotional and his photographs are interesting.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really hit home, perhaps because it is about a topic that is still so current. The author writes about what life is like in New York City during the pandemic as well as what life was like for him before it. The book is filled with raw emotions, many of which I am experiencing myself along with beautiful photography of happy scenes, as well as contemporary ones. It may be too soon for some of you to read this book, but I think that it is one that people look back on and see that it encapsulated a time are all dealing with.

[Babbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick read, but paints the picture for what it was like during the first two month of the Pandemic in NYC. It’s eerie in its reminders. It truly seems like there was a “before” and “after” of the Pandemic that non of us will ever forget…Bill Hayes capture this in words and photographs that will have you to thinking and feeling strongly about those days.

[Tina Panik · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is THE BOOK for RIGHT NOW. Hayes captures the anguish of losing New York, the heartbreak of the pandemic, and the resiliency of humans in one succinct, well-written snapshot of time.

This was an ARC.

[Rogue Male · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10

[Brona's Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 and half stars
I had no idea that Bill Hayes was working on another scenes of New York book that would focus on the March-April Covid-19 lockdown of 2020. If I'd known, I may have experienced fewer angsty days of my own, knowing that Bill was going to somehow make it all right!

"It’s a little like losing your life while still being alive, this experience."

How We Live Now is presented in a very similar way to Insomniac City from three years ago. A lovely hardback edition, with black and white photographs scattered throughout. Photographs, or more precisely portraits, that Bill takes of strangers as he is out walking around New York (with their permission). The photographs are usually accompanied by a vignette - whether it's what was happening on that particular day or a little personal story about his meeting and conversation with the stranger in question.

"Behind me a small line had formed....A family was looking for books for their kids to read. I felt like I was in a metaphorical breadline - a breadline for feeding the brain and the soul."

Insomniac City was a love letter to New York and to his recently deceased partner, Oliver Sacks. How We Live Now continues this theme. Losing Oliver is obviously still a painful memory for Bill, but three years later, his stories are fond reminiscences rather than emotional outpourings. While his love for New York continues unabated, despite the changes that lockdown brought.

"When you look out & see the empty streets & sidewalks & shuttered shops, a friend tells me, see it as solidarity - everyone doing their best to keep themselves & everyone else healthy....Even so, I can’t deny how sad & disorientating the absence of life in these once busy streets seems."

Full review here - http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com/2020/...

[Kelly Pochyba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it in one go faaarkin heck

[Kylie Purdie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again Richard Fidler's Conversations on ABC Radio was my gateway to this book. Listening to him chat with Bill Hayes I immediately wanted to read this book.
This is a series of musings and observations about New York during the 2020 pandemic lockdown, with a smattering of photos. While it was a quick read, it was thoughtful and thought provoking. His observations about the changing world around him and the people he spoke to reflected the strangeness of these times. I would have loved for the pictures to have been better presented - larger, in colour for some and on glossy paper. As interesting as they were, I feel they lost some of their power by being reproduced on standard paper in black and white.
I've long intended to read Insomniac City: New York, Oliver, and Me but have just never got around to it. How We Live Now has planted it well and truly in the front of my mind again.

[Alaa Alhomaizi · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was halfway through this book, I immediately downloaded Bill Hayes' other book about NYC. Hayes writes in a way that reminds me of why I love reading in the first place, why I love words and their power, so much. He writes in a way that conjures a very precise image in the reader's mind. More importantly, he writes in a way that almost forces you to feel something. I haven't been moved by writing like this in a very long time.

I miss NYC so much, and Hayes is very much to blame. I am grateful that he wrote this book at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in NYC. As he said in the postscript, many of us are now forgetting how we felt in those scary, unknown, dreadful early days of this crisis. And, don't get me wrong, I am grateful that I can forget, that I (and we) can hopefully even move on from this nightmare. But, sometimes, it's important to remember; to process; and vitally, to learn. Lest we forget.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new Bill Hayes book!!! When I saw this title flash by at the library, I couldn't get my hands on it fast enough.

The diary entries read like you just bumped into a far-flung friend at your local coffee shop, or at the park. All surprise and then smiles and a gush of conversation. But- no hugs. Not in the scenes after March 2020. Hayes' writing is spellbinding- I can see each scene unfold behind my eyes. And Bill's striking photography shows us the intimate glimpses of New York life that he sees, and decides to get to know a bit better. There is such sad and interesting contrast too, in his pictures from 2018 & 2019, versus the eerily empty streets captured in 2020. New York seems all strangers and strangeness, but that curtain lifts to show some rays of sunshine under Hayes' thoughtful prose.

Would recommend! I'd especially recommend his earlier work "Insomniac City," for a more in-depth read. I gobbled this one in a short single sitting.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started this book and couldn’t stop. I think every reader can fully understand what the author is saying. It’s “LIFE: before and after”. How did we cope? What was my level of shock during events leading up to , during, and now reentry because of COVID? Will we still be traumatized by these events forever? Did we or could even reach out to other people? Certainly, we didn’t let them in the house! Are we going to die? What about Christmas? This book is the author’s tale, and guess what, I have mine. Chilling. It’s a great book!

[Ega · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The most we can do is to write—intellligently, creatively, critically, evocatively—about what it is like living in the world at this time." - Dr. Sacks to Bill Hayes.

Bill Hayes is an author, photographer, and the New York Times frequent contributor. During the earlier months of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic first hit New York and the rest of the world, Hayes took his camera out to the street of New York and documented what it was like to live in the city during those time. Hayes also wrote about how the New Yorkers were adjusting to the sudden changes: an independent bookstore that took orders from inside of the store, a grounds caretaker who just lost her work partner, a pharmacist who gave out free disposable masks, a special ed teacher who was checking up on her students and their parents, and more. Hayes also reflected on how he felt during those months, compared to how he felt before, and how he navigated a relationship that just took place right before the pandemic hit.

Though I wasn't so sure at first if I was ready to read anything about this pandemic, this book ended up motivating me to get back into journaling. To capture the everyday moments in life, all forgotten too soon and often taken for granted.

On pages 144-145 of this book, Hayes wrote, "But I also know I am among the most fortunate: I have a roof over my head, food in my fridge, and my health to be thankful for. So, if this is how we have to live—with masks and gloves and almost no human contact for several more months—then so be it, this is how we have to live. I want to see what's on the other side of this fucking mountain."

[Micalla Weinstock · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is beautiful. Hayes takes the time to see and hear about the people and the world around him. A long-time New Yorker who has experienced his share of heartache (losing two partners—one to cancer, one to a heart attack), shares his insight on life in NYC during the Covid-19 pandemic. Some stories are light-hearted, some art gut wrenching—all are authentic and important. The photos and portraits he takes are simply poignant. They visually communicate hope and fear and generosity and normalcy and newness and pain and joy and respect and life. Hayes is able to share the silliness of lockdown and quarantine while also honoring the frontline workers, essential workers, survivors, and the hundreds of thousands of people (and their families) who have lost their lives to this deadly virus.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

How We Live Now is a reflective piece laced together with poetic snippets, capturing New York in a time when everything was falling apart, yet this book brings everything together. With black and white photography interspersed throughout the text, this is a meaningful recollection of the pandemic, defined by those small moments of interaction in what can seem like a lonely world. A quick read, but one I’ll likely reread over time as years morph into one another and we look back on this year with learned hindsight. I think this book shows that the simple moments are sometimes the most powerful. And if there’s anything we’ve learnt during lockdown, it’s this.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would and I really want to read more of the author.
By the title alone, I didn't have a lot of great expectations but the first couple of pages had me hocked immediately and I bought the book.
It is a snap shot of the early days of the pandemic in New York City. As a German, I experienced the pandemic quiet differently, so it was interesting to read a different perspective. But it was also like looking into the past, when we thought things would be temporary or would only last for a couple of months. The book wasn't hopeful but it felt hopeful because as a human being returning back to the old normal seemed more realistic back than then it does now ...

[selin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beautiful. It made my heart ache and it made me miss Oliver Sacks and I have never met him, just through his books.
This is one of those books that I will be rereading.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Becky Loader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bill Hayes is a talented writer and photographer. This book is something I wish I could have written about the Pandemic and how it intruded into our lives.

I would like to talk to this man over a cup of coffee. Maybe two cups of coffee.

[Walter Juan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bill Hayes: Documents a random bullet point list of lockdown exercises.

Me: OMG his writing is incredible.

[Dan Kagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely gorgeous!

[Lani M · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the first to the last page, the book has succeeded to make me feel melancholic about how we live now. This global phenomenon and feelings will be memorized forever; everyone has their own version yet see the resemblance on each other's stories. If anything, like Bill Hayes wrote in this book, it's a reminder of poignantly short a life can be thus you should tell your loved ones that they matter to you.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book brought back lots of memories of early 2020 at the start of the pandemic. In particular dates the 13th March, 2020 in Melbourne on a train and someone sneezing and the reaction of other travellers. The 10th March at my last art opening before everything started to close down. The lack of masks and people being creative in making their own.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacular snapshot of the first few months of the pandemic. Amazing.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very slim volume-I read it while getting a pedicure!
Hayes is a NYC resident who is a writer and a photographer who took on the task of chronicling the early days of the pandemic. It is simultaneously heart-breaking and hopeful. The vignettes he writes are so normal and common that the sense of loss is achingly felt, and the photos make them come to life. This is less about loss and more about, well, how we must now live. The sense of fear during those early days is palpable. It was heartening to read how many of those fears have been dispelled. A love letter to what was and what is yet to be on the other side.

[Tracey Sinclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating snapshots of New York in the early stages of the pandemic.