There may be almost nine million people living here, but New York is a city of lonely people full of regrets. It’s my job to make their final moments a little less lonesome.
“A belief in genius is a large part of what plagues us, and I have found that people widely praised for the power of their intellect are as likely to illuminate as they are to confound. “Genius” may or may not help a writer whose job is, above all else, to clarify.”
― The Message
― The Message
“At such moments it was the thought of the security offered by a regular even though an unpleasant life, the spirit which dooms the canary bird to its caged existence, a natural tendency to follow the line of least resistance, that predominated. On the other hand, standing in the ranks at morning roll call and seeing Batian beckoning me with its shimmering glaciers, I sometimes felt like running away on the spot, to seek and to meet adventure halfway. We poor mortals are made like this, a mixture of contrasts, shade and light, fears and exaltations.”
― No Picnic on Mount Kenya: The Story of Three POWs' Escape to Adventure
― No Picnic on Mount Kenya: The Story of Three POWs' Escape to Adventure
“But Southern California, in its sprawling, edgeless blandness, was losing its baseline status in my mind. It was no longer the place by which all other places had to be measured.”
― Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life
― Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life
“Suburbs are about the leisurely conquest of space, an alternative to the uncomfortable density of the city. They seem to run free from history itself, offering a sense that nothing was there before. But the illusion of tranquility frays at the edges: the neurosis required to maintain so neatly manicured a lawn, the pristine sidewalks that nobody walks on, the holy wars fought to keep one municipality from oozing into the next. Suburbs suggest stability and conformity, yet they are rarely beholden to tradition. Rather, they are slates that can be wiped clean to accommodate new aspirations.”
― Stay True: A Memoir
― Stay True: A Memoir
“If you’re ever going to do anything that’s important to you, do it now. This is the only time you have to do everything you ever wanted to do. Don’t save anything for the future. The future is now.”
― Hangdog Days: Conflict, Change, and the Race for 5.14
― Hangdog Days: Conflict, Change, and the Race for 5.14
Lauren’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Lauren’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Polls voted on by Lauren
Lists liked by Lauren




























