I've read many pieces by Emily Witt over the years but have never read her first book, Future Sex. When I read the blurb for Health and Safety, I thought to myself, "I went to journalism school, I have a fascination with house music, and I've certainly had my fair share of consciousness-altering substances. This memoir has to be for me!" I must say that I am not disappointed with the result. It feels somewhat odd to read the memoir of someone who is barely into their 40s, but the thing is that this memoir is both Emily Witt's life and much more. She captures the zeitgeist of the 2016-now wonderfully that does not feel manufactured or trying. Real life is only as reflective as the quality of the consciousness doing the reflecting. Emily Witt's is high. 

I will say that for an American like myself, who is deeply into politics and also even lived in NYC at some points during that time, much of the reporting that she did, which she weaves into the memoir, is something I acutely remember, lived through, and put close attention. Thus, it didn't make too much of an impact on me. I did think this could be the case going in, but it wasn't in a way that detracted from the book. If you are someone who followed politics/civil unrest closely during that time, you'll get no new information. That is OK!

I found myself focusing on this relationship that drives a lot of the narrative of her life, and I felt way more attuned to that than I thought I could be. I don't want to spoil her life in this review, but I will say that it was both sad and gripping and perfectly captured the emotional turmoil and haze of the pandemic that blanketed all aspects of our lives on top of a very fraught relationship.

For Americans, and I think especially for non-Americans, Health and Safety presents an intricate and developed accuracy of the U.S. during the pandemic, as well as touching on the radiant and microcosmic nightlife of NYC, music, and "underground" drug culture here and in Germany.

4.5 Stars

Thank you so much to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this.

Health and Safety: A Breakdown debuts on September 17th, 2024