"In her collection of short stories, New York Lonely, Rochelle Ratner has vividly rendered lives in snapshots from a camera that captures the inner details as sharply as the outer ones. There's a richness in these tales composed of ironies and elegies, humor and unspeakable grief—as well as a grief that has learned how to speak, and when to remain silent as a presence in the room. New York Lonely is both a testament and a summation. In the end, the generosity of spirit and compassion familiar to all who knew her, hold the richness of the work like water in cupped hands" –Paul Pines