[2][1] In 2009, following the sudden death of his partner of sixteen years, Hayes rented out his San Francisco apartment and moved to New York City.

Sacks had hidden his homosexuality from most people, and had lived a largely celibate life; at the start of his relationship with Hayes, it had been three and a half decades since his last romantic encounter.

[2] Sacks was an eccentric: he was fascinated by the chemical elements, insisted on wearing swim goggles to open a bottle of champagne, and was utterly unaware of popular culture (he did not know who Michael Jackson was).

He describes caring for Sacks, who suffered a number of age-related infirmities, including sciatica, a bad knee, and significant hearing loss.

In early 2015, Sacks was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer, a recurrence of a rare ocular melanoma which had afflicted him nine years earlier.

[1] Throughout Hayes' memoir, he documents his relationship with New York City: he describes his feelings about various subway lines, the changing of seasons, and his brief encounters with an assortment of characters – shopkeepers, skateboarding teens, street artists, and homeless people – who are often his photographic subjects.

[2] Brain Pickings called the book a "dual love letter...a lyrical reminder that happiness and heartache are inseparably entwined".