Early & Alone #85: Laurie Colwin Evangelist

On why I read Laurie Colwin and you should, too

Despite my resolution to narrow my focus for these newsletters, I still had no idea what to write about this week. I’m on Day 8 of Flupocalypse so my brain is tired and foggy, my routines are all off, and I just feel like a pile of soggy garbage that’s been run over by a car. Repeatedly.

So, yeah, I didn’t know what to write about. Other than how it’s weird to be sick, how it feels like being suspended from real life, how it feels like you’re trying to exorcise some demon from your body with every wracking cough. But then I stumbled upon the news that there was a new, never-before-published Laurie Colwin story in this week’s New Yorker. Writing about Laurie Colwin was already on my list of potential post ideas—this seemed like a wink from the universe.

Lately, I feel like I’ve been recommending Laurie Colwin to everyone I know, both in person and online. Why? In fact, I’ve only read two of her books—her novel, Happy All the Time, and a story collection, The Lone Pilgrim. Admittedly, I also know next to nothing about Colwin herself, other than the fact that she is most well-known for her food writing and that she died tragically and suddenly in 1992, at the age of 48. And yet, I feel qualified to tell you that you should read Laurie Colwin.

I read Happy All the Time in May of 2020. I’d had the book on my shelf for months, possibly years—I can’t remember where I got it at this point. Some used bookstore or other, where a good chunk of my books come from. I’d heard of her before and knew she was well-liked, but that’s where my knowledge ended. But if there was ever a time to read a book called Happy All the Time, May 2020 was it.

Here’s the review I left on Goodreads:

“This book was exactly what I needed during this time of uncertainty and isolation. I'd never read Colwin before, so this was a surprise. It's a simple story, of third cousins turned best friends Vincent and Guido, who both meet and fall in love with women who challenge them—in the best ways. Misty & Holly are independent, complicated women who know what they want. They know how to take time for themselves and how to ask for what they want.

Happy All the Time is that rarest of stories: a story about how couples make it work, without any trauma or adultery or death or loss. It's just a simple story of the little everyday joys those we love can bring to us. It was a balm.”

It’s official—I was in love.

But it was nearly three years before I read another Colwin book, after I’d snagged two of them at the Book Barn. I read The Lone Pilgrim back in January and fell in love all over again. The end of the first and title story, “The Lone Pilgrim,” moved me profoundly. It’s a story of a woman who has been single for years and years, until she meets a man she likes. She's apprehensive, but decides to have faith. Here’s the part that resonated with me, as someone who is finally in a long-term relationship with someone I love after my divorce, something I frankly had nearly given up on:

I MEAN…Get out of my head, Laurie Colwin!

Part of me is tempted to go on a Laurie Colwin tear and just order all her books (which were reissued in 2021) and binge them, but I won’t do that. I will parcel them out, little treats to savor, something to look forward to in the coming years, when I’m sure I will discover new and different passages to resonate and break my heart all over again.

If you’re not convinced by what I have to say, here’s Colwin’s daughter, in a New Yorker interview this week:

“Laurie didn’t like the simple answer, and the simple answer is that her books all have happy endings. But what Laurie created was an ostensibly happy ending, an ending with a resolution that did feel complete—for the moment. There was always the impression that something could change, that it would change, but not then, not in the final scene. That scene marked the end of the story, sure, but it’s easy to see all the interconnected lives of her characters continuing on beyond what she’d written.”

What could be more true than that?

Here’s more writing about Colwin, which I also recommend:

“The Sneaky Subversiveness of Laurie Colwin” (NYT gift link)

“Laurie Colwin’s Recipe for Being Yourself in the Kitchen” (The New Yorker)

“How Laurie Colwin’s Food Writing Turned Me Into a Happy, Confident(-ish) Cook” (Vogue)

“In Celebration of Laurie Colwin’s Lost Manhattan” (LitHub)

“A Trust Fund Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Own Sheets” (Electric Lit—this is Colwin’s short story, “The Boyish Lover”)

Bright Spots

• Easter candy! Specifically Reese’s eggs (the best variation of any Reese’s product) and Cadbury mini eggs.

• Thursday afternoon, I was taking Gizmo out for a walk when I noticed something strange in the branches of the tree behind my apartment. I thought it was one of those fake owls you put out to scare away squirrels. But then it turned and looked at me. I was stunned—was it normal to see an owl, in broad daylight, in the middle of a city? After I walked Gizmo, I stood by my kitchen window and watched her for a long time, mesmerized. I took photos and sent my sister text updates. It felt spiritual, almost—at least a reminder to look around and appreciate the wonder that can pop up in the least expected places.

  

• A few years ago, my roommate and I got very into Terrace House (specifically the Opening New Doors seasons). She recently told me she’d started watching a different season, Terrace House: Tokyo 2019-2020, and I was intrigued. My friend and I binged a bunch of episodes while she was visiting this weekend and it remains a totally sweet and addictive show. Highly recommend checking it out if you’re in the mood for something fun to binge (although you do need to pay attention bc of the subtitles, so it’s not good for background TV).

• Visits from friends! I was VERY sick this weekend, but my friend Kim visited from New Jersey and we just hung out and drank tea and watched Terrace House and caught up. Another friend came down from Boston for dinner Saturday and on Sunday, Kim made brunch for another couple of friends who live in Providence. I wish I had been feeling healthier, but it was still great to spend time with friends.