Through it all

The books this week remind us how, despite life’s obstacles, we carry on. Whether through a memoir composed of staccato short pieces revealing life both banal and profound; a collection of memorable quotes from one of our most talented humorists, gone too soon; a stylish novel about underground life in Berlin; or a surprising post-9/11 story set on the ocean among a floating array of humanity, these writers capture the dogged spirit of survival.
 
All the World Can Hold, by Jung Yun
Yun told Publishers Weekly, “I didn’t want to write about 9/11—I wanted to write about people whose lives came into focus as a result of that event.” The claustrophobic setting of a luxury cruise ship bound for Bermuda provides a perfect opportunity to observe behavior after life-changing trauma. (Think White Lotus.) The cruise, formerly a Love Boat-style experience, hosts, among others, a bad actor from the previous incarnation; a Korean mother-daughter duo attempting to enjoy a prepaid holiday; and an MIT graduate avoiding her future. Using elements of farce, Yun identifies the challenges of moving forward in the wake of tragedy.
 
Someday This Will be a Funny Story, by Nora Ephron
What better source for advice than the brilliant mind of Nora Ephron? Throughout her screenplays and novels, she was a famous quipster, spreading wisdom and fun wherever she went. Some of her work was ‘borrowed’ from friends and family—thus the famous quote "everything is copy" (actually, this came from her mother, Phoebe). Even if you’ve never bought a self-help book, consider this your first—it is inspiring and hilarious. Packaged in a perfect size to sit at your bedside table—or on the counter of any and all bookstores—you’ll find yourself dipping in again and again to find her guidance on love, death, religion, and fashion (“Everything matches black, especially black.”), even as she faced her own mortality.
 
Lean Cat, Savage Cat, by Lauren J. Joseph
Welcome to the underbelly of Berlin with all its seductive darkness, sexual freedom, and glamour. Told with a satirical wit, the novel’s style has been compared to the film, Saltburn. Joseph’s protagonist Charli is obsessed with David Bowie and is meant to be writing her dissertation about his lover, when she meets a musician in London who is returning to Berlin. On a whim, she follows him and sets in motion swirling scenes of decadence. The author’s prose sparkles as we watch Charli make choices she is destined to regret. The novel manages to be both enervating and invigorating. Joseph, a trans performance artist working all around the world, is a keen observer of culture.
 
The Irish Goodbye, by Beth Ann Fennelly
These ‘micro-memoirs’ get right to the heart of nonfiction. Some are two lines; one, "The Stories We Tell About the Stories We Tell" is 17 pages. But all the precisely observed moments accrue to reveal the bigger picture. Fennelly uses humor and insight—about herself, her neuroses, her marriage, her competitive yoga, her sister’s untimely death, how both her mother and her mother-in-law have dementia, how she started to garden in the pandemic only to have slugs attack her plants. It is a whole life laid out with all the attendant joy and despair. This is intimacy unveiled. Though an ‘Irish goodbye’ usually refers to slipping away unnoticed, this memoir disproves the rule. 

We all have our own ways of carrying on through life’s tricky bits. Whether it's walks through the forest, spending time with friends, or maybe powering through a bike ride, it’s important to remember that life’s challenges also share time with our joys and triumphs. So, carry on my friends - perhaps sinking into a good book will help you weather the storms.
 
And in the meantime, happy reading,
Joni