Book: What Comes Next and How to Like it by Abigail Thomas
Of things simple and not so simple
From Oxford Languages:
Simple
easily understood or done; presenting no difficulty. "a simple solution"
plain, basic, or uncomplicated in form, nature, or design; without much decoration or ornamentation.
I breezed through this book, my first read of 2024. That gives the impression it’s a simple read but it’s not. The chapters are short, sometimes just two or three sentences. That gives the impression it’s a simple read but it’s not.
Descriptions of the book gave me the impression it was all about her long friendship with her best friend. It was about that friendship but it was so much more. She talks about friendship and the stages it goes through, sharing thoughts and bits about the how and why of the cooling-off and rekindling of same. She shares the tough and the tender of family. Abigail is a dog lover and owner so the anecdotes about her dogs touched my heart, as a dog-lover myself who recently lost the most beloved dog of my life. She writes quite a lot about writing and painting and the importance of keeping the creative going, even through tough times. She talks about tough times in a vulnerable yet brave way. And the humor! The humor is scattered perfectly throughout in bits about our human-ness, aging, even sorrow.
The structure of the book - short chapters, as mentioned above - delighted me. I’m a fan of micro works, distilling thoughts and actions down to it’s very essence, and this fit right in, for me. I love memoir works that talk of life and death but doesn’t wallow in death. I love memoir that teaches me something, shares wisdom and moments that were hard but illuminating. Or quiet but illuminating. Memorists and poets share that kind of introspection and that’s what attracts me to those genres.
I think I highlighted the most passages in this Kindle book of any book I’ve read, paper or electronic. Some examples:
On writing:
“What do we use? That’s easy. We use everything. We have our eyes and ears open to snag the lovely and the harsh and the hilarious. There is ruthlessness in all writers.”
On a stressful situation:
“I tell her how hard it was, stuck in a mess I didn’t make and couldn’t fix.”
On dogs:
“Dogs don’t wake up on the wrong side of the bed. There is no wrong side of the bed for dogs.”
About youth:
“Oh well, I was young once and slender and pretty and I made the most of it. It’s somebody else’s turn now.”
“Neurosis is for the young, who think they are made of time.”
My favorite quote:
“Part of what I’ve learned is that if it isn’t life and death, it isn’t life and death. I have learned that every moment is precious.”
I also googled quite a bit while reading but didn’t make notes of what. However, she has a wonderful chapter titled “Googling” that was poignant and sparked some reminiscing on my part.
So, while this book talked of simple things (and not so simple) and was structured in a simple manner, I think the #3 definition fits it perfectly: a medicinal herb, or a medicine made from one. Reading this book was medicine. The best kind.
What Comes Next and How to Like it by Abigail Thomas, published by Scribner.
A wonderful interview with Abigail via Let’s Talk Memoir podcast on Spotify here. Highly recommend.
Great book review (and now another book to add to my very tall pile 😉).