I've been finishing a book, working sometimes 15 hours a day, in a kind of frenzy that I get into in the last few weeks of the long journey of writing a novel. Beautiful, terrifying journey. But then, suddenly, the world you have built that has come to seem more real than this one turns out to be words on pages, which is, itself, a kind of amazement. Words are truly magic, and the pleasure of writing--the agonizing pleasure of it--is very precious.

One wishes that one had never embraced the writing life. It's too hard, too unforgiving. But then again, there are the rewards. More than the finished book, for me the great reward is the life it brought me, the people I found in it, the journey that it took me on.

When I finish a book, I am defeated. I cry. But it also feels like a triumph.

This one will be a big surprise, which is all I'll say about its content.

I live to live in writing, my own and that of others. I heard Emma Straub on NPR the other day, and thought her interview was wise and compelling. I bought the Vacationers and got out of it the very thing I needed: release from my own just-written world. A delightful time with a very engaging book. And, I might add, if you've never been to Majorca, you'll want to jump on the next plane.

The Vacationers by Emma Straub

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A thoughtful, insightful delight of a book. I read it nodding with understanding and appreciating its wisdom. It's also a terrific story. There is literally nothing like the pleasure of sitting down with a book like the Vacationers on a summer afternoon. Thanks, Emma Straub!



View all my reviews