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The Next Interesting Thing
by Abigail Thomas
From the New York Times bestselling author of A Three Dog Life, a witty and irreverent look at aging and the writing life, delivered with trademark brevity, humor, and wise wit.
"The Emily Dickinson of memoirists" (Stephen King) Abigail Thomas shares her thoughts on aging in this irresistibly wry memoir-in-vignettes—offering richly insightful writing tips along the way.
While reflecting on the past, Abby accepts the shape of her present. No more driving, no more dancing, mostly sitting in a comfortable chair in a sunny corner with three dogs for company—as well as the birds and other critters that she watches out her window. Only this beloved writer could generate so much enthusiasm over what might seem so little. Vivid memories fall like confetti, as time contracts, shoots forward, loops and suddenly she is back in her twenties in New York City, drinking, sleeping with strangers, falling in and out of love, believing in a better world. Sometimes dread or grief arrives, inhabits her body like a shadow, and all she can do is write it away, paying close attention to what catches her eye, sticks in her brain, keeps her in the moment.
Whether you're a book lover, dog lover—or both—pull up a chair, pour a cup of tea, and enter Abigail Thomas's quietly mesmerizing world.
"Reflections on aging from a master of the fresh and moving fragment… Thomas is always fun, smart, thoughtful, and pithy, modestly trying not to take up too much of your time… her candor is a gift to us all." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Insightful, self-aware, and still feisty... she's doing what she does best, putting it all on the page to share with readers." —Booklist
"A tender look at aging and memory… Like the slow-blooming wisteria vine growing from Thomas's desk that reappears throughout the narrative, the power of her remembrances emerges gradually, but they join together to form a beautiful whole." —Publishers Weekly
This information about Still Life at Eighty was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Abigail Thomas worked as both a book editor and book agent before writing her first short story collection, Getting Over Tom. Her second and third books An Actual Life, and Herb's Pajamas, were works of fiction. Her memoir, A Three Dog Life, was named one of the Best Books of the Year by The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post. She is also author of the memoirs Safekeeping, Thinking About Memoir, and What Comes Next and How to Like It. The daughter of renowned science writer Lewis Thomas (The Lives of a Cell), Thomas has four children, twelve grandchildren, and two great grandchildren. She lives in Woodstock, New York, with her dogs.
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