Can I Choose Them All?

My favorite authors -- much like my favorite books -- are clear indicators of the stages of my life. Forget a photograph -- a book and it's author can sum up every memory needed for me.

• Elementary School (When I wanted to be a spy): E.L. Konisgburg's From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

 

-Thirty years later, I still find myself considering stealing away to The Met should this writing business not pan out.

• Junior High (When I wanted to be blond, named something like Jennifer or Stacie (dotted with a heart) and date a guy in a letterman's jacket): Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley High/Twins series

-Just a few months ago, I had the opportunity to sip coffee with Sweet Valley's amazing author Francine Pascal; when I admitted that I told everyone in school I wasn't too upset over Jeff Nichols' dumping me because my real boyfriend was "all-American-guy Todd Wilkins," she didn't seem all that surprised.

• High School (When the problems of an upper-middle class white girl with a Honda Accord are nothing short of smothering): Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar

-Because nobody knows the trouble I've seen (spiral perms! Color Me Badd! Stretch pants!).

• College (When I still believed that writing the Great American Novel and becoming rich weren't mutually exclusive): Jill McCorkle's July 7th and The Cheerleader

-The world was my oyster, and for some reason, I developed a Southern drawl (even after leaving Duke) and a desperate need to include a matriarch and a biscuit reference in every book. 

• Post college (When my life was all pink-and-ecru Martha Stewart Wedding magazines and olive boats): Anna Maxted's Behaving Like Adults

-I'm still reasonably proud of myself for not developing (or at least adhering to) a British accent at this particular stage. Also, I hate olives, so the need for them to become seafaring still eludes me. But it seemed really damn important when I was 22.

• Post-post college (When I realized that I am, quite possibly, the last single woman in America and informercials seem to be hocking some really useful things): Jonathan Hayes' Precious Blood

-Does that read as bitter/completly given up as I think it might?

Comments

[Maddy]

I realize how different my own reference points are [being from over the pond], but the underlying themes seem to affect us all over the different stages of life. I'm always tempted to have an overhaul but with two generations of 'girls' following me, you never know if they might have resonance for them too.