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Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk
by Kathleen RooneySt Martin’s Press 2017
Oh, this is going to be fun. A city book. And at an interesting time, the end of 1984. When I was last in Britain, when Foucault died. Sadly, I didn’t know NYC at all in this decade. Visited once in the early ‘70s and once in the early ‘90s. Still love the place for what it is and what it was and for the very idea of it.
P32 Something of a bait and switch here (couldn’t resist). I’m all set for a stroll around the south end of Manhattan and now we’re off into the past. Not that NYC of the Depression isn’t interesting. From here into the ‘40s may be the Golden Age. Though of course people of the past would disagree since everything is always going to hell in a hand-basket from the perspective of most people.
P39 Okay. Going back and forth is good. “I sometimes have a vague intimation that people were better read and smarter once upon a time.” Isn’t it more likely that unread and stupider people are just more visible now? I’m not saying that all college graduates are well educated, but surely there are more well educated people now than in the past.
The point she makes about TVs in bars curtailing conversation is probably true, but now the smartphone effect is even more extreme. Of course I’ve also had conversations with people about what was on the TV.
P57 Lily Boxfish is basically the Jo Marsh that Louisa May Alcott wanted. Though I get the impression she turns into the Jo Marsh the publishing world insisted on. I wonder what this says?
I have to say it is good for me to keep reading fiction from the perspective of people in their 80s. It makes me take advantage of the physical advantages someone in their late ‘60s still have. Seize the day before your body gives out on you. I assume this is also why my friend in her early 70s is off to SouthEast Asia -- if not now, when?
P87 The transition of her favorite restaurant. This hits close to home, though my equivalent this year would make her laugh. Or possibly snort laugh. The little pizzeria I’ve frequented the longest, over twenty-five years, just went through an ownership change. The previous owner, who I would always chat with, is gone now and I can’t order what I always used to order for some reason. But I can’t really complain. The previous owner, who worked the day shift, would often close in the afternoon if she got bored. And while the slice I get now isn’t as good as the one I used to get, it’s good enough and saves me six dollars. This being SF, the previous owner was also ethnically of the Han people and lived in my neighborhood. I would rather not list all my regular cafes that have closed in the past year. And I hate to think what will happen when the Trump Recession finally kicks in.
But the city is always changing and this can be inconvenient as you get older. I lost my regular primary doctor five years ago. Today I’m sending a signed document to a new lawyer referred by my HOA’s lawyer who has decided to retire.
P99 Did a signature in my copy of this book fall out? We jumped from Lily being a good Jo March to her divorce without a word about how this change happened. I assume we will jump back at some point.
The more I think about this choice the more puzzling it is. Why jump so far into the future with no explanation? If she really doesn’t fill in the gap that would be even more interesting.
As I was reading this, one of my favorite Sid n Susie covers played here in the Bank Cafe. I was delighted, but now I want to hear more. If I were home and this was coming from my iPod I would be all but assured to hear another of their songs after having heard one. Sadly, this isn’t true here. What “they” bring to these covers is, in most cases, Susanna’s distinctive voice. I so wish they would keep going for a few more decades of popular music.
P134 We finally get her meeting her husband. About what you would expect.
P187 Really love what she writes about suburban versus urban living. Especially the walking. If you aren’t walking around three miles a day you aren’t living in a city.
P200 Just a few pages ago we had St Vincent’s hospital, where Dylan Thomas died, and now we have our Lily possibly having her default mode network calmed so her brain will wake up, only with electro shock instead of psychedelics. Our books keep connecting with each other.
P228 “As I wondered what might cause a person to sustain such apparent enthusiasm -- an endocrine condition? Cocaine? -- Mindy waved over an assistant...”
I have no more notes on the remainder of the book. It stayed interesting, but nothing of note. I do like what a walker and lover of cities she was. But I do wonder how much her walking was based on the real person? I imagine the New Year’s Eve walk was mostly a literary way to connect a bunch of places and experiences, but was the real woman really this much of a walker in her mid-80’s? I know someone like this, but even she wouldn’t go so far afield alone at night.
What I haven’t mentioned is the criticism/observations on the development of advertising from the ‘20s through the ‘80s. And it’s just as well the real person didn’t live to see this decade. At least the big department stores were still pretty healthy at this point -- over thirty years in the past now.
