107 Comments
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Lisa Sinrod's avatar

Love this! All the meandering and bursts of thoughts. And the last paragraphs. Truer words have not been spoken.

Abigail Thomas's avatar

Thank you. Meandering, such a good word. Bursts of thought, lovely. Thanks very much.

So nice of you.

Daniel Appleton's avatar

Very Zen / Daoist. Letting one's words do the writing.

Abigail Thomas's avatar

What a lovely thing to say. Thank you.

Kathy Napoli's avatar

I enjoyed most of this Abigail. Thank you. A glimpse into your life is almost pulling back a curtain similar to many memories of my own. Guess it is a generational thing. You could publish again of your latest years cause you haven’t lost anything and even what you forget is as delightful as what you recall.

Linda S Clare's avatar

Do you have Still Life at Eighty? Wunderbar.

Abigail Thomas's avatar

Thank you. That was the only book my pal Chuck didn't read, and I had no idea whether it was any good or not. But it's about being in my 80's, which I love to be.

Linda S Clare's avatar

You speak to my writer's heart. Bill's book sits on my shelf for eons now. I discovered your fabulous voice in the 90s I think. A writer friend who was younger by 12 years and had her own magazine column and was very pretty and lord I often hated to love her and loved to hate her. Anyway, she got a divorce and I bought Getting Over Tom for her birthday, guess what her ex's name was. I don't know if she liked your book but I did and have been tagging along behind you ever since. Get some writing done! With love that sleeps on rough ground and admiration too, Linda Clare at The Deep End

Abigail Thomas's avatar

Remember Summers With Juliet? One of my favorite books in the world.

Abigail Thomas's avatar

Oh, now I have to know her last name! And thank you very much.

Linda S Clare's avatar

Heather's still a friend I love to be jealous of but I protect her since her oldest son was killed by police after he shot & killed 3 people in Colorado a few years back. She too is a wonderful deranged writer just like me, ha ha.

Abigail Thomas's avatar

Jesus Christ. Ungettoverable.

Ginevra Blake's avatar

I love this piece…and why have I not read your memoirs? On it. Um, that photo of you is full of everything interesting and beautiful in the world. Words that go all the way across the page. My new mantra.

Nan Tepper's avatar

You have some reading to do. I guarantee you'll love every word. My personal favorite is Safekeeping. And then, A Three Dog Life. Enjoy. Savor. Bask.

Abigail Thomas's avatar

Thank you. My first memoir is caalled Safekeeping. After that, I was hooked. I love your new mantra. Thank you again.

Cassandra J Hamilton's avatar

Things forgotten, remembered, partially remembered lure me in, saturate me, and then the rude slap of Trump in our today—Gawd! I wish that away. Away!

Gorgeous writing, per usual, from you!

Abigail Thomas's avatar

Thank you bery much.

Jeannine's avatar

Dear Abigail, you make the forgetting as beautiful as the remembering! Thank you dear lady whom I have never met. I need to find your books.

Abigail Thomas's avatar

That's sawfully nice of you, thanks very much.

Jeanne Guy's avatar

We hold space for each other as needed. Hard times. Here for you, Abby. You’ve done so much for me.

Abigail Thomas's avatar

Thank you so much, Jeanne. So kind of you.

Susan OBrien's avatar

Well, WHAT a triumph!!! You have a haunting brilliance when you marry wisps of tender memory to flares of passion. As usual, I am in awe of your life and your product. You proved yourself wrong on one recent comment—You most assuredly can state a political position with admirable force and clarity. I am so very glad of you.

Abigail Thomas's avatar

You are too nice.l Thank you, thank you.

Susan OBrien's avatar

Nope. Candid and correct. You are such a joy and wonder in my life.

heydave56's avatar

Stunning. Thank you for writing and sharing. And I'm very glad you got to go four wheeling for a bit.

Abigail Thomas's avatar

Thank you, me too. Four wheeling was pretty great.

Erica A. Wheadon's avatar

I absolutely live for your fierce wisdom in my inbox. x

Abigail Thomas's avatar

What a lovely thing to say. Thank you very much.

J_comicArts's avatar

Hello hi friend ,trust you’re doing good? I’m a sci-fi fantasy, comic artist and character designer and I’m looking for commission.I work on graphic design,cover arts, Book cover,Logos,coloring,children books,romance scenes,pages & panel works and also Adult works.Can I show you my works?

Wendy Varley's avatar

Here's to "driving blind" and being spur of the moment. Safekeeping is among my favourite memoirs (the other favourites are mostly by you, too!). Love the characterful photo your daughter took.

Abigail Thomas's avatar

Thank you. Spur of the moment, yeah. That was often a lot of fun. Now and then a small price to pay, but nothing that a bad poem couldn't cure. Or sometimes a good one. Thanks again, Wendy.

Dr Dorree Lynn's avatar

Stunningly essential.

Wonderful.

Cutting with whispers and hammers

To the core.

Thank you

Abigail Thomas's avatar

Thanks very much.

Eileen Vorbach Collins's avatar

Abigail, you may forget some things but your brain is sharp enough to write words around the shape of absence.

And that word, the one not yet invented for he who shall not be named—that word is the color of bile. It sounds like a belch or a snore. The word smells of rot. Not clean rot like decay on a forest floor, but something far worse. Maybe you'll invent the word. Or maybe we're not ready. The world might choke on it. I have to get it out of my head now so I'll think of some nice words like petrichor and puppies and take myself off to bed.

Abigail Thomas's avatar

Puppies is a good word. Now I have to look up petrichor. Oh! My FAVORITE SMELL IN THE WORLD! THANK YOU FOR GIVING IT TO ME.

Mira Dessy's avatar

This was wonderful. And that picture! I loved it all.

Abigail Thomas's avatar

Thank you, Mira. So glad you liked it.

Abigail Thomas's avatar

Thank you very much. Happy you liked it.

Babette Hale's avatar

This essay strikes me where so many of yours strike me, right in the middle where memory and fellow feeling come together. The way you wrap forgetting into your sentences and how you wandered into writing all those books. I've written many fewer, but I've been at it just as long. Please do continue to flourish!

Abigail Thomas's avatar

I hope you got my thank you, it isn't here.

Babette Hale's avatar

I believe I saw it but I can't find where.