Review: Happy All the Time

Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book exclusively because Anne Lamott told me to, and I try to do the things she tells me (and everyone) to do.

It was sweet - it reminded me of some of Betty Smith's lesser-known books (like Joy in the Morning, perhaps) in its simplicity and directness. It was published in 1978 and is more straightforward and direct than many novels written today.

It is about two couples who are friends, and is simply the story of each of their lives leading up to and including their finding each other, falling in love, and getting married. None of the four of them is perfect, but none is tragically flawed either, so this becomes, at its core, a love story. Where more modern fiction sees neuroses and flaws as downfalls, this book lets the characters embrace those things - and thus each other.

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