Grief Is for People

Starred review from December 11, 2023
In this aching meditation on loss and friendship, essayist and novelist Crosley (Cult Classic) eulogizes her late literary mentor and best friend against the backdrop of the high-pressure publishing industry. At 25, Crosley applied for a job opening at Vintage Books. Russell Perreault, the then-37-year-old head of the paperback imprint’s publicity department, was charmed and offered her the job. When Crosley, who was hesitant to leave her current position at “a more commercial publishing house,” asked for a second interview, Russell shot back, “It’s like you’ve been admitted to Harvard but first you need a tour of the bathrooms.” From there, the two became fast friends as they faced down crises both minor and major, including the exposure of James Frey’s lies in his fictionalized 2003 memoir, A Million Little Pieces. By the 2010s, however, Russell’s light began to dim—Crosley stopped receiving invitations to his country house after his romantic life imploded, and changing workplace norms silenced his signature banter. On June 27, 2019, Crosley’s apartment was burglarized; exactly one month later, Russell died by suicide. Crosley elegantly links the two losses by explaining how her fevered desire to reclaim her burglarized items stood in for her inability to reclaim Russell. Her characteristically whip-smart prose takes on a newly introspective quality as she reinvigorates dusty publishing memoir tropes and captures the minutiae of a complicated friendship with humor and heart. This is a must-read. Agent: Jay Mandel, WME.

Starred review from May 1, 2024

With sharp observations and bookish insight, Crosley (Cult Classic) elucidates her response to two traumatic events that happened in a short timeframe--a burglary and the death of her friend and former boss Russell by suicide. In what seems to be a targeted act of crime, someone breaks into Crosley's New York City apartment and steals heirloom jewelry out of her Dutch spice cabinet, bought with Russell at a flea market. Not long after this unnerving event, she learns of Russell's unexpected death, which sends her into the depths of grief. Her entertaining efforts to get her jewelry back intertwine with her longing to bring Russell back too. Crosley crisply narrates the memoir, which is divided into five sections, titled for the stages of grief, although the last is notably called "afterward" instead of "acceptance." She perfectly delivers her thoughtful but often wry and humorous lines without her tone ever getting noticeably emotional, even as the story is often steeped in sadness, and her self-awareness and evenhanded depiction of Russell make the memoir all the more poignant. VERDICT An unflinching and deeply absorbing memoir of grief and loss, expertly narrated by the author.--Melissa DeWild

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