Story in Review: Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin

Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin is one of two books I had to read for the writer’s workshop that I joined this spring. We read it a couple of weeks ago, but we had our last meeting this past Monday, and I finally have time to sit down and write about this gem of a novel.

This book was a truly delightful read. Looking at the fairly sombre cover, I expected “happy all the time” to be an ironic title, for a lot of things to go really wrong in this book. And I was pleasantly surprised when it didn’t. The story follows two cousins as grown men trying to settle down, and Colwin keeps the story very tight: she introduces no extraneous characters, no plot line that isn’t essential. The book is light and full of quips, while at the same time it looks at what life is supposed to look like and what it actually does.

Favorite Quotes

“They were looking for action, unsure of what kind and unwilling to seek it out.” – p. 5

“Guido found it curious that Vincent – who spent his life as a scientist analyzing – simply lived, while Guido, who simply lived, spent his life analyzing.” – p. 19

“He realized that he had gotten used to Jane, in the way you get used to constant shooting pains.” – p. 43

“All the clichés about confusion had been created for him, he felt. He was all at sea. He was adrift, a man without an anchor.” – p. 48

“Misty learned that yearning was a remarkably time-consuming pastime and that it was not especially useful.” – p. 53

“She was interested in ultimates – like passion and honor. The rest seemed tepid and irrelevant to her.” – p. 54

” ‘ Anything short of a transport carrier would crash under the weight of those accomplishments,’ Vincent had said.” – p. 67

“Sometimes everything is so smooth and invisible that I can’t see it without discord.” – p. 130

“He felt their love was quite rich enough to do without any ornamentation.” – p. 141

“I don’t call it gossip. I call it ’emotional speculation’.” – p. 212

What made this a good story? Colwin’s language. She has a way of turning a phrase unconventionally, but in a way that absolutely works for her story and her characters. She gives us characters to love and to root for, even when they are being less excellent versions of themselves. And she wraps the story up in the perfect way, tying up the loose ends and giving everyone a good ending.

What could have made this a better story? I always wanted more from each scene, only because the writing was so good. I want to read an entire novel about Misty’s time abroad. I want to see Vincent and Guido as children, constantly weaving in and out of each others homes and lives. I really just can’t wait to read this story again, when I can read it slowly and really enjoy it, rather than reading it quickly for class.

Have you read Happy All the Time, or anything else by Laurie Colwin? What did you think?