Book Binges, Love and Lust

“Literacy and Longing in L.A” By Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack

I've had this book for more than a year and I have no idea why I never got around to reading it. Truth be told, it falls into that category of books I call frivolous, which I have not read in years. At least that's what I thought, but I was in for a surprise. When you are on the road and have decided to wander and travel for the foreseeable future like I am currently doing, when you are in a strange land where you've never been and the language you hear in chatter around you is strange, a book like this one with a funny and witty take on life's dilemmas is a welcome relief no matter how much you are enjoying your new environment.

You can't help but identify and empathize with Dora, the book's main character. “Literacy and Longing in L.A.” is written in the first person, with Dora as the narrator. She is a former reporter in her thirties, with one divorce behind her and separated from her current husband. She deals with her frequent bouts of depression by going on book binges. This would involve long wine-induced reading sessions in the bathtub until the water gets cold. At these times Dora tunes out the world around her, turns off her phone and switches on the answering machine. She only answers when her concerned sister, Virginia, is worried sick about her, or Palmer, her soon-to-be ex husband, tries to reach her on Virginia's urging.

She seeks diversion with her new Man Candy – a literary know-it-all, aspiring playwright, and employee in her neighborhood bookstore. But like all that glitters and is not necessarily gold, this guy is all fleeting and all fickle. When it comes time to make the real choices that define a man, he fails miserably. Dora soon learns that even mind-blowing sex combined with similar passions and literary prowess do not a long-lasting relationship make.

The book is laden with a plethora of literary references, heaven for any book lover. Mentions of Twain, Hemingway, Tolstoy, Dickens, Albom, Woolf, Eliot, Halberstam, and their works (only a few examples), all a clear indication of the predilection of author duo, Jennifer Kaufman, a former journalist and Karen Mack, a former lawyer.

Authors, Karen Mack and Jennifer Kaufman

But “Literacy and Longing in L.A.” is not just about one woman's mid thirties existential and identity crises. It is about the choices we make that end up defining the rest of our lives. Who we choose to love and be with. How we choose to spend our time. How much to sacrifice for those we call family. What kind of work we choose to do and how it does or does not define us. Like the summary on the book cover says, Dora has “to choose between two irresistible men. Between idleness and work. And most of all between the joy of well-chosen words and the untidiness of real people and real life.”

After a year of being afloat and living on her dwindling trust fund (a gift from her dad, which she sees as compensation for his absence from her childhood), Dora gets it together. This is triggered by a heart-to-heart talk with her recovering alcoholic mother who nudges her not to let her dysfunctional childhood determine the outcome of her adult relationships. Great performances as a freelancer on assignments no one else wants leads her to getting her job back at the L.A. Times. She breaks up with Man Candy and she and Palmer decide to give their marriage another try. After all you are better off with the man you love and who loves you, the man you know and who knows you. So Dora eventually gets what she wants: fulfilling work and a second chance with the love of her life. It always comes around in the end for those patient and resilient enough to go through life's rings of fire to get to the core of contentment. If only we could all see the end from the beginning.