Before picking up this book, I had never even heard of Calvin Trillin. Although, when I asked my husband, he replied, "Sure, he's a journalist and a humorist and wrote regular columns for ..." O.K., I can't even remember what my husband said about him. I just was surprised I had never heard of him, given the fact that this book was so poignant and touching.
So, who is Calvin Trillin? Wikipedia tells all!
"Calvin (Bud) Marshall Trillin (born December 5, 1935 in Kansas City, Missouri) is an American journalist, humorist, and novelist. He is best known for his humorous writings about food and eating, but he has also written serious journalism, comic verse, and several books of fiction." He wrote articles for Time, The New Yorker and The Nation magazines. He is also known for his poetry, often political satire.
I even found some hilarious quotes from Calvin Trillin, on-line:
--"Health food makes me sick."
--"The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found."
-- and "Anybody caught selling macrame in public should be dyed a natural color and hung out to dry."
When I picked up About Alice, I was interested in listening to a memoir written by a husband about his wife. I don't know that I could have made a better choice, as we approach Valentine's Day. Calvin Trillin adored his wife. He cast her in many of his books and relied on her for grounding, inspiration and editing. He, himself, declares that he "wrote everything for Alice."
Alice Trillin was quite an individual in her own right. She was a writer, educator and television producer. She was beautiful, classy, compassionate, intelligent and articulate. Calvin Trillin paints a beautiful portrait of his wife in this biography, one which makes you wish you had been able to meet her and one which makes you want to be like her (including her valuable asset of having a doting husband, like Calvin).
Of course, it was fun to listen to stories of how the two met at a dinner party and how she told him later that, that night was the funniest he had ever been! But, my favorite part of the book was listening to his description of his wife as she battled cancer and supported so many others who were fighting similar battles. Her husband notes that she firmly believed in "the transformative power of pure, undiluted love."
They both volunteered as counselors at The Hole In the Wall Gang Camp. At one point, Alice gave a little speech about her time volunteering. She shared about a young camper she had taken to, that summer. The little girl had two different disabilities (a growth issue, making her smaller than average, and a digestive issue, which made eating difficult). During Alice's speech, she admitted that at one point, while holding some mail from the little girl's mother, she had peeked at her letter. Alice explained,
"I simply had to know what this child's parents could have done to make her so spectacular. To make her the most optimistic, most enthusiastic, most hopeful human being I had ever encountered. I snuck a quick look at the note and my eyes fell on this sentence: 'If God had given us all the children in the world to choose from, L., we would have chosen you.'"
How pleased I was, that my own son (ES) happened to be sitting in the car with me, listening when this very section was being read. I was feeling deeply moved, but I also felt an intense urge to bring it home to him (if he was truly listening). I turned and said, "What a beautiful thing to write, and that is exactly how Dad and I feel about you, too!"
The audio version of this book only takes one hour and 18 minutes to complete. As I said before, I can't think of a better book to recommend as we approach Valentine's Day!
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