It was a rainy and dark eve before St. Patrick’s Day in Cambridge, but a damp journey to Porter Square Books was worth it to see famed essayist and Yale professor Anne Fadiman read from her latest book, “Frog.” This was not your average book reading.
Fadiman was joined by her spouse and fellow writer George Howe Colt, who sat beside her in a “fireside chat”-style discussion about books, writing and life. Although both claimed never to have done an interview with their spouse before, their pithy and humorous back-and-forth was natural and light. It seemed that Anne’s many friends and colleagues from the Cambridge area had come to hear her read, adding to the evening’s relaxed atmosphere.
“Frog” is a book of personal essays, though Fadiman commented on her desire to create “familiar essays,” an old term describing casual essays that aim to share stories on familiar subjects and are not exclusively about the author.
The book’s titular essay spotlights a family frog who defied the odds and lived well beyond its expected years despite neglect. Fadiman said wistfully to Colt, “I failed to give it a life worth living,” and felt guilty about the frog’s fate and neglect for many years.
Fadiman also read from the book’s closing essay, “Yes to Everything,” which features Marina Keegan, a promising Yale student and writer who died in a car crash days after her graduation. Her descriptions of Keegan and the challenges of teaching writing were heartfelt and underscored Fadiman’s love of the craft.
Fadiman’s musings were tempered by a quiet self-consciousness, measuredness or perfectionism, which she opposed to the confident “momentum” in Colt’s writing process. The two discussed Fadiman’s “accountant’s brain” lovingly, painting a picture of a certain type of creative – cautious and fastidious rather than spontaneous or unfettered.
The question-and-answer portion, following the couple’s discussion, centered on Fadiman’s personal life and approach to writing. She spoke at length about her love of research, with Colt observing that she seems happiest when she is mired in a research project. Fadiman also talked about the experience of being raised by writers and the difficulties of being self-defining in her early years.
The event was not only a book reading, but a larger conversation about how to live a life as a writer, spouse, teacher and mother. When asked to discuss her biggest influences, Fadiman responded that she’d like to be the love child of John McPhee and Virginia Woolf. The author’s creative generosity was her most striking trait, as it touched even those standing in the back of the room.