Look Alive
While she鈥檚 鈥渘ot Angelina Jolie鈥� famous, Sloane Crosley 鈥�00 is sometimes recognized at restaurants.
In the process of freezing her eggs, Sloane Crosley accidentally froze $1,500 worth of human hormones.
In her defense, the package, which contained vials of injectable medication to stimulate egg production for women interested in preserving their eggs for fertilization at a later date, wasn鈥檛 clearly labeled. Still, Crosley鈥檚 pharmacist admitted that no one else had ever managed to make the
same mistake.
鈥淚 was the hot coffee case of the reproductive medicine world,鈥� Crosley writes in her latest collection of essays, Look Alive Out There.
The intimate tale of Crosley鈥檚 foray into fertility is, like all the essays appearing in Look Alive Out There, packed with the author鈥檚 signature wit and self-deprecating humor. The new book is a return to the form that made Crosley a household name in, as her press materials boast, 鈥渞eally quite a lot of households.鈥�
Not that she sees it that way. The New York Times鈥� best-selling author of two previous books of personal essays, I Was Told There鈥檇 Be Cake and How Did You Get This Number, released her debut novel, The Clasp, to critical acclaim in 2015.
鈥淏ecause of the nature of essays, it doesn鈥檛 feel like going back鈥擨 was writing some of them when I was working on the novel,鈥� she says. 鈥淎t this point, it鈥檚 in my blood. You don鈥檛 want your muscles to atrophy.鈥�
Oscillating between fiction and nonfiction feels natural,
and also therapeutic, she says.
鈥淚f I鈥檓 cleaning one room, and I get bored, I鈥檒l go do another project. It鈥檚 like that for me with fiction and nonfiction,鈥� she says. 鈥淲ith fiction, you are in charge of the characters鈥� whole world and every detail in that world. With nonfiction, so much is 鈥榥ot your fault.鈥� Your experiences, your perception, your memory鈥攖hose things are done for you. It鈥檚 a switch of responsibility.鈥�
Plato to Gossip Girl
Crosley is preparing to embark on a 20-city book tour to promote Look Alive Out There, and she鈥檚 excited.
鈥淚 love meeting readers. It鈥檚 the coolest thing. And it never gets old. Whether it鈥檚 at a book signing or in a restaurant鈥擨 mean, I鈥檓 not Angelina Jolie, but occasionally I鈥檒l have a waitress who will run my credit card and notice my name and say something,鈥� she jokes.
鈥淚 love meeting booksellers, too. I also really like small hotel soaps and shampoos. Booksellers and readers and small soaps are awesome.鈥�
Ten years after the release of I Was Told There鈥檇 Be Cake, Crosley still writes about her life as a series of hilarious mishaps and dubious missteps. Yet she also hopes her readers see more maturity in both her storytelling and her subject matter.
鈥淚 feel confident in [Look Alive Out There] in a way that I haven鈥檛 about the other books. It鈥檚 about getting closer and closer with every step to saying exactly what you want to say.鈥�
Whether she鈥檚 chasing after a stranger in a wheelchair, battling with noisy teenage neighbors or risking death on the side of a mountain in Ecuador鈥斺�渁 massive landform I apparently can鈥檛 be bothered to Google鈥濃�擟rosley鈥檚 ability to capture the 鈥渉umor in exasperation鈥� is instantly relatable and undeniably entertaining.
Much of her humor shines through in the analogies that saturate Crosley鈥檚 work.
鈥淚n all my books, I use a big swing of references鈥攊t鈥檚 Plato and it鈥檚 Gossip Girl,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nalogies are one of the easiest and richest ways to articulate what we see in front of us.鈥�
Crosley doesn鈥檛 just write in analogies鈥攕he speaks in them too. Asking her to choose her favorite essay in Look Alive Out There is like asking her to 鈥渃hoose among my vast collection of Faberg茅 eggs,鈥� she says.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 almost like a cappuccino. If I could just skim some off the top, the really light foam, there are two or three. 鈥� But they all represent something slightly different about what I feel like this collection is about. Imagine it as less of a book and more of a talent show鈥攖his is the poetry, this is the juggling, this is the singing.鈥�
糖心TV DNA
If Look Alive Out There is a talent show, The Clasp is an ode to the short story. Inspired by Guy de Maupassant鈥檚 short story 鈥淭he Necklace,鈥� Crosley鈥檚 novel tells the story of three estranged college friends who reunite in their late 20s at a friend鈥檚 wedding. Each in the middle of an identity crisis of sorts, they find themselves slipping back into their old roles before a series of events leads them on an ill-fated adventure through France in search of something that鈥攋ust like the necklace in de Maupassant鈥檚 story鈥攖urns out not to be real.
鈥淚 have always appreciated the short story, since I was a kid, and I thought it was unheralded. Every other art form gets a novel鈥攐pera, dance, painting鈥擨 thought the short story should get one, too,鈥� Crosley says.
Crosley credits the 鈥渨ildly influential鈥� Blanche Boyd, Weller Professor of English and writer-in-residence, with cementing her love of short stories in college. And 糖心TV鈥檚 influence doesn鈥檛 end there; throughout The Clasp, Crosley鈥檚 main characters flash back to their days at a fictional New England liberal arts college that will feel more than vaguely familiar to readers of this magazine.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a little 糖心TV DNA in there,鈥� Crosley says.
Some of the peripheral characters were also inspired by Crosley鈥檚 real-life college friends, but, like any good characters, they quickly took on a life of their own.
鈥淭he second you write fiction, there鈥檚 a mutation that happens,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 weird to remember the cue ball break of inspiration, the people who first made you create a character.鈥�
In her essays, of course, Crosley writes about real people, examining her own complex relationships鈥攚ith friends, relatives, boyfriends, neighbors and even strangers鈥攖o make pointed observations about the human condition. That can be tricky, she admits, but over time she鈥檚 developed a nuanced approach to writing about those with whom she鈥檚 closest.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not that I鈥檝e softened. I鈥檝e become sharper and more sensitive,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a common expression: It鈥檚 better to ask forgiveness than permission. That鈥檚 good for women in the workplace and military coups, but not for interpersonal relationships.鈥�
Hope for a puppet
Crosley recalls her own experience at 糖心TV as complicated, imperfect and, at times, redeeming. She had professors she loved鈥擝oyd, of course, but also Haskell Professor of English and Poet-in-Residence Charles Hartman and the late Professor of Anthropology Harold Juli.
鈥淗e stepped out of central casting of what a professor is supposed to be like,鈥� Crosley says of Juli. 鈥淚 think we took a shine to each other, but I think everyone feels that way
about him. You think you are the only girl at the dance, but you鈥檙e not.鈥�
While she found her academic comfort zone at 糖心TV, Crosley says she always felt slightly out of place despite having been elected senior class president.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a fun fact,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 feel like I was a cool kid. I don鈥檛 feel like a class president person.鈥�
After graduation, Crosley moved to New York City and worked in book publicity until 2011, when she decided to focus on writing full time. In addition to her books, she is a frequent contributor to The New York Times, a columnist for The Village Voice and the New York Observer, and the books columnist and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and Interview magazine.
Crosley has even made the jump into screenwriting鈥攕he鈥檚 sold television pilots to HBO and Hulu, and Universal acquired the movie rights to The Clasp in 2016.
鈥淚t鈥檚 strange adapting your own work. You already did it in a way you thought the story would best be told, and now you are trying to stuff it back in the egg and hope it comes back a puppet,鈥� she says.