The Cost of Living

“I have never wanted to cover the past in dust sheets to preserve it from change.”

What a breathtakingly beautiful book. Such powerful writing

For en nydelig hverdagslig bok om hverdagslige ting som skinner som en stjerne.

Essayaktig memoar om livet etter 50.

I went into this hoping for some life advice, it's hard to find in reality and even more difficult to pull from fiction most days. I found something better. I found a woman reinventing herself and pondering the small things in life: work, the road she rides her bike on, and examples of her friends' relationships that I took as warning signs.
I will think of birds and people who avert their eyes when they speak to you in a different light for awhile.
I'm probably not literary enough to truly appreciate Levy's writings. Clearly, she is well read. Some of her words rang so true to me, but are not constructed so complexly that I can imagine them as a quote on a pretty image on Tumblr or to be inked on a t shirt (not an insult). Still, I loved this because it takes a huge amount of hubris to sit down and write your inner thoughts, publish them and share them with the world. I'm thankful she did. I wish more wizened women did. I'm at the point where I don't want to read any memoirs from people under 40. They are still cooking, and I want to pick over the leftovers of a finished meal.