All Adults Here(101)

People sometimes have the misconception that working in a bookstore means sitting perched on a stool, reading in absolute silence for hours on end. Would that it were so! Books Are Magic is an elaborate beast full of boxes and orders and systems and eccentricities and, yes, thousands and thousands of books, as well as a staff of fifteen, and in the last two years, we’ve hosted more than six hundred events. The first person I need to thank is my husband, Michael Fusco-Straub, for caring for our bookstore, and for the people inside it, all day long, every single day, which made it possible for me to finish writing this book. The bookstore has made our lives both much richer and much harder, and I am grateful to my husband for keeping everything running beautifully in my absence. It is an astonishing amount of work, from changing lightbulbs to paying the bills and everything in between, and oh my stars, he is so good at it all.

Thank you also to the entire staff of Books Are Magic, without whom it would be a far less magical place. I value your brilliance, your energy, and your care. Thank you for bringing your whole selves to the bookstore, and for helping us to be a space where people want to spend time. Thank you to Eddie Joyce and Martine Beamon for believing in our potential so early on, and for being such wonderful partners.

Thank you to Alex Sagol and everyone at Cantine, where I spent many hours working on this book, and thank you to Audrey Gelman and the entire staff of the Wing Dumbo, where I spent many, many, many hours working on this book. The ability to sit somewhere comfortable that is not your own house, full as it is with laundry and toys to be put away, and to be fed and plied with endless pots of tea is an incredible gift, and I am grateful.

Thank you to my friends and family who were called upon for their various areas of expertise: Laura Royal, Tyler Ford, John Fireman, Meg Wolitzer, and Adam Koehler.

Thank you to Julian Foster, my mother, and my sons’ teachers for taking such good care of my children.

Thank you to Claudia Ballard, my agent and friend.

Thank you to Team Riverhead, and in particular to my thoughtful and emotionally astute editor, Sarah McGrath, who made this book better over and over again, and thank you to my hardworking sister-wives Claire McGinnis and Lydia Hirt, and to Geoff Kloske, Kate Stark, and Jynne Martin, for steering the ship in such a good direction. (It’s a big steering wheel.) Thank you to Jessica Leeke and Gaby Young, my sister-wives across the pond at Michael Joseph.

When I was finishing this book, there were two things I encountered that led me to understand what I needed to do: the apology episode of Jenna Wortham and Wesley Morris’s always brilliant podcast Still Processing and Mary Oliver’s poetry, which crashed over me in a wave following her death. I recommend both things heartily.