Shaved Meats, Piled High: February 2018
Fight Tonight For What You'll Throw Out Tomorrow
Mardi Gras season is in full swing as I write this and I am in New Orleans. Last night, I took my daughter to the parades on St. Charles Avenue. The final one to roll was Muses, an all-female krewe whose signature "throws" are decorated shoes. Old shoes, covered in glitter and furbelows, which are handed to the lucky few along the route.
Now, if you are a rational adult, you may be asking yourself: Why does anyone older than say, 10 or 11, stand outside and beg strangers in masks to give them shoes and cheap plastic beads and toys? You probably think that you have too much dignity to do such a thing.
You are probably wrong. Oh, some people are completely indifferent to the Mardi Gras currency, that moment of connection when a person makes eye contact and gives you the really good beads -- or a shoe or, at the Zulu parade, a gold coconut. But it's surprising how many people become panting bead fiends within minutes of exposure.
I have few innate talents. I'm strong, but not athletic. I never learned to play a musical instrument. But when my now-husband brought me to my first Mardi Gras, we learned I am very, very good at getting beads and prized throws. Why?
I think it's because I ask, something I am loathe to do in daily life. But at Mardi Gras, I beg prettily. I smile. I point shamelessly to my kid. One year, I dressed as a girl scout and brought boxes of cookies to the parade route, trading several for coconuts. (Later, we realized that my costume, purchased in a local shop, had very unfortunate "merit badges," but so it goes. And, of course, that would have to be the Mardi Gras day where a lovely man recognized me at a party in the Treme. Ro turned out to be a darn fine writer and a terrific person, as are his wife, Sally, and their friends, Mario and Emily. Getting to know them was one of the great joys of living part-time in New Orleans, 2008-2014.)
And now that I march in a Mardi Gras parade, Krewe du Vieux, as a proud member of Mama Roux, I know the other side of the exchange, what it feels like to bestow beads and gifts on spectators. In fact, the things my husband and I give out are usually recycled from last year's Mardi Gras. "Fight tonight for what you throw out tomorrow," is one of my husband's favorite sayings. Our daughter, a hoarder in training -- she doesn't get that from me, by the way -- argues vigorously to keep every stuffed animal, every Tucks toilet plunger, claiming a personal memory for each. Don't rat us out, but we stuff much of the haul into garbage bags and spirit it from the house while she's sleeping. Not all of it -- we also, as noted, have a pile of future throws for next year's Krewe du Vieux, a pile of "fence-decorating" beads and a small collection of truly special beads, such as the glass ones that were used in old-time Mardi Gras celebrations. If you are very, very lucky, someone might press these into your hands during the parade.
I am very, very lucky.
My 23rd book, Sunburn, goes on sale a week after Mardi Gras. As noted above, I don't like to ask for things. But, for this book, I have asked and asked and asked. My friends have been generous in return. Lee Child and Gillian Flynn provided blurbs. Harlan Coben gave me some behind-the-scenes help. (Excuse the name-dropping, but I knew these folks before their names fell with such resounding echoes.) My Twitterverse of supportive friends has sounded the bugle for the book loudly and frequently. I can't name everyone, but I am especially grateful to Megan Abbott, Alafair Burke, Rebecca Chance, Greg Herren, Bill Loehfelm and Alex Segura. If I could, I would throw all these fine folks the best beads. The writing life can be lonely, or so I've heard, but I feel that I am supported by loving, kind colleagues.
Again: I am very, very lucky. So lucky that I scored a shoe early in Muses. At this point, my Mardi Gras fortunes are intertwined with my daughter's; it's hard to say where my luck ends and hers begin. But we are a formidable tag team. Our household scored four shoes. Yes, we felt a little greedy, a little guilty.
It's hard to walk away from one's only innate talent.
READ/READING: An American Marriage, Tayari Jones; The Perfect Nanny, Leila Slimani; Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman.
REREADING: Various works by Ruth McKenney; Sharp, Michelle Dean.
ME, ME, ME: Tour info:
Check out my Facebook page https://m.facebook.com/lauralippman or my twitter account http://twitter.com/lauraMlippman tomorrow for a chance to win a copy of my new book and something delicious to celebrate Valentine's Day. And check me out again February 20th for a chance to win the Mystery Box of Books.
And lastly, check out my GoodReads page https://www.goodreads.com/ for a chance to ask me a question Wednesday afternoon between noon and 4.
Laura Lippman
February 2018