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Abigail Thomas will make you laugh—or cry

Abigail Thomas will make you laugh—or cry
Abigail Thomas, author of ‘Still Life at Eighty: The Next Interesting Thing’ at the Millbrook Farmers and Makers Market on Saturday, July 15, courtesy of Merritt Bookstore and owner Kira Wizner. 
Photo by Judith O’Hara Balfe

MILLBROOK — Among the food, vegetation, music, spices, soaps and causes at the Millbrook Farmers and Makers Market on Saturday, July 15, sat Abigail Thomas at the Merritt Bookstore tent, signing copies of her latest book “Still Life at Eighty: The Next Interesting Thing.”

Told from the hindsight of an 80-year-old atheist dog lover who is trying to come to terms with her age-related liabilities and her own mortality, Thomas’ book got great reviews. The Los Angeles Times said that it was “Writing that is true to the way the human mind works.” Elizabeth Gilbert stated that she “… would follow Thomas on any journey she ever takes,” and Stephen King affirmed, “Abigail Thomas is the Emily Dickinson of memoir.”

Thomas writes from her home in Woodstock, where she lives with her dogs. Written during COVID-19 when she was mostly alone and without the company of her four children, 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild, the book discusses loss, and it’s not always pretty, but it is real. Each chapter is short—a little treasure unto itself.

Introduced by Merritt Bookstore owner Kira Wizner, Thomas was friendly, open and engaging as well as engaged in spite of the heat: She talked, but she also listened.

Judith O’Hara Balfe

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