All is Vanity

Schwarz, Christina. All is Vanity. New York: Doubleday, 2002.

This book cracked me up. It’s the story of a friendship between two women and how friendships can be taken advantage of. Margaret is a New York City woman (displaced from California) who gave up her teaching career to write a novel. She has subtle hubris (described as “cynical roilings” p138. ) that she tries to disguise to Letty and anyone else who listens to her (mainly her husband, Ted). Letty is Margaret’s childhood friend who became (Poor Letty!) a stay-at-home mom with four kids and a great kitchen in Los Angeles, California. They keep in touch via email and almost immediately I noticed that between the two friends, despite Margaret being the one trying to write a book, Letty is the better writer. I love Letty’s writing, but I think that’s the point. It’s only a matter of time before Margaret starts using Letty as the subject of her first book. When Letty’s life starts to spiral out of control Margaret does nothing to help thinking it helps her own fictional plot.

Funny line: “Also, as a preteen, I half believed I could do anything, as long as I set my mind to it, but was never actually willing to set my mind to anything that threatened to take up a good portion of the rest of my life” (p 12).

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter “Women’s Friendships” (p 247). Pearl calls this book “delightful” and I would have to agree! It’s a really fun read!