J. R. Moehringer
J. R. Moehringer?? winner of the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 2000?? is a former national correspondent for the Los Angeles Times. Author of the bestselling memoir?? The Tender Bar?? he is also the co-author of Open by Andre Agassi. His most recent publication is Sutton?? published in 2012.
I never met Marina Keegan?? but when I learned of her death I felt as if I'd known her well. We belonged to several of the same tribes. We were both Yalies. We were both from the Northeast. Both Irish?? bo"writers. We walked some of the same paths?? probably sat in the same chairs. So it was as if I??d lost a close cousin?? or even a kid sister.
Then I read her work. In that terrible week?? as media outlets posted her essays?? as people around the world reposted them?? I read every word with a sinking?? quickening heart. The first news reports?? I felt?? had been wrong - this wasn??t simply a promising young writer?? this was a prodigy?? a rare rare talent?? still raw?? still evolving?? but shockingly mature. From the few things she??d published in her brief life I could project a remarkable career?? a line of words stretching far into the future?? words that would have thrilled and enlightened?? words that might have changed people??s lives. As I grieved for her family?? her friends?? her boyfriend?? I also grieved for the global community of readers who would never know the pleasure and excitement of a brand new book by Marina Keegan.
All of which made me think there should be?? there must be?? at least one book with Marina??s name on the spine. Publishers aren??t eager to take chances these days?? but I hoped that one would have the guts?? the heart?? to make a slim?? posthumous collection of Marina??s stories and essays and poems. I could actually see the book in my mind?? stacked on the front table of a sunlit bookstore?? perhaps the Yale bookstore?? where I??m sure Marina dreamed about her work appearing one day.
A year later?? it came in the mail?? the very book I??d seen in my mind?? with the only possible title: The Opposite of Loneliness. I studied the striking cover photo and felt a wave of sorrow and joy. Then I sat down and read it and that sorrow-joy feeling became my constant companion over the next several days.
This is a book full of wonders. This is a book full of sentences that any writer?? 21 or 101?? would be proud to have authored. This is a book that will speak to young readers?? because it expresses some of that inexpressible anxiety of starting out?? of making life's first momentous choices?? of wanting and fearing and needing and hoping and dreading everything at the same time. It will also speak to older readers?? because it??s an inspiring reminder of youth??s brimming energy?? its quivering sense of possibility.
Young people get a bad rap for thinking they??re immortal?? and acting accordingly?? but Marina dwelled on the end. Hers?? civilization??s?? the sun??s. ??And time?? that takes survey of all the world?? must