It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas, even in LA, home to writer and actress Annabelle Gurwitch. “We usually spend Christmas in New York with friends and family, but this year we’re in LA because of the play I’m doing — but the play has snow, so I will get some winter,” she says. “I still have last year’s poinsettia, and now it’s finally holiday appropriate!” At least a piece of her is here: “You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up,” adapted from the book she wrote with her Emmy-winning husband, Jeff Kahn, ends its limited run today at Queens Theatre. Meanwhile, the couple and their 14-year-old son are celebrating Hanukkah, after a fashion: “We light candles, but I’m bad at math so we often lose track and end up with five days.” Here’s what’s in her library.
Where’d You Go, Bernadette
by Maria Semple
One of this novel’s themes is that unresolved anger can lead you into a disastrous state of mind, or possible exile at the South Pole. This is something to remember at holiday time, when you have every reason to be mad at people. I think of it as a hilarious cautionary tale.
Fiction Ruined My Family
by Jeanne Darst
I got sucked into this book when I heard her reading it on “This American Life,” and I almost had a car accident. Her family is, well, cuckoo. Her book makes me wonder what I was thinking writing a book about our marriage. When our son is old enough to read it, what will he think of us? Her family is a tangled web of WASPy, which reminds me that not just Jewish people are nuts.
The Collected Stories
by Grace Paley
Her story, “The Loudest Voice,” is such a gem! I rediscovered it while rehearsing Donald Margulies’ “A Coney Island Christmas,” and her unsentimental style inspired me, maybe too much. Someone said, “It’s great you don’t care if people don’t like your character!”
Swagger
by Lisa Bloom
“Swagger” was recommended by a friend of mine, Gia, who’s the mother of five kids, practices law and operates a Pilates studio. When Gia says do something, I do it! Lisa’s book is well-researched and a good read. It’s about raising boys in our culture. I plan to memorize passages, repeat them verbatim to my son, and if it doesn’t turn out well for my family, I’ll hire Gia to sue Lisa.