Barefoot in my Apartment

Neil Simon (Photo by Jonathan Exley/Contour by Getty Images) via americantheatre.org

Surprising to no one, the outing I miss most (besides dining out) is going to the bookstore. Meandering through the narrow aisles, leisurely browsing covers and spines, waiting for a book to catch my eye. Picking it up, reading the blurb, leafing through crisp pages. I could spend hours. Pre pandemic I was at my local bookstore and spotted Neil Simon's Memoirs.  

I first learned about Neil Simon from my mom's bookshelf. She had a worn copy of Simon's play Barefoot in the Park mixed in with her photo albums, novels and (of all things) parenting books. I read Barefoot when I was a teenager and loved it. So his memoirs spoke to me. 

Neil Simon’s Memoirs are a big undertaking: two memoirs combined into one 628 page tome. But the time commitment is well worth it. The first memoir Rewrites is engrossing and funny. It had me giggling nonstop. Simon is self-deprecating and warm. The second memoir The Play Goes On is darker but still gripping. In both books he goes into detail about his writing, family and relationships (including four marriages). He also shares details of living in NYC and LA and of his travels abroad. After reading Memoirs I feel like an expert on Neil Simon, and I miss him. I restrained from Googling Simon until after I finished his book and I was sad, but not surprised, to read that he passed in 2018. While reading about his life I was conscious of him being of my grandparents' generation, and I appreciated a peek into what it was like to grow up in the 1920's and on. 

Before reading his words I knew he was a prolific playwright, now I know so much more. All thanks to a serendipitous bookshop visit. I think it's time to mask up and browse on. 

AES

P.S. After reading Neil Simon's Memoirs I convinced Hubs to watch some of Simon's movies with me. We watched Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple and The Prisoner of Second Avenue. The latter was a bit depressing but the first two are laugh out loud funny, and I appreciate the slower pace of the movies, the attention to dialogue. Enjoy.