Frog: And Other Essays

Essayist and reporter Fadiman (The Wine Lover’s Daughter) reflects on her life and the ever-changing world around her in this affecting and often humorous collection. In the title essay, she examines her complicated relationship with her family’s pet frog who lived to be “sixteen, or maybe seventeen,” parsing why she didn’t much care for him when he was alive but missed him when he died. In “My Old Printer,” which addresses the anxiety and loneliness of aging, she explores her devotion to her LaserJet II, speculating that “we cling to our obsolete equipment because we are afraid that we will be discontinued, that we will be hauled away on Bulky Waste Day.” Her relationship to technology gets further scrutiny in “Screen Share,” in which she recounts her struggles to use Zoom as a “boomer” to teach classes during the Covid-19 pandemic, humorously noting, “Gen Z-ers are fish. Screens are water.” Fadiman has a knack for finding the extraordinary in the ordinary, using everyday objects to explore such profound themes as grief, loss, and personal growth. Or, as journalist Sam Anderson writes in the foreword: “Every Fadiman essay, no matter how seemingly small in scope, turns out to be a great expedition.” Readers will be captivated. (Feb.)