Live Alone and Like It

Jonathan Babc0ck photocopied this book for me when I turned 30. And just yesterday, I finally acquired a hardcover copy of this 1936 classic, which was finally reissued a few years ago.

This book celebrates being a single women in New York during an era when such a thing was new. This book is not about searching for a man, though it does offer suggestions for how to have affairs. It's about living alone without apology.

"The chances are that at some time in your life, possibly only now and then, between husbands, you will find yourself settling down to a solitary existence - whether you like it or not."

"Everybody feels sorry for herself now and then. But anyone who pities herself for more than a month on end is a weak sister and likely to become a public nuisance besides."

I'll have to take some of its helpful advice, such as the section on hobbies. The writer suggests that when socializing with couples, the single woman can become awkward, so it's best to keep oneself interesting in order to keep being invited to events.

"Be a Communist, a stamp collector or a Ladies Aid worker, if you must, but for heaven's sake be something!"

Gotta go. My stamp collection needs me.