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Happy All the Time
A witty, wise, and endearing portrait of two couples as they navigate the unsteady terrain of modern love
Guido Morris and Vincent Cardworthy are third cousins and best friends. In college they dreamed of writing poetry (Guido) and winning the Nobel Prize in Physics (Vincent). Now in their late twenties, they are together again in Cambridge and on the verge of settling down to more prosaic pursuits. Vincent is headed to New York City to become the Board of City Planning’s expert on garbage, while Guido is preparing to take over the management of his family’s foundation.
What they really want to know, however, is who their wives will be. Guido gets the first inkling of his romantic future when he spies a girl with the blackest, sleekest hair he has ever seen sitting on a bench at the Fogg Museum. When he tries to flirt with her, Holly Sturgis makes a cutting remark and leaves. For Guido, it is love at first sight.
Vincent discovers Misty Berkowitz one morning at work. Stirring her coffee with a fountain pen, she tells him to get the hell away from her. Soon, cheerful, open-minded Vincent can’t stop thinking about his bored, misanthropic, and very pretty colleague.
Guido, Holly, Vincent, and Misty are lucky enough to find love. The question is, are they smart enough to hold on to it? From the terrifying uncertainty of courtship to the dull contentment of marriage, Happy All the Time is a dazzling tribute to the hard work and real courage it takes to create a storybook romance.
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Laurie Colwin including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s estate.
Guido Morris and Vincent Cardworthy are third cousins and best friends. In college they dreamed of writing poetry (Guido) and winning the Nobel Prize in Physics (Vincent). Now in their late twenties, they are together again in Cambridge and on the verge of settling down to more prosaic pursuits. Vincent is headed to New York City to become the Board of City Planning’s expert on garbage, while Guido is preparing to take over the management of his family’s foundation.
What they really want to know, however, is who their wives will be. Guido gets the first inkling of his romantic future when he spies a girl with the blackest, sleekest hair he has ever seen sitting on a bench at the Fogg Museum. When he tries to flirt with her, Holly Sturgis makes a cutting remark and leaves. For Guido, it is love at first sight.
Vincent discovers Misty Berkowitz one morning at work. Stirring her coffee with a fountain pen, she tells him to get the hell away from her. Soon, cheerful, open-minded Vincent can’t stop thinking about his bored, misanthropic, and very pretty colleague.
Guido, Holly, Vincent, and Misty are lucky enough to find love. The question is, are they smart enough to hold on to it? From the terrifying uncertainty of courtship to the dull contentment of marriage, Happy All the Time is a dazzling tribute to the hard work and real courage it takes to create a storybook romance.
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Laurie Colwin including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s estate.
215 pages, ebook
First published September 12, 1978
About the author
Laurie Colwin
32 books617 followersLaurie Colwin is the author of five novels: Happy All the Time, Family Happiness, Goodbye Without Leaving, Shine On, Bright and Dangerous Object, and A Big Storm Knocked It Over; three collections of short stories: Passion and Affect, Another Marvelous Thing, and The Lone Pilgrim; and two collections of essays: Home Cooking and More Home Cooking. She died in 1992.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,378 reviews
February 7, 2024
halle said this book is the 70s equivalent of sally rooney, and she was completely right.
https://emmareadstoomuch.substack.com...
this is the kind of book that is so enjoyable for every second it makes you want to go back and lower the rating of everything you've read of late.
it is so funny and so precise and so clever, and a page will have a random unshakable description that is so goddamn weird and right. i fell completely in love with these characters and with this book, and as the end of it approached i read slower and slower in the hopes i'd discover 100 or so pages had been stuck together and hiding.
just perfect.
bottom line: thank you halle!
https://emmareadstoomuch.substack.com...
this is the kind of book that is so enjoyable for every second it makes you want to go back and lower the rating of everything you've read of late.
it is so funny and so precise and so clever, and a page will have a random unshakable description that is so goddamn weird and right. i fell completely in love with these characters and with this book, and as the end of it approached i read slower and slower in the hopes i'd discover 100 or so pages had been stuck together and hiding.
just perfect.
bottom line: thank you halle!
March 3, 2022
Love had to do with flexing your personality to see what it might attract.
I have a couple of friends who have insisted upon dating during this pandemic. I don't know if a determination to meet new, romantic partners during lockdowns, social distancing and the potential spread of contagion is foolhardy or courageous, but I can contribute that these particular dating experiences have certainly been interesting for me, voyeur that I am.
Several good stories have been shared with me, but I think that my favorite, thus far, is one from a dear friend who met an attractive looking man online, then met him out for coffee. Only a few minutes into their first date, they discovered that they had radically different opinions about masks and vaccinations and, from what I can remember, neither one of them ever sat down in a chair before parting in anger.
Dating has always offered us challenges, regardless of our ages, regardless of our backgrounds. We don't come to the table alone; when we go out on a date, we bring our families, our religions, our professions, our appearances, our baggage, too.
So, dating in New York City in the mid-1970s wasn't easy, either, despite the absence of masks and volatile conversations about antibodies and immunity.
But, as I've already mentioned above, I'm a voyeur when it comes to stories, and I could get really schmaltzy here, telling you how much I enjoyed following these characters around, and keeping an eye on them through the open windows.
To be honest. . . it's a novel about nothing, really. Unless you count dating, getting married, getting divorced, having a baby, working and making friendships as something. They're something, right? Oh, wait. They're everything!
I think I could have gone on reading about these couples forever. They never got old for me.
This novel was an excellent reminder for me not to judge someone looking for a new friendship or a new love, even during a loathsome pandemic.
When we are healthy, we seek connections with others. Some say it is our entire reason for being.
I have a couple of friends who have insisted upon dating during this pandemic. I don't know if a determination to meet new, romantic partners during lockdowns, social distancing and the potential spread of contagion is foolhardy or courageous, but I can contribute that these particular dating experiences have certainly been interesting for me, voyeur that I am.
Several good stories have been shared with me, but I think that my favorite, thus far, is one from a dear friend who met an attractive looking man online, then met him out for coffee. Only a few minutes into their first date, they discovered that they had radically different opinions about masks and vaccinations and, from what I can remember, neither one of them ever sat down in a chair before parting in anger.
Dating has always offered us challenges, regardless of our ages, regardless of our backgrounds. We don't come to the table alone; when we go out on a date, we bring our families, our religions, our professions, our appearances, our baggage, too.
So, dating in New York City in the mid-1970s wasn't easy, either, despite the absence of masks and volatile conversations about antibodies and immunity.
But, as I've already mentioned above, I'm a voyeur when it comes to stories, and I could get really schmaltzy here, telling you how much I enjoyed following these characters around, and keeping an eye on them through the open windows.
To be honest. . . it's a novel about nothing, really. Unless you count dating, getting married, getting divorced, having a baby, working and making friendships as something. They're something, right? Oh, wait. They're everything!
I think I could have gone on reading about these couples forever. They never got old for me.
This novel was an excellent reminder for me not to judge someone looking for a new friendship or a new love, even during a loathsome pandemic.
When we are healthy, we seek connections with others. Some say it is our entire reason for being.
April 6, 2015
This is the fourth book I’ve read by the wonderful writer Laurie Colwin, who died tragically young – she was only 48 years old – in 1992. Her work, although a little dated, deserves to be discovered by a new generation.
I see I’ve rated all of her books 4 stars. They’re uniformly modest and lovely, but perhaps not life-changing.
Her fictional subject (she also wrote bestselling books about food) tends to be romance in urban settings among middle- and upper-middle-class people. She cherishes happy endings – which perhaps is why the word “happy” figures not just in this book’s title but also in Family Happiness.
I don’t really know how to describe Happy All The Time. Third-cousins Guido Morris and Vincent Cardworthy find themselves drawn to two very different women, Guido to the laconic, spontaneous Holly Sturgis, Vincent to the pessimistic Misty Berkowitz, who’s radically unlike anyone else he’s ever dated.
The book chronicles the couples’ ups and occasional downs in a very idealized, and mostly white, New York City. Holly suddenly packs up and moves to France for months because she finds her life with Guido is becoming too predictable; Misty describes herself as a porcupine, with sharp quills on the outside to protect her soft and vulnerable belly.
There’s more than a touch of fantasy and wish-fulfilment in Colwin’s plots, but she’s sharply observant. If she were a painter, she wouldn’t work on a large canvas, she’d be a miniaturist, capturing shadow and light, the tilt of a head, a still life just so.
There are many laugh-out-loud moments, particularly involving some of the colourful characters on the book’s periphery: a no-fuss office assistant; a spacey academic who’s “completely interior” (i.e., she doesn’t talk much, she feels); an eccentric uncle who made money writing a novelty song; a narcissistic aunt who once starred on a soap opera. Colwin even makes a Greek florist into a memorable figure.
If you enjoy big plot twists and suspense, look elsewhere. Colwin’s books are like a freshly baked croissant served with a carafe of French press coffee on the terrace. Comforting. Delicious. Something to savour and contemplate for a little while.
I see I’ve rated all of her books 4 stars. They’re uniformly modest and lovely, but perhaps not life-changing.
Her fictional subject (she also wrote bestselling books about food) tends to be romance in urban settings among middle- and upper-middle-class people. She cherishes happy endings – which perhaps is why the word “happy” figures not just in this book’s title but also in Family Happiness.
I don’t really know how to describe Happy All The Time. Third-cousins Guido Morris and Vincent Cardworthy find themselves drawn to two very different women, Guido to the laconic, spontaneous Holly Sturgis, Vincent to the pessimistic Misty Berkowitz, who’s radically unlike anyone else he’s ever dated.
The book chronicles the couples’ ups and occasional downs in a very idealized, and mostly white, New York City. Holly suddenly packs up and moves to France for months because she finds her life with Guido is becoming too predictable; Misty describes herself as a porcupine, with sharp quills on the outside to protect her soft and vulnerable belly.
There’s more than a touch of fantasy and wish-fulfilment in Colwin’s plots, but she’s sharply observant. If she were a painter, she wouldn’t work on a large canvas, she’d be a miniaturist, capturing shadow and light, the tilt of a head, a still life just so.
There are many laugh-out-loud moments, particularly involving some of the colourful characters on the book’s periphery: a no-fuss office assistant; a spacey academic who’s “completely interior” (i.e., she doesn’t talk much, she feels); an eccentric uncle who made money writing a novelty song; a narcissistic aunt who once starred on a soap opera. Colwin even makes a Greek florist into a memorable figure.
If you enjoy big plot twists and suspense, look elsewhere. Colwin’s books are like a freshly baked croissant served with a carafe of French press coffee on the terrace. Comforting. Delicious. Something to savour and contemplate for a little while.
October 10, 2025
as someone currently burnt out on the contemporary romance format (trope-style marketing, mmcs who are only ever allowed to scowl/growl/be huge & manly, insta-attraction and sexual chemistry above all else to supplement threadbare "banter" and pop culture references, a three-act structure with a rushed third-act breakup), happy all the time was a much-needed BREATH OF FRESH AIR.
before i jump in, i want to warn you NOT to pick up this book if:
• you for some reason prefer first person to third person narratives or just straight-up claim to hate third person pov (i have never understood this stance.......EVERY pov can be done well in the right hands. GROW UP AND GET LITERATE!).
• you like romances that feel modern/timeless. this will not be that.
• you need aloof, emotionally unavailable, hypermasculine mmcs who steer/control the romance.
• your threshold for quirky fmcs is laughably low and/or you're stricter about flawed women characters than you are men.
• you prefer your romances heavy on the dialogue and/or dislike description/introspection, ESPECIALLY detailed, extraneous, trivial description (i.e. outfits, living spaces and the objects in them, family member anecdotes, job politics/world-building, place-writing, etc.).
• you care more about (or prefer to read) the getting-together than the domestic, settling-in sort of chemistry between couples.
now that i've weeded out the losers, onto what i absolutely LOVED about this book!
i am always on the hunt for genre fiction that's clever, well-written (the prose in this is delicious!), has a strict sense of pacing (everything in this book is there because it needs to be; there's no fluff or filler), and tends towards the off-beat or unconventional in its character-writing and plot structure.
i'm not sure if this would have been advertised as a romance at the time of its publication (1971). laurie colwin got her start publishing writing through the new yorker, so this novel will obviously be a step above the very soapy, vintage harlequin romances that feature breasts and abs on the cover. the new yorker is well-known for its insane editorial standards; in essence, colwin is exactly the kind of writer you'd expect to see in their fiction section (white, middle-class, uber stylish prose that's concerned with aesthetics and history and literature and art-making). the set-dressings here are smart because colwin has always had to be.
her work tends more heavily towards description and an impeccable transitional sense than it does the granular scene-writing contemporary romance readers will have come to expect from their novels. this isn't a point A to point B to point C style of writing. time skips are utilized, and for good reason.
in happy all the time, we're given two couples and they get together pretty quickly. even still, colwin's attention to pacing and prettiness never lets up—the novel proceeds at breakneck speeds, continues cultivating its warmth and humor, and frequently pulls out all the stops for absurd side characters. there are a ton of kooky side characters in this (which i love in my romances....YES, give me throwaway punchlines!!!!! give me character anecdotes with no larger narrative purpose than VIBES!).
this is the 70s, so there are a ton of anachronistic quirks that i got a kick out of (everyone is smoking cigarettes all over the place, they have strange and outmoded names, drugs are pretty normalized and so is drinking at every meal, secondary characters say "far out!" and make fun of their love interests for veganism). the worst of the quirks is the ongoing thread of orientalism throughout (colwin venerates and others east asian aesthetics/food/objects/etc. by turns). the best of the quirks is the way she's written her two main heroines.
i don't know how much of this i chalk up to the sexual politics of the 70s vs how much i chalk up to colwin's personal sensibility (i'll have to read more from her to find out), but her women characters are so much quirkier than her men (more interesting, more rich, more compelling in every way). and i didn't mind that gender disparity! i'm more used to the inverse (hollow, featureless fmcs who exist as vessels for the white cishet women assumed to be reading the novel vs dark, gritty, quirky men).
here, colwin's women are written in such a way that you might almost mistake them for contemporary mmcs: they're allergic to love and courtship disgusts them, they bury their true mushy feelings behind steel walls and an expressionless affect, they growl, they make fun of and bully their much softer, much sappier love interests, they pick up and run away when the pure domestic bliss of their lives gets to be too much. in essence, they are the POLAR OPPOSITE of what we see in the female leads of commercial romance today. i felt like i woke up in an alternate dream universe—and i never wanted to leave. wonderful (gender stereotype) reversals occur in the vein of:
so pathetic. so desperate. so easily pleased and placated. GIVE ME TEN MORE OF GUIDO. AND VINCENT WHILE WE'RE AT IT. the main men in this book are incredibly STUPID and SUBMISSIVE and IN LOVE and READY TO GIVE UP EVERYTHING TO GET A KISS (or a drop of attention). it is truly mind-boggling how immediately they fall for these women, who are, by comparison, relatively cold to them and frequently prone to rejection. glorious, glorious writing....
(also, the above happens on page 19 of my pocket paperback....like i said, brisk pacing, but never boring in spite of it!)
this is also a very silly book. sometimes it's funny on accident, but more often the humor is intentional. there is something about it that reminds me of vintage romance movies—maybe the soft edges, the sense that our four main characters will never encounter much in the way of strife, that their world is bokeh lights and musical montages during the champagne portion of dinner and little else. the cozy slice-of-life atmosphere was offset, for me, by the eccentric character-writing and the constant punchlines. it can't be a hallmark movie for that reason, even if it occasionally behaves or looks like one. above all else, it is an astonishingly smart, well-contained novel. 4.5/5, it lost me for about 5 seconds during the second half, then i was back in as new secondary characters swam to the fore.
some highlights:
LOSERRRRRRRR! i love it.
vincent and guido are so stupid. who talks like this? MOREEEEE.
perfect. no notes.
before i jump in, i want to warn you NOT to pick up this book if:
• you for some reason prefer first person to third person narratives or just straight-up claim to hate third person pov (i have never understood this stance.......EVERY pov can be done well in the right hands. GROW UP AND GET LITERATE!).
• you like romances that feel modern/timeless. this will not be that.
• you need aloof, emotionally unavailable, hypermasculine mmcs who steer/control the romance.
• your threshold for quirky fmcs is laughably low and/or you're stricter about flawed women characters than you are men.
• you prefer your romances heavy on the dialogue and/or dislike description/introspection, ESPECIALLY detailed, extraneous, trivial description (i.e. outfits, living spaces and the objects in them, family member anecdotes, job politics/world-building, place-writing, etc.).
• you care more about (or prefer to read) the getting-together than the domestic, settling-in sort of chemistry between couples.
now that i've weeded out the losers, onto what i absolutely LOVED about this book!
i am always on the hunt for genre fiction that's clever, well-written (the prose in this is delicious!), has a strict sense of pacing (everything in this book is there because it needs to be; there's no fluff or filler), and tends towards the off-beat or unconventional in its character-writing and plot structure.
i'm not sure if this would have been advertised as a romance at the time of its publication (1971). laurie colwin got her start publishing writing through the new yorker, so this novel will obviously be a step above the very soapy, vintage harlequin romances that feature breasts and abs on the cover. the new yorker is well-known for its insane editorial standards; in essence, colwin is exactly the kind of writer you'd expect to see in their fiction section (white, middle-class, uber stylish prose that's concerned with aesthetics and history and literature and art-making). the set-dressings here are smart because colwin has always had to be.
her work tends more heavily towards description and an impeccable transitional sense than it does the granular scene-writing contemporary romance readers will have come to expect from their novels. this isn't a point A to point B to point C style of writing. time skips are utilized, and for good reason.
in happy all the time, we're given two couples and they get together pretty quickly. even still, colwin's attention to pacing and prettiness never lets up—the novel proceeds at breakneck speeds, continues cultivating its warmth and humor, and frequently pulls out all the stops for absurd side characters. there are a ton of kooky side characters in this (which i love in my romances....YES, give me throwaway punchlines!!!!! give me character anecdotes with no larger narrative purpose than VIBES!).
this is the 70s, so there are a ton of anachronistic quirks that i got a kick out of (everyone is smoking cigarettes all over the place, they have strange and outmoded names, drugs are pretty normalized and so is drinking at every meal, secondary characters say "far out!" and make fun of their love interests for veganism). the worst of the quirks is the ongoing thread of orientalism throughout (colwin venerates and others east asian aesthetics/food/objects/etc. by turns). the best of the quirks is the way she's written her two main heroines.
i don't know how much of this i chalk up to the sexual politics of the 70s vs how much i chalk up to colwin's personal sensibility (i'll have to read more from her to find out), but her women characters are so much quirkier than her men (more interesting, more rich, more compelling in every way). and i didn't mind that gender disparity! i'm more used to the inverse (hollow, featureless fmcs who exist as vessels for the white cishet women assumed to be reading the novel vs dark, gritty, quirky men).
here, colwin's women are written in such a way that you might almost mistake them for contemporary mmcs: they're allergic to love and courtship disgusts them, they bury their true mushy feelings behind steel walls and an expressionless affect, they growl, they make fun of and bully their much softer, much sappier love interests, they pick up and run away when the pure domestic bliss of their lives gets to be too much. in essence, they are the POLAR OPPOSITE of what we see in the female leads of commercial romance today. i felt like i woke up in an alternate dream universe—and i never wanted to leave. wonderful (gender stereotype) reversals occur in the vein of:
"Goddamn it, Holly. Doesn't any of this mean anything to you?"
"Any of what?"
"We just spent our first night together and here you are doing the goddamned puzzle."
"I do the puzzle every Sunday," said Holly. "And I was assuming that this was the first of many nights. Besides, I find all this too nerve-racking and so I like to put things into the most normal context. I don't want one of those strung-out love affairs that makes you lose weight and feel awful all the time."
There was nothing Guido could say to this. The first of many nights, she said. That phrase, in her cool, measured voice, undid him.
so pathetic. so desperate. so easily pleased and placated. GIVE ME TEN MORE OF GUIDO. AND VINCENT WHILE WE'RE AT IT. the main men in this book are incredibly STUPID and SUBMISSIVE and IN LOVE and READY TO GIVE UP EVERYTHING TO GET A KISS (or a drop of attention). it is truly mind-boggling how immediately they fall for these women, who are, by comparison, relatively cold to them and frequently prone to rejection. glorious, glorious writing....
(also, the above happens on page 19 of my pocket paperback....like i said, brisk pacing, but never boring in spite of it!)
this is also a very silly book. sometimes it's funny on accident, but more often the humor is intentional. there is something about it that reminds me of vintage romance movies—maybe the soft edges, the sense that our four main characters will never encounter much in the way of strife, that their world is bokeh lights and musical montages during the champagne portion of dinner and little else. the cozy slice-of-life atmosphere was offset, for me, by the eccentric character-writing and the constant punchlines. it can't be a hallmark movie for that reason, even if it occasionally behaves or looks like one. above all else, it is an astonishingly smart, well-contained novel. 4.5/5, it lost me for about 5 seconds during the second half, then i was back in as new secondary characters swam to the fore.
some highlights:
"You should be more like me," [Misty] said.
"I should?" said Vincent. "In what way?"
"I am the scourge of God."
Vincent sat still, listening to his heart beat. Misty was smiling again. Her smile revealed to him that his behavior was far from random. He was in love.
LOSERRRRRRRR! i love it.
"I'm sorry, Guido. I was just trying to cheer you up. But Misty says some very interesting things about things."
"I don't want to hear another interesting thing said by a woman," said Guido. "They're all far too interesting."
vincent and guido are so stupid. who talks like this? MOREEEEE.
The next morning, Misty woke to the sight of Vincent's flowers and of Vincent himself, who was lying on his side, smiling at her.
"'O night, O night divine,'" sang Vincent. "That's my Christmas voice," he added.
Misty considered him, as if she had wakened to find a fish in her bed and was pondering how it had gotten there and what to do with it.
"What time is it?" she growled.
"It's seven-thirty," said Vincent. "I am now going to make you a cup of coffee and bring it to you in bed. You won't like that at all, will you?"
"Not much," said Misty.
perfect. no notes.
December 25, 2023
3.5 Stars
Laurie Colwin's Happy All the Time was a balm through a couple of turbulent days.
Light-hearted in style with a few insights into the complexities of human nature, this novel follows 4 characters who meet, fall in love, and negotiate through their relationships. It has been a while since I read a novel full of likeable characters. Colwin writes of love--romantic and otherwise; she explores the themes of friendship, courtship, and the early years of marriage.
The prose is wonderful and Colwin assuredly brings her characters to life.
Publication 1978
Laurie Colwin's Happy All the Time was a balm through a couple of turbulent days.
Light-hearted in style with a few insights into the complexities of human nature, this novel follows 4 characters who meet, fall in love, and negotiate through their relationships. It has been a while since I read a novel full of likeable characters. Colwin writes of love--romantic and otherwise; she explores the themes of friendship, courtship, and the early years of marriage.
The prose is wonderful and Colwin assuredly brings her characters to life.
Publication 1978
August 24, 2022
What an absolutely delightful book! It is funny; it is endearing; it is a look at relationships and the insecurities and messiness that go along with them.
This book is all about the people. We meet Guido and Vincent, third cousins and best friends. They are nearing thirty.
“ With their futures somewhat assured, they lolled around Cambridge and wondered whom they would marry.”
Laurie Colwin knows how to write people and relationships. Relationships are not always perfect. They are tough. Nothing is easy when it comes to love- really knowing that person takes time and patience.
I honestly fell in love with our four main characters. Each was unique. I loved watching their relationships grow and change, as couples and as friends. All the peripheral characters were memorable as well.
Vincent definitely stood out for me. He was so positive and happy- actually a lot like my husband:) Here is a bit of advice he gave:
“ Just be married. That’s how you get used to it. Where on earth did you get this sense of profound gloom from, anyway?”
I hated saying goodbye to these two couples. They brought a smile to my face and a joy to my heart.
Many thanks to GR friends Julie Grippo and Suzy, whose reviews introduced me to this author and book. I definitely plan to read more of her books.
Published: 1978
This book is all about the people. We meet Guido and Vincent, third cousins and best friends. They are nearing thirty.
“ With their futures somewhat assured, they lolled around Cambridge and wondered whom they would marry.”
Laurie Colwin knows how to write people and relationships. Relationships are not always perfect. They are tough. Nothing is easy when it comes to love- really knowing that person takes time and patience.
I honestly fell in love with our four main characters. Each was unique. I loved watching their relationships grow and change, as couples and as friends. All the peripheral characters were memorable as well.
Vincent definitely stood out for me. He was so positive and happy- actually a lot like my husband:) Here is a bit of advice he gave:
“ Just be married. That’s how you get used to it. Where on earth did you get this sense of profound gloom from, anyway?”
I hated saying goodbye to these two couples. They brought a smile to my face and a joy to my heart.
Many thanks to GR friends Julie Grippo and Suzy, whose reviews introduced me to this author and book. I definitely plan to read more of her books.
Published: 1978
June 26, 2007
My experience reading this novel was really strange. When I was a senior in high school, I read a short story called "An Old Fashioned Romance" by Colwin in my AP class. I remember being struck, and a little disappointed, by how bright and optimistic the story was - up to that point, I'd understood stories as ominous and never happy. Then I read her author bio and it said that she graduated from Bard in the 70s and, I of course, was going to attend Bard that summer. Long story short, I was always struck by the title "Happy All The Time" and intended to read this novel, but never got the chance. Then a week ago, I was at the Strand and when I turned around, while looking for another book, I found the Laurie Colwin section. I don't know if I was just swept up in the moment and the coincidence, but I just really loved this novel. I don't think I've smiled so much and thought to myself, "God I wish I'd written that line" so frequently in the span of one book. There's not much plot, and the writing is kind of like a 1980s Jane Austen set in Manhattan, but there's something about this book that just entranced me. I've also never read someone so accurately describe what it feels like to fall in love.
I don't know - this isn't the type of book that I'd normally read, and I don't think I'll read any of her other novels (though I want to read her "Home Cooking" essay collections) because I'm not sure what I felt for this book will carry over into those. Or maybe it will. But I just don't want to find out. I do know, though, that regardless of this weird, seven year old preoccupation I had with lazily trying to locate "Happy All The Time," I finally did, and for 230 pages, I was just what the title promised.
I don't know - this isn't the type of book that I'd normally read, and I don't think I'll read any of her other novels (though I want to read her "Home Cooking" essay collections) because I'm not sure what I felt for this book will carry over into those. Or maybe it will. But I just don't want to find out. I do know, though, that regardless of this weird, seven year old preoccupation I had with lazily trying to locate "Happy All The Time," I finally did, and for 230 pages, I was just what the title promised.
May 16, 2024
3.75⭐️
Such a love-ly book.
I really loved Guido and Holly, but as I read, I understood that I adored Vincent and Misty so much more. They were just the most well-written and developed.
Misty is a mood, and the best character in this book.
Such a love-ly book.
I really loved Guido and Holly, but as I read, I understood that I adored Vincent and Misty so much more. They were just the most well-written and developed.
Misty is a mood, and the best character in this book.
November 26, 2014
So happy I picked this up again! I love all the attention Colwin is getting with the re-publication of all ten of her books in 2021. It's been nine years since I last read Happy All the Time. This time I noticed the narrowness of the milieu in which she writes (domestic dramas about fairly well-off New Yorkers), but that didn't stop me from enjoying it all over again. I always wonder how her writing would have evolved if she hadn't died at 48 in 1992.
This is a wonderful NY Times Book Review essay at the release of her 10 novels in 2021, including this great photo from 1974.
Why I'm rereading this: I need a happy book, and this one has always fit the bill. Third time around for me - I love Laurie Colwin!
Pure delight! The story of two friends, Guido and Vincent, who live and work in New York City. They find love, marry (Holly and Misty, respectively) and experience the hopes, dreams, anxieties and challenges associated with moving into adulthood. That sounds sort of boring, but this book is anything but. As one reviewer said, this book takes up where most love stories leave off - at the settling in and finding contentment stage. Touching, quirky and funny, it made me happy!!
This is the second time I've read Happy All the Time. Written in 1978, its themes are both universal and specific to the place, time and these four people. I love Laurie Colwin! Time to re-read her other works.
This is a wonderful NY Times Book Review essay at the release of her 10 novels in 2021, including this great photo from 1974.
Why I'm rereading this: I need a happy book, and this one has always fit the bill. Third time around for me - I love Laurie Colwin!
Pure delight! The story of two friends, Guido and Vincent, who live and work in New York City. They find love, marry (Holly and Misty, respectively) and experience the hopes, dreams, anxieties and challenges associated with moving into adulthood. That sounds sort of boring, but this book is anything but. As one reviewer said, this book takes up where most love stories leave off - at the settling in and finding contentment stage. Touching, quirky and funny, it made me happy!!
This is the second time I've read Happy All the Time. Written in 1978, its themes are both universal and specific to the place, time and these four people. I love Laurie Colwin! Time to re-read her other works.
July 10, 2024
i may have been able to experience this supposed “delight” of a novel, if i were the kind of person who could see past the (racist) fetishisation of women in literature.
August 15, 2024
Un libro en el que no pasa nada y que sin embargo habla de todo aquello que hace que la vida valga la pena.
Al principio me fue difícil conectar con la historia, tiene momentos en los que desvaría de más, pero es un poco esa forma de mostrar la vida -desde su locura e incoherencia- la que le da su belleza a esta historia.
En este libro encontramos la historia de dos primos que son mejores amigos. Seguimos sus vidas como adultos, sus percances y victorias en el amor, las intrascendencias de los vínculos que forman. Es una lectura agradable y ligera que consigue que quieras a todos los personajes con sus particularidades.
Destaco particularmente el debate de uno de los protagonistas Guido, que lucha constantemente con la inmensidad del amor que siente por su esposa y lo difícil que le es aceptar que ella lo ama en igual medida, porque sus formas de amar son diferentes. Sus formas de ser, son diferentes y eso es el motivo por el que la ama tanto como el motivo por el que duda de su amor. Me gustó cómo se planteaba esto, porque entender que no todos demostramos lo que sentimos de la misma manera y que no todos transitamos las emociones por igual, es uno de los grandes desafíos a los que me vengo enfrentando y este libro hizo un trabajo maravilloso al ponerlo en palabras.
Al principio me fue difícil conectar con la historia, tiene momentos en los que desvaría de más, pero es un poco esa forma de mostrar la vida -desde su locura e incoherencia- la que le da su belleza a esta historia.
En este libro encontramos la historia de dos primos que son mejores amigos. Seguimos sus vidas como adultos, sus percances y victorias en el amor, las intrascendencias de los vínculos que forman. Es una lectura agradable y ligera que consigue que quieras a todos los personajes con sus particularidades.
Destaco particularmente el debate de uno de los protagonistas Guido, que lucha constantemente con la inmensidad del amor que siente por su esposa y lo difícil que le es aceptar que ella lo ama en igual medida, porque sus formas de amar son diferentes. Sus formas de ser, son diferentes y eso es el motivo por el que la ama tanto como el motivo por el que duda de su amor. Me gustó cómo se planteaba esto, porque entender que no todos demostramos lo que sentimos de la misma manera y que no todos transitamos las emociones por igual, es uno de los grandes desafíos a los que me vengo enfrentando y este libro hizo un trabajo maravilloso al ponerlo en palabras.
March 26, 2019
I'm clearly in the minority here, but I found the women in this novel to be awful, and there was nothing "happy" about it.
I will marry you, but never actually say "I love you" or any such drivel. But my hair is always perfectly trimmed, and I'm also an excellent cook.
And I will marry you, but I must warn you that tragedy befalls me at every corner. Life is terrible.
And they lived happily ever after?!
I will marry you, but never actually say "I love you" or any such drivel. But my hair is always perfectly trimmed, and I'm also an excellent cook.
And I will marry you, but I must warn you that tragedy befalls me at every corner. Life is terrible.
And they lived happily ever after?!
December 31, 2010
This little novel is, by far, the happiest, most delightful little gem you will ever read. I originally read it in the late 1970's when it was written. I always remembered that I loved it, but had long forgotten the story and its characters. I requested that my library find a copy for me. Luckily, they rounded one up from several counties away! I am smiling like a fool, having just now finished it again. There is no other novel I have ever read, and I believe I have read thousands in 60+ years of life, (not that I was yet able to read 60 years ago) that has left me beaming like an idiot. Colwin, who sadly died years ago at a young age, was such a gifted writer. Her characters are so well drawn, so real, so lovable even with their flaws, that I wish I could be part of their inner circle and beautiful friendships.
Guido and Vincent, third cousins and best friends, are two good, decent, smart, witty guys who fall, in turn, for 2 quirky, resistant, but kindhearted women. Each couple finds their way to a good life together. The cousins and their wives are friends and share so much, but also hold back. Guido's lovely wife, Holly, finds the need to withdraw from time to time, whether to Paris to be alone for a few weeks, or to a monastery to regroup for a bit, before heading back to a busy life in NYC to embrace her married life once again. And Vincent, the son of wealthy New Englanders, has to be the nicest of them all. He pursues and wins the heart of the very reluctant Misty, a Jewish girl who was also raised with great comfort, but who seems to take on the weight of the world, worrying about things which might happen, but which never do. Through Vincent, Misty learns to trust in love and to be...well, HAPPY!
The couples, with some very interesting and funny cousins who come along to join the fray, delight in life as young adults in a world that is just now becoming a part of history. The mid-t0-late 1970's were modern days (relative to the length of civilization) and yet there were no cell phones, no texting, no internet. They left each other notes, used pay phones, and couldn't be so terribly connected all the time, which can be a downside, for sure, to relationships in society these days. They heated milk on the stove to add to coffee to warm it up, because there were no microwave ovens in every apartment in NYC the way there are today. There was talk of this tool called a "calculator" and of recycling and reusing sludge to power a lawn mover, which I thought was very modern for that era. But mostly, there is talk, and laughter, and love which embraces you and makes YOU feel loved. Find a copy of this book. Hang onto it for 30 years and then re-read it. I wish I had kept my original copy. I can still picture its cover and feel its smoothness, but I must have loaned it to someone decades ago and never got it back. Keep this little gem as the antidote to all that ails or saddens you! It deserves 10 stars. I am STILL beaming and feel like skipping around the room from the joy in my heart. Thanks to Laurie Colwin for leaving this treasure behind. The world lost a great writer with her death!
Guido and Vincent, third cousins and best friends, are two good, decent, smart, witty guys who fall, in turn, for 2 quirky, resistant, but kindhearted women. Each couple finds their way to a good life together. The cousins and their wives are friends and share so much, but also hold back. Guido's lovely wife, Holly, finds the need to withdraw from time to time, whether to Paris to be alone for a few weeks, or to a monastery to regroup for a bit, before heading back to a busy life in NYC to embrace her married life once again. And Vincent, the son of wealthy New Englanders, has to be the nicest of them all. He pursues and wins the heart of the very reluctant Misty, a Jewish girl who was also raised with great comfort, but who seems to take on the weight of the world, worrying about things which might happen, but which never do. Through Vincent, Misty learns to trust in love and to be...well, HAPPY!
The couples, with some very interesting and funny cousins who come along to join the fray, delight in life as young adults in a world that is just now becoming a part of history. The mid-t0-late 1970's were modern days (relative to the length of civilization) and yet there were no cell phones, no texting, no internet. They left each other notes, used pay phones, and couldn't be so terribly connected all the time, which can be a downside, for sure, to relationships in society these days. They heated milk on the stove to add to coffee to warm it up, because there were no microwave ovens in every apartment in NYC the way there are today. There was talk of this tool called a "calculator" and of recycling and reusing sludge to power a lawn mover, which I thought was very modern for that era. But mostly, there is talk, and laughter, and love which embraces you and makes YOU feel loved. Find a copy of this book. Hang onto it for 30 years and then re-read it. I wish I had kept my original copy. I can still picture its cover and feel its smoothness, but I must have loaned it to someone decades ago and never got it back. Keep this little gem as the antidote to all that ails or saddens you! It deserves 10 stars. I am STILL beaming and feel like skipping around the room from the joy in my heart. Thanks to Laurie Colwin for leaving this treasure behind. The world lost a great writer with her death!
January 18, 2026
As I read this novel, I inserted two markers into a couple of places that I knew were of importance. The second marker, page 141 held what I knew to be the plot, the whole of the plot in a nutshell. Before I get to my other marker - which was also meaningful, here is the first - City Hall, Vincent and Misty's wedding ceremony:
"Give me back my hand," said Maria Teresa. "I have something for you. I was going to give it to you afterward, but I'll give it to you now. Besides your hand's all steamy." She took from her handbag a flat package wrapped in pink paper and tied with a white ribbon. Misty opened it. Inside was a can of sardines with a card that read: "Anyone who gave me so much as a sardine could obtain anything from me."
"At midnight, you and Vincent have a sardine sandwich," said Maria Teresa.
"Cardworthy party," called the clerk. They all stood up and filed in. Guido was wearing a sober suit with a sprig of lily of the valley in his lapel. He was meditating on the generosity of friendship and the feeling that one steps outside oneself in happiness for one's friends. As they stood in front of the magistrate, Guido saw the diamonds twinkling in Holly's ears. Vincent looked shy and serious. Misty was almost expressionless except for her eyes, which looked either stricken or full of tears. Guido felt someone grip his hand. It was Stanley, who had his hair cut for the occasion and was wearing a three-piece suit. Everyone seemed to be connected to someone else. Maria Teresa stood clutching Holly's elbow. Misty and Vincent exchanged vows holding hands.
It's a bit of a long section for a review, but to my eyes it held the symbolism, the tensions and stretches and the wonderful highs of Colwin's story.
We switch from Misty's anxiety and the soothing support of her friend, Maria Teresa to Guido, who is Vincent's best-man and best friend. "[he] saw the diamonds twinkling on Holly's ears." Excuse me, but shouldn't that have been tears in Holly's eyes?
The sceptic that I am sighed as I read the short paragraph, which concludes the section above - "When Vincent slipped the ring on Misty's finger, Guido felt that he might weep. He was very, very happy."
I knew there must be tears somewhere. And the "diamonds," tell me Misty doesn't like Holly. She sees her as a trophy wife, and to be honest, that's exactly how I read Holly - initially.
Writers mostly prefer to create a separation between themselves, and their main character, but there is a slippage here. That omniscient narrator tends to blur with Misty's perspective, and I would guess that Misty is Colwin. So, the narrator allows us to hear Guido's thoughts - but oddly, pinpoints Holly's privileged background and her decorative status.
What I felt as Holly's mysterious self-containment fades considerably in the section on motherhood, and it is completely resolved in the final section. But those tensions between the different female identities are central to the story. I couldn't help but identify with Misty and her doom and gloom scenarios, that life isn't a pretty picture. Vincent, on the other hand, is that difficult to write character who is genuinely good and genuinely optimistic. There aren't too many of his type in novels. The focus, naturally, is on Misty - "the only Jew at the table" as she identifies herself; hopelessly disbelieving of her good fortune in meeting and marrying Vincent.
As I write this I can see how Colwin, might be mistaken for a 1970s New York based Jane Austen; and in true Austen style, there is quite a profound philosophical bent in the lightness of her story which is that - We get what we choose to believe in.
My other marker in case you are interested was on page 121 - Misty keeps crying - all over the place. She is deeply fearful of exposing herself and her feelings for Vincent, to Vincent. She simply can't believe that life is supposed to be good. And to justify this, we're given a potted history of her family, back to her great-grandfathers, pioneers in Wisconsin, and then we fast forward to Holly taking herself off to a convent. This provides a number of comedy scenarios between our four main players. I suppose I should end with the title of a Shakespeare play - All's Well that Ends Well.
"Give me back my hand," said Maria Teresa. "I have something for you. I was going to give it to you afterward, but I'll give it to you now. Besides your hand's all steamy." She took from her handbag a flat package wrapped in pink paper and tied with a white ribbon. Misty opened it. Inside was a can of sardines with a card that read: "Anyone who gave me so much as a sardine could obtain anything from me."
"At midnight, you and Vincent have a sardine sandwich," said Maria Teresa.
"Cardworthy party," called the clerk. They all stood up and filed in. Guido was wearing a sober suit with a sprig of lily of the valley in his lapel. He was meditating on the generosity of friendship and the feeling that one steps outside oneself in happiness for one's friends. As they stood in front of the magistrate, Guido saw the diamonds twinkling in Holly's ears. Vincent looked shy and serious. Misty was almost expressionless except for her eyes, which looked either stricken or full of tears. Guido felt someone grip his hand. It was Stanley, who had his hair cut for the occasion and was wearing a three-piece suit. Everyone seemed to be connected to someone else. Maria Teresa stood clutching Holly's elbow. Misty and Vincent exchanged vows holding hands.
It's a bit of a long section for a review, but to my eyes it held the symbolism, the tensions and stretches and the wonderful highs of Colwin's story.
We switch from Misty's anxiety and the soothing support of her friend, Maria Teresa to Guido, who is Vincent's best-man and best friend. "[he] saw the diamonds twinkling on Holly's ears." Excuse me, but shouldn't that have been tears in Holly's eyes?
The sceptic that I am sighed as I read the short paragraph, which concludes the section above - "When Vincent slipped the ring on Misty's finger, Guido felt that he might weep. He was very, very happy."
I knew there must be tears somewhere. And the "diamonds," tell me Misty doesn't like Holly. She sees her as a trophy wife, and to be honest, that's exactly how I read Holly - initially.
Writers mostly prefer to create a separation between themselves, and their main character, but there is a slippage here. That omniscient narrator tends to blur with Misty's perspective, and I would guess that Misty is Colwin. So, the narrator allows us to hear Guido's thoughts - but oddly, pinpoints Holly's privileged background and her decorative status.
What I felt as Holly's mysterious self-containment fades considerably in the section on motherhood, and it is completely resolved in the final section. But those tensions between the different female identities are central to the story. I couldn't help but identify with Misty and her doom and gloom scenarios, that life isn't a pretty picture. Vincent, on the other hand, is that difficult to write character who is genuinely good and genuinely optimistic. There aren't too many of his type in novels. The focus, naturally, is on Misty - "the only Jew at the table" as she identifies herself; hopelessly disbelieving of her good fortune in meeting and marrying Vincent.
As I write this I can see how Colwin, might be mistaken for a 1970s New York based Jane Austen; and in true Austen style, there is quite a profound philosophical bent in the lightness of her story which is that - We get what we choose to believe in.
My other marker in case you are interested was on page 121 - Misty keeps crying - all over the place. She is deeply fearful of exposing herself and her feelings for Vincent, to Vincent. She simply can't believe that life is supposed to be good. And to justify this, we're given a potted history of her family, back to her great-grandfathers, pioneers in Wisconsin, and then we fast forward to Holly taking herself off to a convent. This provides a number of comedy scenarios between our four main players. I suppose I should end with the title of a Shakespeare play - All's Well that Ends Well.
June 11, 2009
Laurie Colwin is my comfort food. She makes me want to curl up under my favorite blanket with a pot of tea and homemade scones with jam and read all of her books until I'm thoroughly satisfied. This is, at least, my third reading of Happy All The Time and it hasn't diminished in any way over time. Colwin writes about love and relationships and family and friendship in a quirky and endearing way. Her novels are always calming and there is always a happy ending. Not a mushy, romance-y type of happy ending but a lovely, misty sort of happy. This may not be to everyone's taste but her books are exactly the kind of escape I want.
I'm not a re-reader so it speaks volumes that I turn to her books again and again when I need something that I know will make me feel good. I adore Holly and Guido and Misty and Vincent and the cast of characters that surrounds them. I'll be journeying back to their version of 1970's New York City before too long, I have no doubt.
10/6/23
I just reread my favorite book of all time for the umpteenth time. It has been such a comfort to be back with my favorite characters. I couldn’t love this book more if I tried.
I'm not a re-reader so it speaks volumes that I turn to her books again and again when I need something that I know will make me feel good. I adore Holly and Guido and Misty and Vincent and the cast of characters that surrounds them. I'll be journeying back to their version of 1970's New York City before too long, I have no doubt.
10/6/23
I just reread my favorite book of all time for the umpteenth time. It has been such a comfort to be back with my favorite characters. I couldn’t love this book more if I tried.
January 6, 2026
the dialogue was just 🤌🏻
August 30, 2026
**4 1/2 stars**
I read this book many many years ago in my twenties. I have no idea why I picked it up. Probably the title. At the time it was out of my comfort zone, but I remember I enjoyed it very much. I’ve recently seen this title by Laurie Colwin mentioned and raved about by some of my favorite reviewers, so I decided to re-read it. I really didn’t remember a thing about it. It was a sheer delight.
Set in 1970’s Manhattan, and positively reeking with the vibe and atmosphere of privilege, we follow two life-long friends, themselves fairly normal guys though very different, and their love for, courtship, and marriage to two very unusual women. Unusual for them, and just unusual period. I wish I could encapsulate them in words, but words fail. They are quirky to the point of being peculiar. But maybe they weren’t so unusual for the times and their milieu. I don’t know. They were certainly outside my experience. Endlessly unpredictable, loveable, and entertaining, I felt like I was, with them, on the edge of my seat constantly. They are not hilarious women, quite the contrary, but I was constantly chuckling and shaking my head at them in wonderment.
We meet Guido’s Holly first. Guido is smitten at first sight, but Holly is unimpressed.
Yet, despite her lack of warmth and cool self-possessed detachment, Holly loves him and they get married. She is very accomplished.
She is a domestic goddess and creates a beautiful home and life for Guido, despite his constant state of bewilderment over what is going on in her head. The reader is also very intrigued about and interested in Holly. She keeps Guido and us on our toes. But with Guido, it is more that just curiosity. "…when Holly came back from so little as a trip around the corner to buy a bunch of parsley, Guido felt his life had been saved."
We are still trying to get a handle on Holly when Vincent meets Misty. Another largely closed book.
And like Holly with Guido, Misty improbably falls in love with Vincent who is her opposite in everyway. Like Guido, Vincent is equally at sea with Misty. But despite her difficult ways, as Misty reflects one day, “How happy Vincent would have been to know how often she thought of him, how secretly she doted on him.”
We follow the two couples’ married lives. There is drama in the workplace, we meet the families, Holly gets pregnant, Holly disappears for awhile. Twice. Once to a nunnery. Holly has a baby. We meet some of their off-beat friends and acquaintances,
Towards the end, we meet a cousin of Holly’s whom Misty realizes should have been Vincent's perfect match, at least on paper.
I see that this review is full of quotes. If you were the least entertained, interested, or amused by these samples of Laurie Colwin’s writing. I highly recommend this book. Because there are literally gems and nuggets like this on every single page.
Misty realize that she had spent a good deal of her life ready to ward off some terrible low blow. She did not believe that most people were decent or kind. She had never believed that life went along smoothly. She did not believe that life left you alone to be happy in this world. Vincent believed all these things. He thought that his happy vistas and Misty’s grim vision fused into one full-balanced picture of the world
That was what a moral system was: it helped you be good when you weren’t very nice. From Vincent, Misty learned that goodness and stupidity were not necessarily linked. You could be good and smart.
I read this book many many years ago in my twenties. I have no idea why I picked it up. Probably the title. At the time it was out of my comfort zone, but I remember I enjoyed it very much. I’ve recently seen this title by Laurie Colwin mentioned and raved about by some of my favorite reviewers, so I decided to re-read it. I really didn’t remember a thing about it. It was a sheer delight.
Set in 1970’s Manhattan, and positively reeking with the vibe and atmosphere of privilege, we follow two life-long friends, themselves fairly normal guys though very different, and their love for, courtship, and marriage to two very unusual women. Unusual for them, and just unusual period. I wish I could encapsulate them in words, but words fail. They are quirky to the point of being peculiar. But maybe they weren’t so unusual for the times and their milieu. I don’t know. They were certainly outside my experience. Endlessly unpredictable, loveable, and entertaining, I felt like I was, with them, on the edge of my seat constantly. They are not hilarious women, quite the contrary, but I was constantly chuckling and shaking my head at them in wonderment.
We meet Guido’s Holly first. Guido is smitten at first sight, but Holly is unimpressed.
“Are you still working on your thesis? I’m almost finished,’ said Guido.
I can never remember what it’s on,” said Paula. “Medieval property law and its relationship to courtly love,” said Guido. Holly Sturgis snickered.
Yet, despite her lack of warmth and cool self-possessed detachment, Holly loves him and they get married. She is very accomplished.
Holly had no ambitions to speak of, except to live nicely from day to day. It amazed Guido that she knew so much and did so little with it… [insert a very long list of a smattering of Holly’s talents and skills]
Guido had once recited this list to Vincent, including the fact that Holly spoke French and Italian. “Does she fly on commercial airlines?” Vincent had asked. “Of course she does. Why?” “Anything short of a transport carrier would crash under the weight of those accomplishments,” Vincent had said.
She is a domestic goddess and creates a beautiful home and life for Guido, despite his constant state of bewilderment over what is going on in her head. The reader is also very intrigued about and interested in Holly. She keeps Guido and us on our toes. But with Guido, it is more that just curiosity. "…when Holly came back from so little as a trip around the corner to buy a bunch of parsley, Guido felt his life had been saved."
We are still trying to get a handle on Holly when Vincent meets Misty. Another largely closed book.
One morning, Vincent had discovered a girl named Misty Berkowitz. He found her sitting in her office, slumped over her old-fashioned calculator stirring her coffee with a fountain pen. She had amber-colored hair that fell into her eyes and small gold spectacles that slipped down her nose. She looked bored and misanthropic. The sight of her caused Vincent’s heart to leap in an unexpected manner
“I see,” said Vincent. “Why can’t I simply take you out for lunch?”...
I don’t permit myself to be taken out for lunch.” “Is that some sort of militant stand?” “No,” said Misty. “I’m just not that sort of girl. I don’t go in for all that adorable socializing. I think it’s stupid and disgusting.” “I see,” said Vincent. “You’re not very nice, are you?” “No,” said Misty.
“Well, now, said Vincent “is Misty your real name, or is it short for something?”...:It’s real said Misty. “How did you get a name like that?” “Because my mother is a jerk,” she snarled."
And like Holly with Guido, Misty improbably falls in love with Vincent who is her opposite in everyway. Like Guido, Vincent is equally at sea with Misty. But despite her difficult ways, as Misty reflects one day, “How happy Vincent would have been to know how often she thought of him, how secretly she doted on him.”
We follow the two couples’ married lives. There is drama in the workplace, we meet the families, Holly gets pregnant, Holly disappears for awhile. Twice. Once to a nunnery. Holly has a baby. We meet some of their off-beat friends and acquaintances,
“Is Sybel a runaway slave?” said Vincent. “Or is there something wrong with her feet? She seemed to have some sort of shackles on her ankles.” “Those are her leg weights,” said Misty. “She says they keep her calf muscles clear and full of physical intelligence.” “She ought to try wrapping one around her head,” said Vincent.
Towards the end, we meet a cousin of Holly’s whom Misty realizes should have been Vincent's perfect match, at least on paper.
Gem stood for a part of Vincent that was not second nature to Misty—the part that was sporty and larky and on cheerful terms with the world, the part that had grown up sailing and fishing. Suppose Vincent got tired of someone who was not second nature to him?It turns out this is one of those “slice of life” novels that I seem to gravitate to on a regular basis except for the setting, which is not early or mid-century England. Also, it's funnier. I was reminded of another recently-discovered-by-me author, Amy Poeppel. So A Comedy of Manners, if it must be categorized.
I see that this review is full of quotes. If you were the least entertained, interested, or amused by these samples of Laurie Colwin’s writing. I highly recommend this book. Because there are literally gems and nuggets like this on every single page.
November 18, 2024
A short, cozy story about a cast of urban oddballs and their friendships and romantic relationships. Zany dialogue, lots of conversations over coffee and dinners, and fun examinations of married life.
March 12, 2026
First published in 1978, it is an exploration of the messiness of human relationships and the work required to stay happy that remains relevant today.
The story follows two wealthy cousins, Guido and Vincent, in 1970s New York as they meet their partners and get married. Both men are smitten with their wives but also baffled by them.
They exchange looks of mutual resigned puzzlement. They both felt exhausted, dizzy, and displaced, like dancers after a long ballet.
It explores the first few years of their marriages, capturing the details of city life, like cooking and keeping a home. Although the characters face typical marital arguments, they eventually work through their issues. Both couples ultimately settle into a stable domestic life.
None of this sounds very exciting but I found myself smiling at the quirkiness of the characters and the witticisms.
The story follows two wealthy cousins, Guido and Vincent, in 1970s New York as they meet their partners and get married. Both men are smitten with their wives but also baffled by them.
They exchange looks of mutual resigned puzzlement. They both felt exhausted, dizzy, and displaced, like dancers after a long ballet.
It explores the first few years of their marriages, capturing the details of city life, like cooking and keeping a home. Although the characters face typical marital arguments, they eventually work through their issues. Both couples ultimately settle into a stable domestic life.
None of this sounds very exciting but I found myself smiling at the quirkiness of the characters and the witticisms.
September 11, 2011
While I could have finished this had I soldiered on, I gave myself permission to abandon it. Life is too short to trudge through sludge (books) you don't enjoy.
I don't know if it was someone else's comment that this book reminded them of a mix between The Great Gatsby and Breakfast at Tiffany's or just the vagaries of my own mind, but I kept thinking Happy All the Time was set somewhere in the 1920's to 1940's time period. Then, as I was reading, a comment about computers or something would remind me it was written and set in the late 1970's and I'd get all confuzzled. On top of that, I didn't like or understand any of the characters or their motivations.
Meh. Not for me.
I don't know if it was someone else's comment that this book reminded them of a mix between The Great Gatsby and Breakfast at Tiffany's or just the vagaries of my own mind, but I kept thinking Happy All the Time was set somewhere in the 1920's to 1940's time period. Then, as I was reading, a comment about computers or something would remind me it was written and set in the late 1970's and I'd get all confuzzled. On top of that, I didn't like or understand any of the characters or their motivations.
Meh. Not for me.
August 19, 2024
Coined as the literary equivalent of comfort food and I agree.
'Happy All the Time' by Laurie Colwin centers on Guido and Vincent, childhood best friends and third cousins who fall for Holly and Misty—two women they are equally enamored with and baffled by. The story centers on their relationships and explores the aspects most love stories omit—the bumps and ordinary small pleasures and frustrations that go into settling down but still lead to a happy ending.
I've never been one to over-romanticize life, but I'm not a cynic either. But I find it hard to find stories that navigate that soft spot without being either a snoozefest or relying on unrealistically dramatic plots and traps to keep your attention. Laurie has a gift for showcasing honest, witty, quirky people navigating relatable issues like learning to adapt, independence within a relationship, and insecurities.
Between the two couples, we see how they make a relationship work with someone with a different outlook. Both couples are unalike and help each other with their blind spots. I honestly loved how, since it centered on Guido and Vincent, we see the men vulnerable and relying on each other and their friend's partner for advice for their relationship.
The dialogue might be one of my favorite parts, and I'm now realizing how meaningful good dialogue is to me. They are witty and wise and show the characters as complex yet loveable, including the supporting characters.
Originally published in 1978, and it was like a breath of fresh air to read a story without mentioning the distractions of modern dating stories, such as texting, social media stalking, etc. I'm so chronically online that I cannot be reading about people who are, too.
I saw someone compare it to a 70s equivalent of Sally Rooney, which, in hindsight, I could see why I liked it. It's also great for fans of Katherine Heiny and those who enjoy stories like 84, Charing Cross Road.
A comforting, witty and life-affirming story that is "profoundly unprofound" which made it a lovely read.
If you have any books you consider comfort novels, plz share!
'Happy All the Time' by Laurie Colwin centers on Guido and Vincent, childhood best friends and third cousins who fall for Holly and Misty—two women they are equally enamored with and baffled by. The story centers on their relationships and explores the aspects most love stories omit—the bumps and ordinary small pleasures and frustrations that go into settling down but still lead to a happy ending.
I've never been one to over-romanticize life, but I'm not a cynic either. But I find it hard to find stories that navigate that soft spot without being either a snoozefest or relying on unrealistically dramatic plots and traps to keep your attention. Laurie has a gift for showcasing honest, witty, quirky people navigating relatable issues like learning to adapt, independence within a relationship, and insecurities.
Between the two couples, we see how they make a relationship work with someone with a different outlook. Both couples are unalike and help each other with their blind spots. I honestly loved how, since it centered on Guido and Vincent, we see the men vulnerable and relying on each other and their friend's partner for advice for their relationship.
The dialogue might be one of my favorite parts, and I'm now realizing how meaningful good dialogue is to me. They are witty and wise and show the characters as complex yet loveable, including the supporting characters.
Originally published in 1978, and it was like a breath of fresh air to read a story without mentioning the distractions of modern dating stories, such as texting, social media stalking, etc. I'm so chronically online that I cannot be reading about people who are, too.
I saw someone compare it to a 70s equivalent of Sally Rooney, which, in hindsight, I could see why I liked it. It's also great for fans of Katherine Heiny and those who enjoy stories like 84, Charing Cross Road.
A comforting, witty and life-affirming story that is "profoundly unprofound" which made it a lovely read.
If you have any books you consider comfort novels, plz share!
October 14, 2019
I love beautiful things. I love stories told stylishly. This is a charming, intelligent and superbly witty book about intelligent and stylish characters. I got it through Prime reading, but I’ll probably end up buying it just to make sure I have my own copy available, for whenever I feel like rereading it.
Loved it, pure and simple. First of all, Colwin has the gift or writing about serious deep stuff in a lighthearted manner. She is also a master at describing her characters without judging and without boring you, the reader, with tons of useless background information. Her collection of secondary characters is described with minimum words for maximum impact and all of them seem alive and perfectly real, even if not realistic.
It’s not a novel about a NY that once existed. Because I somewhat doubt it actually existed as described by Colwin. The story is about a narrow slice of NY-ers - quite financially secure, but also intellectual and very educated, who spend a lot of time having discussions about non-mundane stuff in a very entertaining and elevated manner.
The story is centered on two friends and their love interests. It’s not a romance, not in a classical sense, but it’s a story about love and friendship and all that good stuff that matters.
Loved it, pure and simple. First of all, Colwin has the gift or writing about serious deep stuff in a lighthearted manner. She is also a master at describing her characters without judging and without boring you, the reader, with tons of useless background information. Her collection of secondary characters is described with minimum words for maximum impact and all of them seem alive and perfectly real, even if not realistic.
It’s not a novel about a NY that once existed. Because I somewhat doubt it actually existed as described by Colwin. The story is about a narrow slice of NY-ers - quite financially secure, but also intellectual and very educated, who spend a lot of time having discussions about non-mundane stuff in a very entertaining and elevated manner.
The story is centered on two friends and their love interests. It’s not a romance, not in a classical sense, but it’s a story about love and friendship and all that good stuff that matters.
August 28, 2007
I know I was supposed to find this funny and charming but I was just very bored. I almost gave up halfway through. I know she’s a beloved author but this did not work for me.
January 11, 2026
sweet dear and lovely
May 19, 2022
Charming. A Seinfeld episode set in the 70's. Read this book!
August 12, 2010
Last month Old school librarian suggested I read HAPPY ALL THE TIME by Laurie Colwin. I had not heard of the book or the author before and was very interested to discover what was in store. Fortunately, my local library had a copy readily available. Originally published back in 1978, HAPPY ALL THE TIME was the third of Colwin's five novels. Along with a few short story and cooking collections, those novels made up the bulk of her writing. It seems strange now that I'd never heard of her before as her novels have none of them ever gone out of print and it appears she still has quite a large and devoted following. A fact I completely understand and that makes me quite happy now, having read this perfectly delightful novel. Thank goodness for others' book recommendations, for I am quite sure I would never have stumbled across this treat of a book on my own.
Guido Morris. Holly Sturgis. Vincent Cardworthy. Misty Berkowitz. These are the rather enchanting names of the four principal players in our little drama. Guido and Vincent have been cousins and best friends since as far back as either of them can remember. Gifted with both privilege and personality, talent and wit, the two men have somehow managed to make it past graduate school and into bona fide adulthood without ever forming permanent or lasting attachments with members of the opposite sex. But all of that is about to change when they walk past a young woman with black hair and a composed face, sitting on a bench, and Guido falls instantly and madly in love. But Holly is not looking for love and Guido finds himself in the unfamiliar agony of being in love with someone who appears all but indifferent to him. Meanwhile, Vincent is coming to terms with his scattered and perplexing love life the hard way. Unsure of how to change things, he walks into the office one day and meets Misty Berkowitz, a cantankerous young woman of Jewish extraction who loathes and distrusts everything Vincent represents. And--just like Guido--Vincent is gone in one fell swoop. But like the lovely Holly (even though the two women are night and day incarnate), Misty has no interest in being wooed. What are these two earnest young men to do in order to convince the loves of their lives that they are, in fact, meant for each other?
Readers, I was utterly charmed by this book. It is a slim, unassuming volume to be sure. But within its pages is true loveliness. HAPPY ALL THE TIME reads like Annie Hall and one of those old Cary Grant/Katherine Hepburn confections had a lovechild. There was just no way I was escaping its spell. The emotions are high and fraught with meaning, the witty banter is sophisticated in the extreme, and the costumes are elegant and timeless. Here's one of my favorite interactions between the likable Vincent and the irascible Misty:
Well? Don't you want to go and find this book right now? I love Vincent and Misty so much. All four of them are memorable and layered and funny and offbeat, but I ended up responding most of all to Misty. Must be that inherent awkwardness and the tendency to analyze the people around me in my head, rather than going up and talking to them that we share. Either way, Misty is a kindred spirit and I sat there rapt as she worked through her feelings and came to grips with the fact that she loved someone who appeared to be so wrong for her, someone who--deep down--she felt rather sure would up and walk away someday when he woke up and realized just who he'd married. In this book, it's not about what happens in the end, it's about how they each get there. And it's worth it, I tell you. It's light and lighthearted, told in elegant, if occasionally fussy prose, and it will lift your heart and leave you perfectly sated.
Guido Morris. Holly Sturgis. Vincent Cardworthy. Misty Berkowitz. These are the rather enchanting names of the four principal players in our little drama. Guido and Vincent have been cousins and best friends since as far back as either of them can remember. Gifted with both privilege and personality, talent and wit, the two men have somehow managed to make it past graduate school and into bona fide adulthood without ever forming permanent or lasting attachments with members of the opposite sex. But all of that is about to change when they walk past a young woman with black hair and a composed face, sitting on a bench, and Guido falls instantly and madly in love. But Holly is not looking for love and Guido finds himself in the unfamiliar agony of being in love with someone who appears all but indifferent to him. Meanwhile, Vincent is coming to terms with his scattered and perplexing love life the hard way. Unsure of how to change things, he walks into the office one day and meets Misty Berkowitz, a cantankerous young woman of Jewish extraction who loathes and distrusts everything Vincent represents. And--just like Guido--Vincent is gone in one fell swoop. But like the lovely Holly (even though the two women are night and day incarnate), Misty has no interest in being wooed. What are these two earnest young men to do in order to convince the loves of their lives that they are, in fact, meant for each other?
Readers, I was utterly charmed by this book. It is a slim, unassuming volume to be sure. But within its pages is true loveliness. HAPPY ALL THE TIME reads like Annie Hall and one of those old Cary Grant/Katherine Hepburn confections had a lovechild. There was just no way I was escaping its spell. The emotions are high and fraught with meaning, the witty banter is sophisticated in the extreme, and the costumes are elegant and timeless. Here's one of my favorite interactions between the likable Vincent and the irascible Misty:
Misty woke abruptly and felt awful. She groped around for her glasses, couldn't find them, and sat very still, looking unfocused and bereft, as if she had awakened from a kind dream to find merciless and cruel reality waiting for her. Vincent thought he understood unhappiness, but he was not sure if this was it. He sat beside her and took her hand.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" he said. "I can't bear to see you this way."
She shrugged her shoulders.
Vincent asked, "Does it help if I tell you I love you, or does it make it worse?"
She began to cry. It was the second time in two days, but its effect on Vincent was not dimmed by repetition.
"Okay," she said. "Here goes."
His heart seemed to stop. This was it, but what was it?
"It's not what you're thinking," said Misty, looking at his stricken face. "It's worse. You're stuck with me. This is your last chance to bail out, Vincent. I don't think we were made for each other. Maybe you were made for me, but I was made for Attila the Hun."
"Are you telling me that life with you will be a living hell?"
"I am giving you one last chance to go off and find some nicer girl," said Misty. "Someone who knows her way around a sailboat."
"That's a disgusting thing to say. Last week you gave me a very compelling analysis on the workings of my stunning intellect. Now I'm supposed to take my intellect off and go sailing?"
And besides that, there's the Jewish question," said Misty.
"Oh, that," said Vincent. "I don't notice either of us being religious. Besides, my Aunt Marcia is Jewish. She married Uncle Walter. She's everybody's favorite relative. What's the big deal?"
"Our backgrounds are different," said Misty.
"This is not worth discussing," said Vincent. "We've done very well up till now, and we'll continue to do well."
"I'm not like your other flames," said Misty. "I don't know anything about dog breeding."
"Yes, you do," said Vincent. "The night we were comparing eccentric relatives, you told me that your Aunt Harriet wanted to cross Welsh corgis and Doberman pinschers and get a vicious but barkless guard dog for sneak attacks. That will be quite sufficient. Throw in my Aunt Marcia and you can see that we are ideally suited."
Tears slid out of the corners of Misty's eyes. She put her arms around his neck.
"I'm just scared," she said. "That's all."
"That isn't all," said Vincent. "What are you scared of?"
"I don't know."
"What else don't you know?"
That's all," said Misty.
"I assume that means that you have given a good deal of analytical thought to your feelings about me."
"My feelings about you appear to transcend analysis."
"Wonderful," said Vincent. "What are they?"
"I just love you," she mumbled.
"Speak up, please," said Vincent.
"I said, I just love you. Isn't that banal?"
"What a relief," said Vincent, smiling.
Well? Don't you want to go and find this book right now? I love Vincent and Misty so much. All four of them are memorable and layered and funny and offbeat, but I ended up responding most of all to Misty. Must be that inherent awkwardness and the tendency to analyze the people around me in my head, rather than going up and talking to them that we share. Either way, Misty is a kindred spirit and I sat there rapt as she worked through her feelings and came to grips with the fact that she loved someone who appeared to be so wrong for her, someone who--deep down--she felt rather sure would up and walk away someday when he woke up and realized just who he'd married. In this book, it's not about what happens in the end, it's about how they each get there. And it's worth it, I tell you. It's light and lighthearted, told in elegant, if occasionally fussy prose, and it will lift your heart and leave you perfectly sated.
May 8, 2026
4 👫👫
How delightful and refreshing, especially for the time period it was written. Colwin is new to me and I won't stop with this one.
How delightful and refreshing, especially for the time period it was written. Colwin is new to me and I won't stop with this one.
May 16, 2024
The title is very apt.
(Just don't go into this thinking Colwin is "a contemporary Jane Austen")
Hands down the best moment was:
"Half an hour ago you said that you would marry me.”
“Only because you got down on your knee in the middle of the street and I was afraid you would be run over by a taxi.”
“Can we announce it?” Vincent said.
“That you were almost run over?”
(Just don't go into this thinking Colwin is "a contemporary Jane Austen")
Hands down the best moment was:
"Half an hour ago you said that you would marry me.”
“Only because you got down on your knee in the middle of the street and I was afraid you would be run over by a taxi.”
“Can we announce it?” Vincent said.
“That you were almost run over?”
April 18, 2025
happy all the time feels like a warm hug at the end of an emotionally draining day. it’s like that peek of sunshine after a rain shower. it’s warm, it’s effervescent, it’s cozy, it’s radiant. i think this might have been the easiest five stars i’ve ever given in my life. it completely transcended my expectations. reading it felt like a perfect palate cleanser from the sadness and monotony of my previous reads. vincent, guido, holly, and misty are my family now. they’re so lovable and simultaneously relatable. they feel like genuine human beings with complex emotions, different thought processes, personalities, and love languages. they feel like people i’d walk past on the street instead of paragraphs on pieces of paper. i was truly immersed in their world and now i’m a little sad to leave it. i will always believe that is the mark of a good book with excellent writing, though. and i can now say with confidence that i am completely and wholly in love with laurie colwin’s writing style. i imagine i will visit more of her work very soon (much to my excitement). my friends better prepare for how sick of me they’re going to get because i will plug and recommend this book until my dying breath.
March 14, 2013
It's been years since I read this book, but it has stayed with me all this time, and I'm thinking it may be time to re-read it. It's a story about couples who get along and are "happy all the time." Sounds boring, right? That's because our concept of a happy relationship is both one-dimensional and an utter fantasy. These folks argue, have problems and crises . . . and get through them together, with a baseline of respect and affection for each other. Not easy, not Disneyfied, but real. If recent movies, books and memes have driven you mad with their unrealistic and sappy portrayals, this will be an antidote. You know love isn't like that. So did Colwin.
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