30 Comments

Love this one!

Expand full comment

thank you.

Expand full comment

Be prepared! My heavy-duty poultry shears were not up to the job of spatchcocking a turkey. I had to order aviation tin snips!

Expand full comment

Good idea. but it will still be a horrible job. you actually did a turkey? Hats off to you!

Expand full comment

It cooks beautifully and much more quickly! (Love your books!)

Expand full comment

Thank you.

Expand full comment

Thank you for this ,Abigail Thomas. Still water. I love getting old.

Expand full comment

Me too, such a relief. Thank you.

Expand full comment

And when I say “getting old”, I mean actually old! My friend signed me up for Oldster and so at first I was stereotypical-old-lady-level cranky when I saw all these essays by whipper snappers in their 40s and 50s. (My friend patently explained the site was intended to capture transitional musing across the aging spectrum, so never mind... gotta go now and yell at a kid to stay offa my lawn. LOL). Your writing is sharp, Abigal. And that’s age-independent.

Expand full comment

Kate, everyone who is a "whipper-snapper" to a person older than them is also an "oldster" to someone else, who is younger than them. It's all relative. In my first job out of college, when I was 22, I thought my 25-year-old colleague was a wise old sage. When she turned 30, she was convinced she was "over the hill." Oldster isn't about old people. It's about the experience of getting older and what it means to us at every phase of life. At every juncture, every milestone, we feel older than we felt, and we attach meaning to where we are. That's what Oldster explores—with a tongue-in-cheek, subversive use of the term.

Expand full comment

Sara- Yes. I get that now. ;-). BTW, do you accept submissions and how?

Expand full comment

Will drop you a line!

Expand full comment

Thanks, love the word whipper snapper. Got to look that one up now. Now get that kid off your lawn.

Expand full comment

Very funny and tremendously poignant, also mouthwatering.

Expand full comment

Thank you.

Expand full comment

From the Dictionary of Vulgar Tongue (you are going to enjoy tremendously) you are a Poulterer--a chicken butcher. A revered skill! The recipes sound delicious.

Expand full comment

It's a great book, thanks.

Expand full comment

I adored What Comes Next and How to Like It. And I adore your spatchcocking piece; oddly enough I cooked a spatchcocked chicken just the other night, for myself. Still water, yes, but I do not love getting old… like the other commenter, I was a bit cranky about the “whippersnappers” staking a claim as Oldsters but now that Abigail Adams has chimed in , I’m a convert. Many thanks.

Expand full comment

Karena, as I explained to Kate below: Everyone who is a "whipper-snapper" to a person older than them is also an "oldster" to someone else, who is younger than them. It's all relative. In my first job out of college, when I was 22, I thought my 25-year-old colleague was a wise old sage. When she turned 30, she was convinced she was "over the hill." Oldster isn't about old people. It's about the experience of getting older and what it means to us at every phase of life. At every juncture, every milestone, we feel older than we felt, and we attach meaning to where we are. That's what Oldster explores—with a tongue-in-cheek, subversive use of the term.

Expand full comment

Makes perfect sense! Thanks Sari

Expand full comment

Thank you, love your comment, and thank you for your kind words about What Comes Next.

Expand full comment

Yup, I have the feeling nature is in the process of spatchcocking humanity...

Expand full comment

yep. thanks for reading it.

Expand full comment

Very much enjoyed it. Completely unique!

Expand full comment

thank you!

Expand full comment

Pond and ponder. A new connection to me. I can always count on you for yoking unlikely things in a way that’s both unexpected and absolutely right.

Expand full comment

Good gawd this is terrific!

Expand full comment

thanks, Annie.

Expand full comment

Thank you, Rona.

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Jan 12, 2022Edited
Comment deleted
Expand full comment

Thanks. alas, I can't change what needs changing. It's us.

Expand full comment