THE CELEBRANTS BY STEVEN ROWLEY

THE CELEBRANTS BY STEVEN ROWLEY

If you were old enough to drive in 1983, you probably saw The Big Chill on the big screen. And if you're anything like me, you loved it. Yellowstone has made Kevin Costner the current biggest star to come out of that film, even though our only glimpse of him was his chest and hands as he was dressed in the coffin. (And I emphasize current, because there was also Glenn Close, Kevin Kline and Jeff Goldblum). But it was a great story of college friends mourning one of their own.

The Celebrants is as if The Big Chill had a baby that year.
Same vibes, different style of jeans.

This is the one about Jordan and Jordy, Naomi, Craig and Marielle. We meet them in Big Sur just after the funeral of their sixth member Alec, and just before they graduate from Berkeley. There, they make "The Pact" - a commitment to convene whenever one of them needs to be reminded they're loved. To be encouraged to not cash in their chips. We follow them over the next decades as they trigger the pact in their times of crisis.

I got this as an audio book, and have ordered the hard copy from the library because for some scenes (the skydiving!!) I want to see the words on the page and move through them at my own pace. I read Steven Rowley was funny, and as I drove the backroads to the cottage, I was laughing out loud and hitting rewind. 'Let me hear that again'.

Much like I've rewatched The Big Chill, and wished I could have been one of their gang, I have the same feeling with The Celebrants. And because I like to laugh, I've already ordered Lily and the Octopus and The Guncle. Stay tuned for those reviews.