Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian) by Hazel Jane Plante

Paperback, read March 2021

Wow. Okay, just wow. This book is fucking art. I write these little reviews really freshly after I finish the book, so they’re always a little raw, a little gushy, a little vague, and this one especially is just going to be a slew of awe. There is so, so much to admire in this book. I’m so glad it exists, and I’m so glad I finally read it.

First, I have to admit: I have a habit of not reading what a book is about before I jump in, and I’m so used to autofiction as the trendiest literary thing right now, that it took me a solid 50 pages to realize that the TV show Little Blue is not real, and that the book was not autofiction. Up to that point, I was like “Holy shit this is the most beautiful and fantastic tribute to a loved person,” and then I was like, “Oh my god I feel so stupid, but this book also just jumped up a dozen tiers in terms of craft and execution???”

I went a read a few amazing interviews with Plante about Little Blue Encyclopedia, and her brain is amazing. I absolutely love seeing all the moving parts of something, and there are so many moving parts to this book but none of them are hiding: they are laid out for you, in detail so exquisite it doesn’t feel possible that it’s fictional. This novel crafts a whole world of pop culture, of love and grief and loss, of family, of self. And that whole world just sinks into you, and you wish it was real, and it is real. I am in awe, I am in love. Read this book.