John Powers

But it could be exported to Europe. If only it hadn't been. Now, some of Giraud's if-onlys are far-fetched, like thinking that things might have been different if Stephen King, one of Claude's favorites, had been killed in his famous auto accident three days earlier.

But it could be exported to Europe. If only it hadn't been. Now, some of Giraud's if-onlys are far-fetched, like thinking that things might have been different if Stephen King, one of Claude's favorites, had been killed in his famous auto accident three days earlier.

Others are self-punishing, like asking what if she hadn't wanted to buy the house that contained the garage that stored her brother's motorcycle that Claude would die on. It's always important to blame something or someone, she writes wryly, even if that someone is you. Giroux gives all this what-if-ing a lucidity that might feel forensic, except for one big thing. It's not cold-blooded.

Others are self-punishing, like asking what if she hadn't wanted to buy the house that contained the garage that stored her brother's motorcycle that Claude would die on. It's always important to blame something or someone, she writes wryly, even if that someone is you. Giroux gives all this what-if-ing a lucidity that might feel forensic, except for one big thing. It's not cold-blooded.

Others are self-punishing, like asking what if she hadn't wanted to buy the house that contained the garage that stored her brother's motorcycle that Claude would die on. It's always important to blame something or someone, she writes wryly, even if that someone is you. Giroux gives all this what-if-ing a lucidity that might feel forensic, except for one big thing. It's not cold-blooded.

In Corey Stockwell's fine translation, live fast takes what could seem like an intellectual exercise, a strange sort of catechism, and slowly, touchingly infuses it with emotion. we start feeling Giraud's enduring love for her husband, a soulmate who becomes more real the more she writes.

In Corey Stockwell's fine translation, live fast takes what could seem like an intellectual exercise, a strange sort of catechism, and slowly, touchingly infuses it with emotion. we start feeling Giraud's enduring love for her husband, a soulmate who becomes more real the more she writes.

In Corey Stockwell's fine translation, live fast takes what could seem like an intellectual exercise, a strange sort of catechism, and slowly, touchingly infuses it with emotion. we start feeling Giraud's enduring love for her husband, a soulmate who becomes more real the more she writes.

She knows him so well, adoring both the elegant, refined, discreet, modest Claude and his dark side, his B-side, who enjoyed bombing along on a motorbike. Of course, there's a slightly nutty side to Giroux's obsessive attempts to rewrite the past. Yet, I think every single reader will understand her. It's a desire we've all felt.

She knows him so well, adoring both the elegant, refined, discreet, modest Claude and his dark side, his B-side, who enjoyed bombing along on a motorbike. Of course, there's a slightly nutty side to Giroux's obsessive attempts to rewrite the past. Yet, I think every single reader will understand her. It's a desire we've all felt.

She knows him so well, adoring both the elegant, refined, discreet, modest Claude and his dark side, his B-side, who enjoyed bombing along on a motorbike. Of course, there's a slightly nutty side to Giroux's obsessive attempts to rewrite the past. Yet, I think every single reader will understand her. It's a desire we've all felt.

A desire that's inspired everything from Greek ideas of the fates to cheesy episodes of Star Trek to Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking. Giroux understands that we can't roll back time and have a do-over. There's no such thing as if-only, she says. But thinking about such things offers a form of distraction, if not consolation.

A desire that's inspired everything from Greek ideas of the fates to cheesy episodes of Star Trek to Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking. Giroux understands that we can't roll back time and have a do-over. There's no such thing as if-only, she says. But thinking about such things offers a form of distraction, if not consolation.

A desire that's inspired everything from Greek ideas of the fates to cheesy episodes of Star Trek to Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking. Giroux understands that we can't roll back time and have a do-over. There's no such thing as if-only, she says. But thinking about such things offers a form of distraction, if not consolation.

We gain a saving illusion of control over losses that feel less random when we can weave them into a kind of story that seems to explain them. Such weaving helps fight a crushing sense of meaninglessness until we're able to move on. which is how Giroux comes off the other side of her grief and why Live Fast is not a downer.

We gain a saving illusion of control over losses that feel less random when we can weave them into a kind of story that seems to explain them. Such weaving helps fight a crushing sense of meaninglessness until we're able to move on. which is how Giroux comes off the other side of her grief and why Live Fast is not a downer.

We gain a saving illusion of control over losses that feel less random when we can weave them into a kind of story that seems to explain them. Such weaving helps fight a crushing sense of meaninglessness until we're able to move on. which is how Giroux comes off the other side of her grief and why Live Fast is not a downer.

Clocking in at a snappy 159 pages, this is one of those rare books that works in two directions. It pulls you completely into its reality. Believe me, it's a page-turner, but also sends you back out into the mystery of living. It gets you pondering your own losses and how you deal with all those what-ifs that rise up in every life.

Clocking in at a snappy 159 pages, this is one of those rare books that works in two directions. It pulls you completely into its reality. Believe me, it's a page-turner, but also sends you back out into the mystery of living. It gets you pondering your own losses and how you deal with all those what-ifs that rise up in every life.

Clocking in at a snappy 159 pages, this is one of those rare books that works in two directions. It pulls you completely into its reality. Believe me, it's a page-turner, but also sends you back out into the mystery of living. It gets you pondering your own losses and how you deal with all those what-ifs that rise up in every life.