First year of college - is there anything as memorable? For me it was my first year free of curfews and restraints. It was when I met the man I’d marry and live with for the next thirty years. It was a time in my life when books and higher learning clashed with the lure of parties and new friends and confirmed just how irresponsible I was.
Stephen E. Smith, in his warm and funny new book, The Year We Danced, remembers that first year as one of “brief, sudden, beautiful awakenings” and so before I’d even begun the book, I was enchanted.
Smith’s book is funny. He lands a strange roommate who collects - and methodically arranges - his bottles of cologne (and that’s not all). He ends up on a hilarious blind date (trust me, it’s unique). He sketches a seriously funny - and exaggerated - picture of his damaged loafers (he includes the sketch in his book) in an effort to get a raise in his allowance. And the stories of his hitchhiking adventures are fabulous.
Smith’s book is romantic. In a singularly brave moment he asks a beautiful girl he calls Blondie to go dancing with him and she accepts. Weeks of dances follow. Kisses at her doorstep. Then the year ends and Smith’s dad has a surprise for him: a flashy way to keep up with Blondie during the long summer stretch. But of course another surprise awaits Smith as he sets out to find his love.
Smith’s book is authentic. Parents are parents and many of us have a love-hate relationship with them. Smith seems to be no exception. The Vietnam war has begun and Smith’s dad seems to prefer that he enlist rather than go to college. The author seamlessly weaves in this conflict and pain.
Smith’s book is well-written. Through his own love of reading and a little of what he brought with him from college, Smith writes beautifully, carefully drawing out his stories but keeping every word relevant.
In the end, Smith found a balance of fun and study during his first year of college that would take me many additional years to find. But I share his fond memories and I loved his book.
