{"id":125440,"date":"2018-05-16T13:00:47","date_gmt":"2018-05-16T17:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=125440"},"modified":"2018-05-16T13:26:24","modified_gmt":"2018-05-16T17:26:24","slug":"writers-fridges-leslie-jamison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/","title":{"rendered":"Writers\u2019 Fridges: Leslie Jamison"},"content":{"rendered":"

In our new series Writers\u2019 Fridges, we bring you snapshots of the abyss that writers stare into most frequently: their refrigerators.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Any discussion of my fridge in the current moment needs to begin with a discussion of who lives in my home: my husband and I, our nine-year-old daughter (who likes Lunchables but not the particular flavor of Lunchable that has been sitting in our fridge for the past week), and our three-month-old daughter\u2014who, in her beautiful way, takes up much of the time that might otherwise be spent, say, cleaning out the fridge. Which is all to say: our fridge is actually a pretty decent portal into the acts of survival that constitute our daily life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Witness: the Tupperware of beef stew that a good friend brought over when our baby was just a week old; leftovers from the takeout we\u2019ve been living on but haven\u2019t gotten it together to toss; corn we haven\u2019t managed to cook; marinara sauce that looks graced by heavenly light; an apple that I placed in the middle of the bottom shelf to make us look a bit healthier than we actually are!<\/p>\n


\n<\/a>\"\"<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

I look in this fridge and see aspirations alongside realities: the fresh mozzarella that never became part of a caprese salad, the forgotten strawberries, the saving grace of Brooklyn takeout. What impulse makes us save the rice from our last Chinese order, when everyone knows that rice gets hard almost immediately? It\u2019s the impulse to use every part of the buffalo, to waste no portion of the meal we didn\u2019t slave over\u2014to express our gratitude for takeout by using every single last morsel of it, to take none of it for granted. So the rice goes uneaten, for days and days. And yet, there\u2019s a part of me that feels almost affectionate about the wilderness of our fridge, that wants to see: these are the holy days of getting by with our new baby, any way we could.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Once more, I see good intentions and disorder crowding the shelves. I see the three cartons of milk we bought because we never knew if our milk had already gone bad, and it was easier to just buy another one. I see cider purchased to celebrate my elder daughter\u2019s report card. I see the stories of my younger daughter\u2019s early life: the coconut water my best friend brought me in the hospital; the mango smoothie that my mother insisted on pouring for me\u2014over and over again, during the first days of my nursing\u2014and the beauty of being mothered by my mother, as I was learning to mother.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Leslie Jamison is the author, most recently, of<\/em> The Recovering<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In our new series Writers\u2019 Fridges, we bring you snapshots of the abyss that writers stare into most frequently: their refrigerators.   Any discussion of my fridge in the current moment needs to begin with a discussion of who lives in my home: my husband and I, our nine-year-old daughter (who likes Lunchables but not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":227,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33520],"tags":[13465,34117,33595],"class_list":["post-125440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writers-fridges","tag-leslie-jamison","tag-the-recovering","tag-writers-fridges"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWriters\u2019 Fridges: Leslie Jamison<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In our new series Writers\u2019 Fridges, we bring you snapshots of the abyss that writers stare into most frequently: their refrigerators.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Writers\u2019 Fridges: Leslie Jamison by Leslie Jamison\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"May 16, 2018 \u2013 In our new series Writers\u2019 Fridges, we bring you snapshots of the abyss that writers stare into most frequently: their refrigerators.   Any\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-16T17:00:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-05-16T17:26:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/leslie_jamison-fridge-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"673\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leslie Jamison\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leslie Jamison\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Leslie Jamison\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4e2f6e6f9a711a01de3635ab7d89afe5\"},\"headline\":\"Writers\u2019 Fridges: Leslie Jamison\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-16T17:00:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-05-16T17:26:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/\"},\"wordCount\":466,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/leslie_jamison-fridge-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Leslie Jamison\",\"The Recovering\",\"writers' fridges\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Writers\u2019 Fridges\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/\",\"name\":\"Writers\u2019 Fridges: Leslie Jamison\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/leslie_jamison-fridge-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-16T17:00:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-05-16T17:26:24+00:00\",\"description\":\"In our new series Writers\u2019 Fridges, we bring you snapshots of the abyss that writers stare into most frequently: their refrigerators.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/leslie_jamison-fridge-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/leslie_jamison-fridge-1.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Writers\u2019 Fridges: Leslie Jamison\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"description\":\"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"The Paris Review\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4e2f6e6f9a711a01de3635ab7d89afe5\",\"name\":\"Leslie Jamison\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/75840d766a294071b9947d869dcb696118f428eb4618f3af89ba5c0010362b32?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/75840d766a294071b9947d869dcb696118f428eb4618f3af89ba5c0010362b32?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Leslie Jamison\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/leslie-jamison\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Writers\u2019 Fridges: Leslie Jamison","description":"In our new series Writers\u2019 Fridges, we bring you snapshots of the abyss that writers stare into most frequently: their refrigerators.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Writers\u2019 Fridges: Leslie Jamison by Leslie Jamison","og_description":"May 16, 2018 \u2013 In our new series Writers\u2019 Fridges, we bring you snapshots of the abyss that writers stare into most frequently: their refrigerators.   Any","og_url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/","og_site_name":"The Paris Review","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","article_published_time":"2018-05-16T17:00:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-05-16T17:26:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":673,"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/leslie_jamison-fridge-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Leslie Jamison","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@parisreview","twitter_site":"@parisreview","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Leslie Jamison","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/"},"author":{"name":"Leslie Jamison","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4e2f6e6f9a711a01de3635ab7d89afe5"},"headline":"Writers\u2019 Fridges: Leslie Jamison","datePublished":"2018-05-16T17:00:47+00:00","dateModified":"2018-05-16T17:26:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/"},"wordCount":466,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/leslie_jamison-fridge-1.jpg","keywords":["Leslie Jamison","The Recovering","writers' fridges"],"articleSection":["Writers\u2019 Fridges"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/","name":"Writers\u2019 Fridges: Leslie Jamison","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/leslie_jamison-fridge-1.jpg","datePublished":"2018-05-16T17:00:47+00:00","dateModified":"2018-05-16T17:26:24+00:00","description":"In our new series Writers\u2019 Fridges, we bring you snapshots of the abyss that writers stare into most frequently: their refrigerators.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/leslie_jamison-fridge-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/leslie_jamison-fridge-1.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/16\/writers-fridges-leslie-jamison\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Writers\u2019 Fridges: Leslie Jamison"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","name":"The Paris Review","description":"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"The Paris Review","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"The Paris Review"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4e2f6e6f9a711a01de3635ab7d89afe5","name":"Leslie Jamison","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/75840d766a294071b9947d869dcb696118f428eb4618f3af89ba5c0010362b32?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/75840d766a294071b9947d869dcb696118f428eb4618f3af89ba5c0010362b32?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Leslie Jamison"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/leslie-jamison\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/227"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125440"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125491,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125440\/revisions\/125491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}