Structure

Look Alive Out There is a collection of 16 titled essays. The essays appear in the following order: “Wheels Up,” “Outside Voices,” “A Dog Named Humphrey,” “You Someday Lucky,” “If You Take the Canoe Out,” “The Chupacabra,” “Up the Down Volcano,” “The Grape Man,” “Right Aid,” “Relative Stranger,” “Brace Yourself,” “Immediate Family,” “Cinema of the Confined,” “Wolf,” “Our Hour Is Up,” and “The Doctor Is a Woman.”

Examining the curation of these essays, and their proximal relationships one to another, is essential to understanding the author’s overarching thematic explorations. Although the majority of the essays in the collection arguably focus on social interactions, the way in which Crosley represents and reflects upon these dynamics evolves over the course of the collection. In essays like “Wheels Up” and “Outside Voices,” which appear at the forefront of the collection, Crosley is more sarcastic and sardonic about how she regards...