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Reviews
It All Changed in an Instant: More Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure by Larry Smith
foofers1622's review against another edition
4.0
Still a fun thing to do.
Will try this in real life.
Elaine Benes hero. Not even real.
Will try this in real life.
Elaine Benes hero. Not even real.
saraa_t's review against another edition
4.0
This is a great, inspirational (and quick) read that condenses some of life's hardest, funniest, and most important moments into six words.
beths0103's review against another edition
5.0
I love all the things you can do with six word memoirs in the classroom. Not only can you have students write their own, but this could be a form of assessment for books they read: have students write a six word memoir for the protagonist and antagonist in their story. This could be a form of assessment in science or social studies. What would Napoleon's six word memoir be? Abraham Lincoln? Nelson Mandela? Write the six-word memoir for an element on the periodic table. What would an amoeba's six word memoir be? There's just so much you can do with this!
I really enjoyed this follow-up to NOT QUITE WHAT I WAS PLANNING, probably more so than the original.
I really enjoyed this follow-up to NOT QUITE WHAT I WAS PLANNING, probably more so than the original.
judyward's review against another edition
3.0
I grabbed this book since I so enjoyed the first volume in this series, Not Quite What I Was Planning. I didn't enjoy this book as much. Maybe it was because so many of the entries seemed to repeat the same concepts, maybe because so many of the entries seemed to be making a point not writing a memoir, maybe it was because this volume contained so many celebrity entries that seemed to be going for a laugh. I don't know. Anyway, there were a number of memoirs that made me laugh, some that made me cry, and some that I just enjoyed. Frank McCourt mused that "The miserable childhood leads to royalties" and an author whom I can't recall wrote, "Bipolar, no two ways about it." I found that reading these six word memoirs a few at a time added to their impact. I'm sure that I will be looking for the next volume in this series fairly quickly.
vasta's review against another edition
4.0
How would you describe your life in six words? Writing a six-word story is hard enough; the difficulty of encapsulating a whole life in a few dozen characters feels almost impossible.
Thousands of people have tackled this daunting task, and the folks at online storytelling magazine SMITH decided to collect the best ones and publish them in a multitude of collections. The first two collections, Not Quite What I Was Planning and It All Changed In An Instant, are easy to consume in a short sitting; I devoured the hundreds of six-word memoirs in both collections while lying in the hammock after lunch on a sunny afternoon. The first collection is much more powerful than the second, probably as a function of putting the best submissions in the first book without realizing that there would be enough for many more publications, but both have standout inclusions that either had me laughing, thinking, or almost in tears.
The best part of a collection of six-word memoirs is flipping through them all and seeing just how many could describe your life, as well, if you were as clever or articulate. Then there were those that were painfully close to being relatable, but with just enough distance to seem foreign.
"Civil servant answers phone after five."
"Slightly flabby, slightly fabulous, trying hard."
Some six-word memoirs were more astute observation than memoir, but still elicited smiles.
"A sundress will solve life’s woes."
What was most impressive about the collections was how six short words could elicit such a spectrum of emotions. I could go from laughing on one page to crying on the next.
"I still make coffee for two."
For quick and short reads, Not Quite What I Was Planning and It All Changed In An Instant were excellent at reminding me that language, deftly used, can be immensely impactful.
It also reminded me that we don’t always have to strive for impact — sometimes, life is “nothing profound, I just sat around,” and that’s okay too.
If you’re looking for a good hammock read, I’d recommend flipping through some six-word memoirs, and then maybe trying to write one yourself.
(Originally published on I Tell Stories.)
Thousands of people have tackled this daunting task, and the folks at online storytelling magazine SMITH decided to collect the best ones and publish them in a multitude of collections. The first two collections, Not Quite What I Was Planning and It All Changed In An Instant, are easy to consume in a short sitting; I devoured the hundreds of six-word memoirs in both collections while lying in the hammock after lunch on a sunny afternoon. The first collection is much more powerful than the second, probably as a function of putting the best submissions in the first book without realizing that there would be enough for many more publications, but both have standout inclusions that either had me laughing, thinking, or almost in tears.
The best part of a collection of six-word memoirs is flipping through them all and seeing just how many could describe your life, as well, if you were as clever or articulate. Then there were those that were painfully close to being relatable, but with just enough distance to seem foreign.
"Civil servant answers phone after five."
"Slightly flabby, slightly fabulous, trying hard."
Some six-word memoirs were more astute observation than memoir, but still elicited smiles.
"A sundress will solve life’s woes."
What was most impressive about the collections was how six short words could elicit such a spectrum of emotions. I could go from laughing on one page to crying on the next.
"I still make coffee for two."
For quick and short reads, Not Quite What I Was Planning and It All Changed In An Instant were excellent at reminding me that language, deftly used, can be immensely impactful.
It also reminded me that we don’t always have to strive for impact — sometimes, life is “nothing profound, I just sat around,” and that’s okay too.
If you’re looking for a good hammock read, I’d recommend flipping through some six-word memoirs, and then maybe trying to write one yourself.
(Originally published on I Tell Stories.)
ahmedhossam's review against another edition
3.0
Perfect genre. Average stories. Cautiously proceed...
qu073179's review against another edition
4.0
Yea!
What a clever concept: a memoir in six words. The interesting thing is they ask for a memoir, so some people's sentences were more like bios, and others more of an aspect or event in their life. My only negative is I feel they should have attempted to get more well known stars to submit versus the obscure. Some of the memoirs were cop outs, and some strange, but many were intriguing. Good book.
What a clever concept: a memoir in six words. The interesting thing is they ask for a memoir, so some people's sentences were more like bios, and others more of an aspect or event in their life. My only negative is I feel they should have attempted to get more well known stars to submit versus the obscure. Some of the memoirs were cop outs, and some strange, but many were intriguing. Good book.
mollipop215's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
1.75