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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
This memoir-in-essays is of a woman seeking to find her place in the world, of her determination to make a living by writing; of searches both physical and spiritual. Another focus is on friends. I don’t know Jami, but she seems to be kind and generous, so it’s no wonder she has many friends.
It’s not a spoiler to say she put down roots in New Orleans several years ago, saying elsewhere that here’s where she’s her true self. I’ve participated in her #1000WordsOfSummer and #Mini1000 writing challenges, initiated to help others with the daily impetus to just write. Though she’s quick to say the challenge benefits her, it’s a lot of time and energy for people she mostly doesn’t know.
Her memoir doesn’t deal in gossip and gory details. Many private details remain as such, though she doesn’t spare herself from her blunt honesty. She’s especially lyrical when describing the insights about writing that she’s earned through her journey toward contentment.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
A bit of an erratic narrative format. I found this memoir alternately endearing and something to endure. The author mostly provided the range of their experiences in no chronological order and let the reader take what they may.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
"For a long time, I worked day jobs that were different the one I have now".
An American novelist turning 50 describes her experiences of trying to establish herself as someone who can make a living as a full time writer. By 2021 she had written a collection of short stories and six novels, and contributed essays to newspapers and magazines on both sides of the Atlantic. She left a job working in TV to try and write about her own ideas, to write books, and then spent many years doing all kinds of jobs to pay the rent.
I am sure this memoir presents a chosen selection of travels, thoughts and experiences only. It is often funny and seems painfully honest, and Attenberg is sometimes hard on herself about the mistakes she's made in her life, including drugs and relationships.
The title describes the experience of trying to find a place to settle after years of being on the road, travelling to promote her books (with varying degrees of success), visiting other countries and cities. After 14 years of living in New York City, she moved to New Orleans, Louisiana in 2016, and mentions realising that after years of staying with friends, she can now offer people her own spare room.
A thoughtful and funny memoir, and another I would quite like to reread already.
An American novelist turning 50 describes her experiences of trying to establish herself as someone who can make a living as a full time writer. By 2021 she had written a collection of short stories and six novels, and contributed essays to newspapers and magazines on both sides of the Atlantic. She left a job working in TV to try and write about her own ideas, to write books, and then spent many years doing all kinds of jobs to pay the rent.
I am sure this memoir presents a chosen selection of travels, thoughts and experiences only. It is often funny and seems painfully honest, and Attenberg is sometimes hard on herself about the mistakes she's made in her life, including drugs and relationships.
The title describes the experience of trying to find a place to settle after years of being on the road, travelling to promote her books (with varying degrees of success), visiting other countries and cities. After 14 years of living in New York City, she moved to New Orleans, Louisiana in 2016, and mentions realising that after years of staying with friends, she can now offer people her own spare room.
A thoughtful and funny memoir, and another I would quite like to reread already.
hopeful
reflective
‘In fact, we receive so much from other writers when they show us how it’s done. When they position a character’s heart directly on the page for us, when they’re inventive in form or structure, or emotionally true in a way that feels radical in its familiarity. Or when their sentences are so crisp as to be nearly audible, like a piece of paper torn in two—all of this shows us how to do it ourselves, how it’s possible, but also it emboldens us, releases us from our fears about own own work. An encouragement by example. We learn from them, but also, they tell us we can. Without even knowing it. Enter here. Start here. Begin now. This is why it’s always important to be reading. This is why we must always chew on the words of others. It’s nutrition. Eat your dinner.’
I’m an Attenberg fan but this memoir surprised me. I’m in awe of her community building and all she does for the writing community. There is no better cheerleader. I’m not sure this memoir added much to her work for me. I expected there to be more about the work itself. It did though make me consider what it takes to choose to live a literary life in the US (even though advances and royalties are much higher than here). But it’s still a very tough life and she draws a line from her father’s career as a travelling salesman to her own as a writer on tour. I’m so grateful to all writers who, despite it all, put those words on the page and make them beautiful.
I’m an Attenberg fan but this memoir surprised me. I’m in awe of her community building and all she does for the writing community. There is no better cheerleader. I’m not sure this memoir added much to her work for me. I expected there to be more about the work itself. It did though make me consider what it takes to choose to live a literary life in the US (even though advances and royalties are much higher than here). But it’s still a very tough life and she draws a line from her father’s career as a travelling salesman to her own as a writer on tour. I’m so grateful to all writers who, despite it all, put those words on the page and make them beautiful.
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
slow-paced
This is such a pandemic project. A memoir in essays about her travels fused with writing, feminism, her failed relationships, and perseverance. It was fine. A bit navel-gazey, and perhaps it was me not being in the right mood to read her pandemic project.