In Why We Write About Ourselves, twenty of America's most successful memoirists answer this question - and share the nuts and bolts of how they do it.
Meredith Maran, a passionate reader and writer of memoirs, is the author of thirteen nonfiction books and the acclaimed novelA Theory Of Small Earthquakes. Meredith also writes book reviews, essays, and features for newspapers and magazines includingPeople, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, Salon.com,andMore. A member of the National Book Critics Circle, Meredith lives in a restored historic bungalow in Los Angeles, and on Twitter at @meredithmaran. Her next memoir is about starting over in Los Angeles.
“Memoirists tell the truth and expose their beating black hearts in
Why We Write About Ourselves.” — Vanity Fair
“A terrific compendium of insight into the practical craft and
philosophical dimensions of how and why the magnetism of memoir
works over us and works us over, featuring contributions from
masters of the genre…[pair it with] Maran’s previous
anthology, the marvelous Why We Write — a compendium of
twenty celebrated writers’ reflections on why they do what they do
and an excellent addition to this evolving archive of timeless
advice on the craft.” — BrainPickings
"This is a book designed to be dipped into. Because there is so
much wisdom in these pages. So much is distilled. The very act of
creating a memoir requires so much writing, sifting, considering,
and more analysis…Bravissima." — East Hampton Star
“Memoirists have long faced the same set of questions: How much
truth should you tell? How many secrets can be exposed? What if the
truth is not as you remember it? They're all valid questions
without easy answers, because it all depends on who you ask—and
Maran (Why We Write) asked some heavy hitters.” – Library
Journal
“Reading memoirs, I have often wondered what leads someone to write
something so intensely personal about not only themselves
but those around them. I have often wondered what impact a
public memoir has on an author's personal life and
relationships...These essays, to varying degrees, answer these
questions.” – Memories from Books
“The book features twenty well-known authors candidly disclosing
the origins of their memoirs. In response to Editor Maran’s probing
questions, a chorus of diverse voices and varied motivations
emerge from writers including Cheryl Strayed, Anne Lamott, Nick
Flynn and James McBride.” – AuthorLink
“I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting from this book, but,
wow, it blew me away. In Why We Write about Ourselves, twenty
popular authors share their experiences of writing their own
memoirs. They speak about revealing themselves, of being painfully
honest, of protecting (or not) the ones they love (or don’t)…
After reading this book, oh man, my to-be-read list just grew,
like, exponentially.” – Bug Bug Book Reviews
“Read this book if you have any designs on writing a memoir.
It's a quick read (less than a week), it's entertaining,
and it should help put you in the right frame of mind to accomplish
your task.” – Flying Houses
“You shouldn’t have affairs. But definitely don’t have one with a
memoirist. That’s one of the few real conclusions I can draw
from “Why We Write About Ourselves,” a collection
of reflections and justifications from 20 practitioners of the
memoir art. You know they’re going to tell everyone about it.
It’s what they do. It’s all they do…Aren’t those deepest
intimacies precisely what we’re after when we pick up
a memoir?” – Washington Post
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