Why We Write About Ourselves: Twenty Memoirists on Why They Expose Themselves (and Others) in the Name of Literature (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780142181973)

In the voices of twenty landmark memoirists--including New York Times bestselling authors Cheryl Strayed, Sue Monk Kidd, and Pat Conroy--a definitive text on the craft of autobiographical writing, indispensable for amateur and professional writers alike.

For readers of Mary Karr's The Art of Memoir and Judith Barrington's Writing the Memoir, this follow-up to editor Meredith Maran's acclaimed writers' handbook, Why We Write, offers inspiration, encouragement, and pithy, practical advice for bloggers, journal-keepers, aspiring essayists, and memoirists.

Curated and edited by Maran, herself an acclaimed author and book critic, these memoirists share the lessons they've learned through years of honing their craft. They reveal what drives them to tell their personal stories and examine the nuts and bolts of how they do it. Speaking frankly about issues ranging from turning oneself into an authentic, compelling character to exposing hard truths, these outstanding authors disclose what keeps them going, what gets in their way, and what they love most--and least--about writing about themselves.

"It's possible that Why We Write About Ourselves is the first compilation of memoirists at the top of their game seriously and thoughtfully considering the genre."
- LA Times

Author: Meredith Maran
ISBN-10: 0142181978
ISBN-13: 9780142181973
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Language: English
Published: 01/26/2016
Pages: 272
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.40lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.30w x 0.60d

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 10/15/2015
Publishers Weekly 11/02/2015
Library Journal 11/15/2015 pg. 93
Booklist 01/01/2016 pg. 24