SKU: 48623718659

Writing Hard Stories: Celebrated Memoirists Who Shaped Art from Trauma

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Writing Hard Stories: Celebrated Memoirists Who Shaped Art from TraumaSome of the country's most admired authors including Andre Dubus III, Mark Doty, Marianne Leone, Michael Patrick MacDonald, Richard Blanco, Abigail Thomas, Kate Bornstein, Jerald Walker, and Kyoko Mori describe their treks through dark memories and breakthrough moments and attest to the healing power of putting words to experience. What does it take to write an honest memoir? And what happens to us when we embark on that journey? Melanie Brooks sought

Some of the country's most admired authors--including Andre Dubus III, Mark Doty, Marianne Leone, Michael Patrick MacDonald, Richard Blanco, Abigail Thomas, Kate Bornstein, Jerald Walker, and Kyoko Mori--describe their treks through dark memories and breakthrough moments and attest to the healing power of putting words to experience.

What does it take to write an honest memoir? And what happens to us when we embark on that journey? Melanie Brooks sought guidance from the memoirists who most moved her to answer these questions. Called an essential book for creative writers by Poets & Writers, Writing Hard Stories is a unique compilation of authentic stories about the death of a partner, parent, or child; about violence and shunning; and about the process of writing. It will serve as a tool for teachers of writing and give readers an intimate look into the lives of the authors they love.

Authors profiled in Writing Hard Stories Andre Dubus III, Sue William Silverman, Michael Patrick MacDonald, Joan Wickersham, Kyoko Mori, Richard Hoffman, Suzanne Strempek Shea, Abigail Thomas, Monica Wood, Mark Doty, Edwidge Dantict, Marianne Leone, Jerald Walker, Kate Bornstein, Jessica Handler, Richard Blanco, Alysia Abbott, and Kim Stafford

Insights from Writing Hard Stories

"Why we endeavor collectively to write a book or paint a canvas or write a symphony...is to understand who we are as human beings, and it's that shared knowledge that somehow helps us to survive."--Richard Blanco

"Here's what you need to understand: your brothers or family or friends] are going to have their own stories to tell. You don't have to tell the family story. You have to tell your story of being in that family."--Andre Dubus III

"We all need a way to express or make something out of experiences that otherwise have no meaning. If what you want is clarity and meaning, you have to break the secrets over your knee and make something of those ingredients."--Abigail Thomas

"What we remember and how we remember it really tells us how we became who we became."--Michael Patrick MacDonald

"The reason I write memoir is to be able to see the experience itself...I hardly know what I think until I write...Writing is a way to organize your life, give it a frame, give it a structure, so that you can really see what it was that happened."--Sue William Silverman

"After a while in the process, you have some distance and you start thinking of it as a story, not as your story...It was a personal grief, but no longer personal... It's] something that has not just happened to me and my family, but something that's happened in the world."--Edwidge Danticat

"Tibetan Buddhists believe that eloquence is the telling of a truth in such a way that it eases suffering...The more suffering that is eased by your telling of the truth, the more eloquent you are. That's all you can really hope for--being eloquent in that fashion. All you have to do is respond to your story honestly, and that's the ideal."--Kate Bornstein

"You can never entirely redeem the experience. You can't make it not hurt anymore. But you can make it beautiful enough so that there's something to balance it in the other scale. And if you understand that word beautiful as not necessarily pretty, then you're getting close to recognizing the integrative power of restoring the balance, which is restoring the truth."--Richard Hoffman

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Beacon Press
Published: 02/07/2017
ISBN: 9780807078815
Pages: 224
Weight: 0.66lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.40w x 0.70d

Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 11/01/2016
Publishers Weekly 10/31/2016
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SKU: 48623718659

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Bill
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Good value for solar watch
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Nice watch! It is plastic like but it is solar. No indiglo button only a little luminous on the hands so you don't want to wear it in tje dark and expect to check the time. 45mm case is good size for my wrist and the band works good also, Not too long not too short. Overall a good watch with no problems
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Barry Vercueil
Fort Morgan, US
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Amazing Solar for the price
Color: Black/Orange, Color: Black/Orange
Great watch. Very good visibility. Ligh and feels quality. Easy to swap straps. Same size as my Casio Duro. Highly recommend.
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Jason G
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★★★★★ 1
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Do not buy. When I received the watch it did not work and the battery was dead. I bought a new battery and it killed that one as well after about a month.
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Miles Connell
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Inexpensive doesn’t mean cheap.
Color: Black/Orange
After 10 months, zero complaints. Well, I got rid of the horrible NATO strap 🙄. That’s a personal preference. Easy to swap out to whatever you like. Keeps accurate time meaning it’s the same time. I’m not micro analyzing it and the seconds gained/lost. It has a confident look and feel and makes you feel good when wearing it. Sure it’s not high priced but it’s not cheap. Very comfortable, light and not unincumbered. If this is what you’re looking at, you’d be satisfied. Great looking, durable and simple watch. Full confidence.
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Chelsea, US
★★★★★ 3
Budget Seiko Prospex this is not
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Bought this as a cheap work watch, but I guess all the budget went into the solar technology. No date adjust feature, gotta crank the crown over and over to adjust the date. (Also no screw-down crown, but that's expected at this price) Fake diver bezel. Lol why? Cringe as heck. Should of just put a compass bezel on there instead tbh. Cheap plastic crystal, scratches and mars just by looking at it. Okay NATO strap. Falls apart quickly, but it's easily replaceable with a better quality one. Decent lume on the hands, but none on the hour markers even though it looks like there is. Looks cool.
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