Editorial Content for I Came All This Way to Meet You: Writing Myself Home
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
I consider it a mark of true bravery when a well-known person writes a memoir and does so in his or her own words without a ghostwriter (yes, celebs, we’re looking at you). Jami Attenberg, whose novel THE MIDDLESTEINS was a huge success, offers us a peek into her life, her process, and the intriguing but difficult march from fledgling artist to dyed-in-the-wool writer who was following what really was her absolutely proper path in life. She has put pen to paper in order to explore her growth as an artist and as a human, what she has given up, and all that she has gained from this journey.
“I had been hiding myself, even though I was living a much more public existence. The more I put myself out there in the world --- touring, talking, meeting people, being interviewed --- the less I felt in my body. When I travel too much, I get stuck…. I used up all my adrenaline on getting there. I was somehow both in motion and stagnant.”
"I CAME ALL THIS WAY TO MEET YOU is the story of someone for whom writing has always been a lifeline.... To meet Jami Attenberg on this journey is a delightful and compelling experience."
Reading these words, I feel jealous. Who wouldn’t want to be on a book tour, talking about your “art” to people, especially these days when a jaunt to Target counts as a road trip? But when you read the rest of her memories --- from sitting in a café in Brooklyn reading Patti Smith’s first memoir, to life as a young author on tour, to 9/11 in New York --- you realize that her “trips” were not just going from place to place, but her own heart and mind leveling up to the new worlds that she continued to force herself into. The journey to “adulting” via Attenberg is a hard-hewn itinerary that includes heartbreak and loneliness, while she tried to answer the questions of her own purpose, what mortality means to her, and why we are all here on this revolving mass of water and soil.
Memoirs should include the life of the mind of the writer, as well as the actual timeline of his or her experiences. Ghost sightings, children’s playthings, historical anecdotes about places she’s been: Attenberg finds every moment of her journey to be a learning opportunity --- how it made her feel, how it changed her. Anything and everything that made her a better writer also tended to make her a better person. And maybe that is the real heart of this memoir.
I CAME ALL THIS WAY TO MEET YOU is the story of someone for whom writing has always been a lifeline. It was a literal lifeline to overcoming anxiety, to (sometimes) making enough money to live, to doing something other than temping to stay fed and healthy. My husband’s departed best friend used to say that he thought real artists would never use their art to make money to live. I think Attenberg (and most of us writers out there) would find that an impossible statement to comprehend. Isn’t the point of life to understand why we’re here and what we do, and aren’t we supposed to offer our talents to others while we’re here to make a better world? Yes, Attenberg would say. Absolutely.
That is what makes this heartfelt memoir such an engaging read. It takes so much hard work and effort to be a writer in this world. The book talks about the importance of reading, the recognition that someone else’s hard-earned artistic exports can change your life --- both as an artist and as a person. Isn’t it all connected anyway? The answer is a resounding yes.
Attenberg quotes sculptor Louise Bourgeois after being blown away by an exhibition of her work: “The artist has been given a gift. This word comes back all the time. It is the gift of being at ease with your unconscious and trusting it. It is the ability immediately to short-circuit the conscious and to have direct access to the deeper perceptions of the unconscious. This is a gift because such awareness is useful, allowing you to know yourself, especially your limitations.”
That, dear readers, is exactly what I CAME ALL THIS WAY TO MEET YOU is all about. To meet Jami Attenberg on this journey is a delightful and compelling experience.
Teaser
As the daughter of a traveling salesman in the Midwest, Jami Attenberg was drawn to a life on the road. Frustrated by quotidian jobs and hungry for inspiration and fresh experiences, her wanderlust led her across the country and eventually on travels around the globe. Through it all, she grapples with questions of mortality, otherworldliness and what we leave behind. It is during these adventures that she begins to reflect on the experiences of her youth. Driving across America on self-funded book tours, sometimes crashing on couches when she was broke, she keeps writing. In researching articles for magazines, jotting down ideas for novels and refining her craft, she grows as an artist and increasingly learns to trust her gut and, ultimately, herself.
Promo
As the daughter of a traveling salesman in the Midwest, Jami Attenberg was drawn to a life on the road. Frustrated by quotidian jobs and hungry for inspiration and fresh experiences, her wanderlust led her across the country and eventually on travels around the globe. Through it all, she grapples with questions of mortality, otherworldliness and what we leave behind. It is during these adventures that she begins to reflect on the experiences of her youth. Driving across America on self-funded book tours, sometimes crashing on couches when she was broke, she keeps writing. In researching articles for magazines, jotting down ideas for novels and refining her craft, she grows as an artist and increasingly learns to trust her gut and, ultimately, herself.
About the Book
From New York Times bestselling author Jami Attenberg comes a dazzling memoir about unlocking and embracing her creativity --- and how it saved her life.
In this brilliant, fierce and funny memoir of transformation, Jami Attenberg --- described as a “master of modern fiction” (Entertainment Weekly) and the “poet laureate of difficult families” (Kirkus Reviews) --- reveals the defining moments that pushed her to create a life, and voice, she could claim for herself. What does it take to devote oneself to art? What does it mean to own one’s ideas? What does the world look like for a woman moving solo through it?
As the daughter of a traveling salesman in the Midwest, Attenberg was drawn to a life on the road. Frustrated by quotidian jobs and hungry for inspiration and fresh experiences, her wanderlust led her across the country and eventually on travels around the globe. Through it all she grapples with questions of mortality, otherworldliness and what we leave behind.
It is during these adventures that she begins to reflect on the experiences of her youth --- the trauma, the challenges, the risks she has taken. Driving across America on self-funded book tours, sometimes crashing on couches when she was broke, she keeps writing: in researching articles for magazines, jotting down ideas for novels, and refining her craft, she grows as an artist and increasingly learns to trust her gut and, ultimately, herself.
Exploring themes of friendship, independence, class and drive, I CAME ALL THIS WAY TO MEET YOU is an inspiring story of finding one’s way home --- emotionally, artistically and physically --- and an examination of art and individuality that will resonate with anyone determined to listen to their own creative calling.
Audiobook available, read by Xe Sands
