This memoir affected me in a way I can't quite put my finger on; I kind of feel nostalgic for a life I never knew? Attenberg writes with a warmth (even when discussing the dark stuff) that just makes me feel overcome with sentimentality.

I enjoyed a lot of this book, but chapter 14 really did a number on me. ( )

I've read three of Jami Attenberg's novels and have the others on my shelf, just waiting for the right time. I love her writing, and she seems like a cool person to boot (if her Twitter is any indication - ha!). This work of nonfiction is sort-of a memoir and sort-of a primer on writing as a craft and a calling. It's beautifully and painfully honest and sharply insightful - I marked *a lot* of passages. In each essay, Attenberg connects a personal story or part of her life to her writing and how she approaches it. It's a fascinating look "behind the curtain" of a talented, and reasonably - though not overwhelmingly - successful writer. My only quibble - and really, it's minor and more an issue with me, probably - is that I occasionally got confused by the (lack of) coherent timeline, so that sometimes I couldn't figure out if what I was reading about happened before or after something previously read. At times, I feel like this would have made a difference in understanding her perspective and thoughts on what I was reading in the moment.

4.25 stars

"Now I could close my eyes, hold a thought in my head, the sun above me, while far away my family was being noisy, talking, eating. Do you know this continuous tension of needing and not needing people? Knowing they're nearby, happy they're there, but wishing them away, too." (p. 79)

"But forgiveness is another thing to learn, forgiving ourselves for not always being our best, for not always accomplishing everything. Add forgiveness to the arsenal of skills we need to acquire in order to survive everyday life. Forgive ourselves for being human." (p. 189)

"This doesn't mean I am perfect now. I will never be perfect. This doesn't mean I won't still get things wrong. I have acquired too many scars to be fully healed. I have broken so many habits but not all of them. Even the experience of writing a book is just making one mistake after another until you're not anymore. Every day we sit down to work we swim in a sea of our own fuck-ups. On the shore is one good sentence." (p. 256) ( )

This writing style including much repetition may have helped the author come to terms with who she has become, but I found it tedious and narcissicistic. I did not care for many of the events the first time they were mentioned, so there was no need for me to read about them numerous times. I do wish the author the best and hope she is able to sustain meaningful relationships. I am also thankful that her family is so supportive of her. I am pleased that she is able to support herself by following her passion, and maybe her writing will help others. ( )

had been eager to read Jami Attenburg's I Came All This Way to Meet You. I really liked her novel The Middlesteins; which I thought was a hilarious depiction of life in a Jewish suburb of Chicago. There are some good parts in her memoir, and I was really touched by the chapter where she talks to her father about his career as a salesman. However, overall, I would urge readers to stick to her novels. ( )

No time for a lengthy review, but this is a lovely little travelogue through the life of a writer. That certain kind of writer, literary, well thought-of, but not the type who sells tons of books. Attenberg's prose is wonderful but I always hate her characters (unrealistic, almost cartoonishly overblown, frequently irksome) so I have not enjoyed her novels. For the record, it is not that I do not understand her characters -- Attenberg and I are both Jewish women from suburban towns adjacent to Midwestern cities, we both felt the pull of New York, travel widely, love good food and good liquor and good men, have lived part of our adult lives in the South, and value our friendships deeply. I understand her. I just don't think she understands typical non-artsy people and her character development suffers as a result. She makes normal people into vacant people or ridiculous quirky people. People I don't know at all. I like this book though. Attenberg understands herself even if she doesn't get others, and for this book that is all she needs to understand. The book is quiet and thoughtful and it pulled me in. If you enjoy books about writers' genesis and about the artistic spirit, I think you will like this. ( )