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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faith
Louisville, US
★★★★★ 5
Great purchase
Format: Hardcover
I love everything about this book. The recipes are easy to follow, the photographs are beautiful and there's even a section for tips and tricks!
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Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2019
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Strambinha
Dallas, US
★★★★★ 5
Inspiring, unusual & delicious
Format: Hardcover
I have tons of cookbooks, and what I don't buy, I get from the library. This book has unusual, beautiful styling ideas, feasible for the home baker, with good instructions.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2020
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Trent Vernon
Massapequa, US
★★★★★ 3
Not crafty/artistic .. maybe not for you.. if so.. some great ideas
Format: Hardcover
hmmm.. where to start.. firstly.. this is one talented artist/baker/author. The photos/end products in this book.. look incredible.. That being said.. I am a great baker.. not a great crafter/painter/drawer/artist. .. Many of the decorations involve drawing for making a stencil.. or sponge painting etc.. For the seashell recipe.. it starts with.. collect sea shells from the sea shore.. (not that practical) .. the hazelnut cookies have so few ingredients.. albeit.. an amazing decoration.. I doubted their deliciousness.. I loved the suggestion of using an open book to make your butterfly icing creatures.. to give them a in flight curved effect... I just dont see me ever doing that I did not make anything from this book.. i thumbed through it.. and returned it.. SO this is based purely on my own limitations of crafting/artistic ability.. hopefully a more ambitious home cook comes along and proves me wrong.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2018
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KSLady
Houston, US
★★★★★ 5
Great birthday gift!
Format: Paperback
As most everyone knows, teenagers are hard to buy for! I bought this book for each of my teenagers on their 17th birthday. Even the adults thought the book was helpful - great, practical information that can be used by everyone!
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Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2026
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Kim K
Draper, US
★★★★★ 5
Must buy!
Format: Paperback
My 14 year old is on chapter 2 and said he is really enjoying it. Loving this life skills for teens and having discussions around them. Definitely recommend!
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Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2026

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