The Autobiographer's Handbook

Practical insights from modern masters of memoir—A.J. Jacobs, Sarah Vowell, Tobias Wolff, Elizabeth Gilbert, Frank McCourt, and many more. In The Autobiographer's Handbook, you're invited to a roundtable discussion with today's most successful memoirists. Let Nick Hornby show you how the banal can be brilliant. Elizabeth Gilbert will teach you to turn pain into prose. Want to beat procrastination? Steve Almond has the answer. Learn about memory triggers (Ishmael Beah: music) and warm-up exercises (Jonathan Ames: internet backgammon). These writers may not always agree (on research: Tobias Wolff, yes, Frank McCourt, no) but whether you're a blossoming writer or a veteran wordsmith, this unprecedennted wealth of knowledge will help anyone who's ever dreamed of putting their story on paper, on writing themselves into existence. Featuring: Steve Almond • Jonathan Ames • Ishmael Beah • Elizabeth Gilbert • Nick Hornby • A. J. Jacobs • Maxine Hong Kingston • Phillip Lopate • Frank Mccourt • David Rakoff • Esmeralda Santiago • Julia Scheeres • Art Spiegelman • Anthony Swofford • Sarah Vowell • Sean Wilsey • Tobias Wolff • and many more "Should prove useful, informative and motivating for writers at just about any level." —Publishers Weekly