Preggers Proust
"Who does Ariel Gore think she is? A preggers Proust?"
--Anonymous Post-it Note bandit quoted on gawker.com
"Gore’s guide is laugh-out loud funny and full of practical tips on how to push yourself."
--Ghost Word
How to Become a Famous Writer Before You're Dead is out now! Booklist says it's "one of the snappiest, most useful books a writer for hire is likely to read."
Includes interviews with Julia Alvarez, Ursula Le Guin, Margaret Cho, Dave Eggers, Michelle Tea, and many others.
Ayun Halliday emailed to say: "I think it's fantastic, for aspiring and established writers alike!"
Susie Bright says: "Your book is WONDERFUL--encouraging and funny and right on."
Erika Lopez says: "This book is kick ass! The next best thing to sitting down with some of these folks over beers and talking shop. I love it!"
And Susan Ito blogged about the book here.
--Anonymous Post-it Note bandit quoted on gawker.com
"Gore’s guide is laugh-out loud funny and full of practical tips on how to push yourself."
--Ghost Word
How to Become a Famous Writer Before You're Dead is out now! Booklist says it's "one of the snappiest, most useful books a writer for hire is likely to read."
Includes interviews with Julia Alvarez, Ursula Le Guin, Margaret Cho, Dave Eggers, Michelle Tea, and many others.
Ayun Halliday emailed to say: "I think it's fantastic, for aspiring and established writers alike!"
Susie Bright says: "Your book is WONDERFUL--encouraging and funny and right on."
Erika Lopez says: "This book is kick ass! The next best thing to sitting down with some of these folks over beers and talking shop. I love it!"
And Susan Ito blogged about the book here.
posted by Contact at 7:55 AM
11 Comments:
You might like to check out mompack.com - it's a great resource for promotion.
Ariel, looking forward to reading your newest book. But what happened to Cleveland on your promotional tour? We'd love to have you, so do consider adding it sometime soon. Meanwhile, I'll be sure to alert my sister-in-law in Portland to your appearance, and ask my friend in Durham, NC to help with flyers.
Yay! It is a wonderful book!
full of manners and sass and truth. An updated "how to be Happily published" book which in my opinion is the only good how to writers book I ever read. before yours. :)
Preggers? Lovely. I doubt they've read the book.
I'm just bitter you're not coming to the Bay Area!!
Hey Ariel,
Don Greenwood here. Hope you don't mind a positive comment from a WASP Old Fart Male!
I'm an alumnae of your Portland Memoir Classes, where I learned so much, and realize I have much more to learn.
I've read at least try "How to" books on getting published. Your's is the most comprehensive, yet down-to earth, and practical. I love your interviews.
Good luck on your book tour. You are a fresh breath of air in a stale literary world.
Finally, a book about writing that I can't put down. Literally. I've stapled it to my hands. Which... sort of defeats the whole writing thing, doesn't it... It's a wonderful, very inspirational book. Thank you for doing it!
Hi Ariel,
Ditto what everyone said. It's loaded with great ideas, and I was so excited to see Margaret Cho (among other greats, of course) in there.
I'm going to get a copy for my brother, who has written a so-far-unsaleable, strangely humorous book about cultural interp. of birds of prey.
Congrats on the bebe!
I was given this book earlier today from my friend Tatiana. I just quit my shittastic (but with health insurance) job as psych secretary and am graduating with my MFA in two weeks. I feel like this book was speaking directly to me. I love writing and craft and I had some mean ass fabulous teachers (Sarah Schulman, Darcey Steinke) but I swear this book is the final exam I needed to kick my lazy ass into gear.
Thank you so much and best wishes to you and yours. (was that cheesy?)
Hi Ariel,
I picked up your book at the American Library Association Conference in DC. I love it!
My baby just turned 3 months old and after everyone saying horribly ridiculous things to me during my pregnancy, I decided to write a book. I also realized that after blogging for the past year, I'm third of the way finished.
Hi Ariel - I was finishing my MFA when this book came out, and totally not reading anything but what was on the curriculum. Today I got this at the library in Oakland and after 95 pages I have to write to you. I love you and I admire you and why didn't I clue into your work before? Because you are a genius.
Your chapter 28 about the process of writing a book feels so real and is so reassuring. I've got about 150 pages of a "return novel" about an Arab-American woman going back to her ancestral village after the Lebanese civil war. God your how-to book is so helpful. Loved the interview with Julia Alvarez, esp. the stuff about ethnicity and family and telling secrets; and loved Ursula LeGuin; etc. etc.
Sarah Pollock was one of my teachers in grad school; how great to see you write about her. She is such a wonderful writer, editor and teacher. Her class (magazine writing workshop) was one of the most useful classes I took in grad school. I tell all the MFAs to take it. Totally worth it.
Now I'm going to buy Famous Writer and keep it to reread. It's like having a great teacher available all the time. I'll be giving it to my writer friends for presents (when I'm not giving them copies of the anthology I'm in, Homelands: Women's Journeys Across Race, Place and Time)
BTW I love the Ginsberg poem; there's a poem by the Iraqi exile poet Saadi Youssef that's a response to that one - Youssef's lament to America, land of delights and of bombs and murder. Arab poets of the 20th century loved Ginsberg. I read the Saadi Youssef poem aloud to a class in grad school two years ago and cried.
I'm your sudden big fan out of total darkness and ignorance of your work. (I wasn't sure until I picked up your book whether you were one of the Al Gore girls or not). Now I'll have to read all your other books.
Thank you again. And good luck with the baby! Guess it's impending, huh? How exciting.
Really great book. Thanks!
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