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Nathaniel Barber

Goodreads Author

Born

in San Diego, The United States

Website

http://www.nathanielbarber.com/

Twitter

Nathaniel_Bbr

Genre

Nonfiction, Humor and Comedy, Memoir

Influences

David Sedaris, Tom Ford, Elizabeth Warren, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemi ...more

Member Since

April 2017

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/nathaielbarber

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I was born in San Diego but I remember little of my native city. I remember citrus, as large as my own head. And the sunset-orange beaches littered with black, sea-smoothed rocks. There were the family dogs, two eager and bushy Norwegian Elkhounds. I was just a small child then so the butts of these curl-tailed Norwegian Elkhounds—eye-level and unavoidable—lent an early and impressive lesson about the things you love: to throw yourself at them with pragmatic abandon since it is both right and necessary to love all things, but sensible to keep a watchful eye on the gruesome, sobering details. The air of San Diego was cream-heavy with sea salt and eucalyptus and jasmine.

Then, thank God, the Barber family picked up and moved to Lynnwood, Washi I was born in San Diego but I remember little of my native city. I remember citrus, as large as my own head. And the sunset-orange beaches littered with black, sea-smoothed rocks. There were the family dogs, two eager and bushy Norwegian Elkhounds. I was just a small child then so the butts of these curl-tailed Norwegian Elkhounds—eye-level and unavoidable—lent an early and impressive lesson about the things you love: to throw yourself at them with pragmatic abandon since it is both right and necessary to love all things, but sensible to keep a watchful eye on the gruesome, sobering details. The air of San Diego was cream-heavy with sea salt and eucalyptus and jasmine.

Then, thank God, the Barber family picked up and moved to Lynnwood, Washington just before my fourth birthday. It was one year after the eruption of Mt. Saint Helens when the whole Pacific Northwest, or, at least the rest stops along I-5, seemed still buried in its volcanic ash. It was here I learned about seasons: the blistering-hot and stupid suburban summers and the cruel, humbling soak from mid-September to May. Here I attended schools that varied from fantastically doting schools to schools that seemed to only specialize in the wicked trade of endless loathing, ineptitude and failure. I was lucky to have attended both. There was some little league in there, too. As well as a series of horribly disfiguring bicycle accidents.

I followed a girlfriend further north, to Bellingham, Washington. I won a long, hard-fought lawsuit against a pederast and enrolled in college to pursue a useless degree. I eventually married that girlfriend. It was a marriage I jokingly refer to as a ‘training wheels’ marriage. We graduated college with our useless degrees and promptly divorced so I moved to Portland, Oregon to work myself to the brink of physical and mental exhaustion. Somewhere in there I met the love of my life (sometimes it takes the wrong marriage to illuminate the right one). We live somewhere in North Portland with our daughter who recoils in horror every time I shave off my beard.

Some people will warn you away from non-fiction authors. They’re rumored to write only non-fiction because they have no imagination and they’re foaming with venom for all the perceived wrongs they’ve suffered. I don’t know about all that. I think my stories are beautiful, even if they are humiliating and difficult to tell. I hope my stories are enjoyable. After all, I’ve worked very hard to make them read okay. ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

If you could travel to any fictional book world, where would you go and what would you do there?

Nathaniel Barber I would visit Anne of Green Gable's Prince Edward Island. I would go there and buy the Cuthbert farm. I wouldn't take any of Marilla's crap. So, it wo…moreI would visit Anne of Green Gable's Prince Edward Island. I would go there and buy the Cuthbert farm. I wouldn't take any of Marilla's crap. So, it would be a rough go at first. But eventually Marilla would see that I'm a hard worker and I run a tight ship and before you'd know it, we'd be old biddies together. Inseparable. To the extent of my abilities, I would keep myself out of the town's gossip and going's on. Matthew did a good job at that, and I plan to continue the tradition of his nonparticipant commentary. How will I do this? I refuse to own a good suit or even Sunday clothes. Done and done. If everyone knew you didn't have a good suit or even Sunday clothes, why would they ask you to any of their dumb garden parties or social teas? That way I could be left alone, for the most part, to tend to the Cuthbert farm, assist Marilla in her dotage and see to the cows. Those cows, after all, aren't going to milk themselves.(less)

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How do you deal with writer’s block?

Nathaniel Barber I can't remember the exact quote, so I'll have to paraphrase. Showing up is 9/10th the work. The writing will come after.

I like that quote a lot beca…moreI can't remember the exact quote, so I'll have to paraphrase. Showing up is 9/10th the work. The writing will come after.

I like that quote a lot because it turns something as intangible as writers block, the notion that there just isn't anything to write about, or you're just not imaginative enough to create anything interesting, and turns it into a very real, very tangible barrier. The tangible things keeping you from writing. Whether that is outright laziness keeping you from your work, or crippling standards that won't allow you to put anything down or an attachment to what you've written so severe it is impossible to call it 'done' and move on. Essentially, this quote implies there is no such thing as writer's block.

There's one wild card there, of course. Since writing is a privilege, there is the very real barrier all privileges encounter, there just isn't any time to write. And that, I will give a pass. Some people are just strapped. It is insulting and hurtful to tell those who aren't privileged enough to write that they just aren't trying hard enough.

For me, there is only hard work. I realize...

...right now is a good example of that wild card, as my daughter is screaming at me to make her breakfast. So there it is.(less)

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Average rating: 4.0 · 24 ratings · 9 reviews · 1 distinct work

Luck Favors the Prepared

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Nathaniel Barber's Blog

Spoiler alert: there is no such thing as a spoiler.

I broke a writer’s cardinal rule: I talked about a work in progress.

My friend Carol asked what I’ll work on, now that my first book is published. Immediately She realized her mistake. “Stop! Nevermind!” she said, waving her hands. “Forget I asked. I know writers aren’t supposed to discuss works in progress.”

But I’ve never liked this about writers. Writers are notorious for being s