Family: American Writers Remember Their Own

by Sharon Fiffer

Meet the eccentric, eclectic family members of seventeen of America's finest writers in this dazzling, deeply moving collection of memories.

Take advice from Alice Hoffman's wise grandmother, Lillie Lulkin. Keep watch over lone children with Brent Staples. Share with Bob Shacochis and his wife the heartbreaking sadness of two people longing to have a child. You can also listen in as Chang-rae Lee and his mother speak their own language; carefully contemplate life through the eyes of Whitney Otto's beloved, irascible cat; discover if Marion Winik is really, truly related to either Charlie Chaplin or Jann Wenner; and barhop with a five-year-old Stuart Dybeck and his Polish Grandfather.

In joining this literary reunion, be prepared to discover your own sense of family history. Whether considering relations by blood, by marriage, by choice, or by chance, each writer here has something to secrets, desires, sorrows, and joys. And in this Family, you will find that the pleasure of reading is much more than relative.

Contributors Edwidge Danticat, Beverly Donofrio, Stuart Dybeck, Edward Hoagland, Alice Hoffman, bell hooks, Chang-rae Lee, Elizabeth McCracken, Whitney Otto, Jayne Anne Phillips, Bob Shacochis, Brent Staples, Deborah Tannen, Geoffrey Wolff, and Marion Winik.

The editors of Family are donating a portion of their royalties to two The Max Warburg Courage Curriculum, a values-based literacy program for sixth graders in the Boston Public School system; and Chicago Youth Centers, which works with young people in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, assisting them in becoming responsible and productive individuals..

Genres: Memoir

272 pages, Paperback

First published November 5, 1996

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of these essays are amazing, and I discovered some writers whose work I want to read more of - Bob Shacochis, whose essay From Here to Maternity is beautifully written, heartfelt and funny at once, and Whitney Otto's The Diary of Kali the Cat is so surprising and entertaining. I already knew I like Alice Hoffman's work, and her Advice from My Grandmother is another of this volume's many delights. A few of the essays were less powerful for me, but the ones I love soar.

[Emily D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some lovely stories and accurate insights. Well edited.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these were good, one was wonderful (Alice Hoffman.) Odd for me to have noticed, but across the board I though the entries from women were all more interesting and better written than those from any of the men who participated. I like the idea better than the result.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of short memoirs by some of America's best writers.