Episode 254 with Jami Attenberg, Author of A Reason to See You Again, and Skilled Craftswoman of Eccentric and Sympathetic Characters and Unique Family Bonds

Notes and Links to Jami Attenberg’s Work

 

 

   For Episode 254, Pete welcomes Jami Attenberg, and the two discuss, among other topics, seeds for her newest novel, the significance of its title, research and its connection to continuity, and salient themes and issues in her novel like grief and intergenerational traumas, the rapid development of digital technology and its ever-changing effects on society, conventional and unconventional family bonds, and guilt.

 

   Jami Attenberg is the New York Times bestselling author of nine books, including The Middlesteins, All Grown Up and a memoir, I Came All This Way to Meet You: Writing Myself Home. She is also the creator of the annual online group writing accountability project #1000wordsofsummer, which inspired the recently published USA Today bestseller 1000 Words:A Writer’s Guide to Staying Creative, Focused, and Productive All Year Round. Jami has also written for The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, the Sunday Times, The Guardian, and others. Her work has been published in sixteen languages.

   Her debut collection of stories, Instant Love, was published in 2006, followed by the novels The Kept Man and The Melting Season. Her fourth book, The Middlesteins, was published in October 2012. It appeared on The New York Times bestseller list, and was published in ten countries in 2013. It was also a finalist for both the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction and the St. Francis College Literary Prize. Her fifth book, Saint Mazie, was described by The New York Times Book Review as, “full of love and drink and dirty sex and nobility.” Her sixth book, All Grown Up, was a national bestseller, appearing on numerous year-end lists. Her most recent novel, All This Could Be Yours, for which Kirkus dubbed her, “poet laureate of difficult families,” also appeared on a number of year-end lists. In 2022 she published a memoir, I Came All This Way to Meet You: Writing Myself Home, which USA Today called, “a fierce memoir of personal transformation.”

   In January 2024 she published the creativity book, 1000 Words:A Writer’s Guide to Staying Creative, Focused, and Productive All Year Round which was praised on The Today Show, NPR, and elsewhere. In September 2024 she will also publish a new novel, A Reason to See You Again.

   She lives in New Orleans, LA.

 

 

Buy A Reason to See You Again

 

New York Times Review of A Reason to See You Again

 

Excerpt of A Reason to See You Again from People Magazine

 

Jami Attenberg Website

 

At about 3:20: Jami describes her mindset as her 10th book is set to be published within the week

At about 4:40, Jami details her exciting book tour, including a cool stop in Ireland for a book festival

At about 8:00, Jami describes which books of her own and of others are “in conversation” with her latest 

At about 11:10, Pete and Jami share a few interesting and complimentary and funny reviews 

At about 12:10, Jami responds to Pete’s wondering about seeds for the book

At about 13:40, Pete cites the book’s first scene and its focus on a pre-Internet world; Jami expands upon her mindset in showing the changes in technology in the book’s 46 year-arc

At about 16:00, Jami remarks on the ways in which she wanted to have work and technology as background and not at the forefront, and how it is and isn’t a “work novel”

At about 17:30, The two laugh over a labeling of the book as “historical fiction”

At about 18:10, Pete highlights Jami’s trendsetting abilities involving “demure”

At about 19:15, Pete notes the interesting ways in which Jami structures her dialogue

At about 20:45, Jami responds to Pete’s questions about how she maintained continuity in writing the book chronologically or not 

At about 23:25, Pete asks Jami about the background of the evocative first line of the novel

At about 25:55, The two discuss Rudy, the “hero” of the members of the Cohen family, and the ways in which Jami sees him 

At about 28:15, Jami discusses Frieda and what she may have been missing in her life

At about 30:00, Jami reflects on the balance and relationship between Shelley and Nancy, the sisters

At about 33:30, Jami responds to Pete’s questions about familial connections over generations

At about 36:00, Frieda and her resignation towards her daughters and Robby and Nancy’s relationship is discussed

At about 39:10, Generational traumas and guilt are discussed

At about 42:40, Jami shouts out helpful feedback from helpful writer friends in expanding parts of the novel

At about 43:35, Pete and Jami reflect on two interesting pairs and family dynamics 

At about 47:25, Jami details how her current novel title happened, and the importance of this title 

At about 49:25, Jami shouts out some favorite bookstores to buy her novel

 

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    Please tune in for Episode 255 with Chris Knapp, whose work has appeared in print in the Paris Review and the New England Review, among other publications. His novel, States of Emergency, from Unnamed Press, has Sept 17 as its Pub Day and has been widely-acclaimed, including by the masterful Brandon Taylor. 

The episode will air on September 27.

Lastly, please go to ceasefiretoday.com, which features 10+ actions to help bring about Ceasefire in Gaza.