Jami Attenberg

From the New York Times best-selling author of The Middlesteins comes a wickedly funny novel about a thirty-nine-year-old single, childfree woman who defies convention as she seeks connection. Who is Andrea Bern? When her therapist asks the question, Andrea knows the right things to say: she's a designer, a friend, a daughter, a sister. But it's what she leaves unsaid--she's alone, a drinker, a former artist, a shrieker in bed, captain of the sinking ship that is her flesh--that feels the most true. Everyone around her seems to have an entirely different idea of what it means to be an adult: her best friend, Indigo, is getting married; her brother--who miraculously seems unscathed by their shared tumultuous childhood--and sister-in-law are having a hoped-for baby; and her friend Matthew continues to wholly devote himself to making dark paintings at the cost of being flat broke. But when Andrea's niece finally arrives, born with a heartbreaking ailment, the Bern family is forced to reexamine what really matters. Will this drive them together or tear them apart? Told in gut-wrenchingly honest, mordantly comic vignettes, All Grown Up is a breathtaking display of Jami Attenberg's power as a storyteller, a whip-smart examination of one woman's life, lived entirely on her own terms.

All Grown Up

"From New York Times best-selling author Jami Attenberg comes a sharp, funny, and emotionally powerful novel about a family reuniting at the deathbed of its patriarch. In reckoning with his secret past, can they rebuild and begin anew?"--

All This Could Be Yours

For more than thirty years, Edie and Richard Middlestein shared a solid family life together in the suburbs of Chicago. But now things are splintering apart, for one reason, it seems: Edie's enormous girth. She's obsessed with food--thinking about it, eating it--and if she doesn't stop, she won't have much longer to live. When Richard abandons his wife, it is up to the next generation to take control. Robin, their schoolteacher daughter, is determined that her father pay for leaving Edie. Benny, an easy-going, pot-smoking family man, just wants to smooth things over. And Rachelle-- a whippet thin perfectionist-- is intent on saving her mother-in-law's life, but this task proves even bigger than planning her twin children's spectacular b'nai mitzvah party. Through it all, they wonder: do Edie's devastating choices rest on her shoulders alone, or are others at fault, too? With pitch-perfect prose, huge compassion, and sly humor, Jami Attenberg has given us an epic story of marriage, family, and obsession. The Middlesteins explores the hopes and heartbreaks of new and old love, the yearnings of Midwestern America, and our devastating, fascinating preoccupation with food.

A Novel

The Middlesteins

"I Came All This Way to Meet You is a love story; it shows us a way to love art and our lives and our souls. . . . It's Eat Pray Love for Nick Cave fans."--Emily Flake, New Yorker cartoonist and author of That Was Awkward "Jami Attenberg is undoubtedly a writer's writer and a phenomenal talent. I Came All This Way to Meet You showcases all the very best of her gifts, bringing intimacy to the forefront of the work, asking the reader to stay close, pay attention, learn. There is so much beauty in her craft, a tenderness present, even on the sentence level. The book is an embrace; it is a love letter to work and to friendship. I Came All This Way to Meet You is a compelling literary treasure and Attenberg is a real wonder."--Kristen Arnett, author of Mostly Dead Things and With Teeth From New York Times bestselling author Jami Attenberg comes a dazzling memoir about unlocking and embracing her creativity--and how it saved her life. In this brilliant, fierce, and funny memoir of transformation, Jami Attenberg--described as a "master of modern fiction" (Entertainment Weekly) and the "poet laureate of difficult families" (Kirkus Reviews)--reveals the defining moments that pushed her to create a life, and voice, she could claim for herself. What does it take to devote oneself to art? What does it mean to own one's ideas? What does the world look like for a woman moving solo through it? As the daughter of a traveling salesman in the Midwest, Attenberg was drawn to a life on the road. Frustrated by quotidian jobs and hungry for inspiration and fresh experiences, her wanderlust led her across the country and eventually on travels around the globe. Through it all she grapples with questions of mortality, otherworldliness, and what we leave behind. It is during these adventures that she begins to reflect on the experiences of her youth--the trauma, the challenges, the risks she has taken. Driving across America by herself on self-funded book tours, sometimes crashing on couches when she was broke, she keeps writing: in researching articles for magazines, jotting down ideas for novels, and refining her craft, she grows as an artist and increasingly learns to trust her gut and, ultimately, herself. Exploring themes of friendship, independence, class, and drive, I Came All This Way to Meet You is an inspiring story of finding one's way home--emotionally, artistically, and physically--and an examination of art and individuality that will resonate with anyone determined to listen to their own creative calling.

Writing Myself Home

I Came All This Way to Meet You

From the bestselling author of The Middlesteins comes comes this unique novel about a forgotten heroine of the 1930s. Meet Mazie Phillips: big-hearted and feisty, she runs The Venice, the famed movie theatre in the rundown Bowery district of New York City. She spends her days taking tickets, chatting with drunks and eccentrics, and chasing out the troublemakers. After closing up, the nights are her own, and she fills them with romance and booze aplenty-even during Prohibition. When the Great Depression hits, and homelessness soars, Mazie opens The Venice to those in need, giving them shelter and dimes for food and booze, and earning the nickname 'Saint Mazie'. Inspired by Joseph Mitchell's essay about Mazie in Up in the Old Hotel, acclaimed author Jami Attenberg's novel honours an extraordinary life and heralds a completely original approach to writing historical fiction. Weaving together fictionalised diaries, writings and interviews, Attenberg has constructed an utterly convincing portrait of Mazie Philips, which is also a deeply moving portrait of New York as it passed through the First World War, Prohibition, the boom of the '20s, and then the terrible depression of the '30s.

Saint Mazie

Inspired by Jami Attenberg’s wildly popular literary movement #1000WordsofSummer, this writer’s guide features encouraging essays on creativity, productivity, and writing from acclaimed authors including Roxane Gay, Lauren Groff, Celeste Ng, Meg Wolitzer, and Carmen Maria Machado. In 2018, novelist Jami Attenberg, faced with a looming deadline, needed writing inspiration. Using a bootcamp model, she and a friend set out to write one thousand words daily for two weeks straight. They opened this practice to Attenberg’s online community and soon hundreds then thousands of people started using the #1000WordsofSummer hashtag to track their work and support one another. What began as a simple challenge between two friends has become a literary movement—write 1,000 words per day without judgment, or bias, or concerns about writer’s block, and see what comes of it. 1000 Words is the book-length extension of this movement. It is about becoming—and staying—motivated, discovering yourself and your creative desires, and approaching your craft from a new direction. It features advice from more than fifty well-known writers, including New York Times bestsellers, Pulitzer Prize winners, and stars of the literary world. Framing these letters are words of wisdom and encouragement, plus specific strategies, from Attenberg on how to carve out a creative path for yourself all year round. Paired with vibrant word art illustrations, 1000 Words is an accessible and motivational craft book that allows you to open any page and get a quick and fulfilling hit of inspiration. Featuring Roxane Gay, Bryan Washington, Susan Orlean, Maris Kreizman, Sara Novic, Rumaan Alam, Lauren Oyler, Emma Straub, Christopher Gonzales, Benjamin Percy, Mira Jacob, Laura van den Berg, Carmen Maria Machado, Courtney Sullivan, Rebecca Carroll, Ada Limon, R.O. Kwon, Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, Elissa Washuta, Alexander Chee, Maggie Shipstead, Deesha Philyaw, Jasmine Guillory, Kristen Arnett, Attica Locke, Megan Abbott, Min Jin Lee, Lauren Groff, Andrew Sean Greer, Camille Dungy, Megan Giddings, Isaac Fitsgerald, Hannah Tinti, Michael H. Weber, Celeste Ng, Elizabeth McCracken, Will Leitch, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Morgan Parker, Kiese Laymon, Melissa Febos, Alissa Nutting, Liz Moore, Laila Lalami, Megan Mayhew Berman, Rebecca Makkai, Meg Wolitzer, Mychal Denzel Smith, Josh Gondelman, and Dantiel W. Moniz.

A Writer's Guide to Staying Creative, Focused, and Productive All Year Round

1000 Words

"From New York Times bestselling author Jami Attenberg comes a dazzling novel of family, following a troubled mother and her two daughters over forty years and through a swiftly changing American landscape as they seek lives they can fully claim as their own"--

A Reason to See You Again

Per più di trent’anni Edie e Richard Middlestein hanno condiviso la vita – una solida famiglia di Chicago, due figli, una bella casa, un buon lavoro, molti amici. Ma tutto viene sconvolto perché Edie mangia troppo. È tormentata dal cibo, pensa solo a quello e agisce di conseguenza – se non riuscirà a smettere non le rimarrà molto da vivere. Quando Richard decide alla fine di lasciare sua moglie, tocca ai figli prendere il controllo della situazione. Robin, polemica e irrisolta ma generosa, è determinata a farla pagare al padre per aver lasciato sola la mamma; Benny, un uomo tranquillo, padre di famiglia che è solito concludere le giornate con uno spinello, preferirebbe lasciare che le cose procedano per il loro corso. Sua moglie Rachelle, donna perfezionista e un tantino stressata, è decisa invece a salvare la suocera, ma la missione risulterà molto più ardua dell’organizzare la grandiosa festa per il b’nei mitzvah dei loro due gemelli. Nel frattempo Edie continua a mangiare e a ingrassare, ma forse – la sensazione si insinua gradualmente nel lettore – non è l’unica responsabile per quello che fatalmente succederà. Con una prosa ricca, grande partecipazione e fine senso dell’umorismo, Jami Attenberg costruisce un romanzo epico sul matrimonio, la famiglia e le nostre ossessioni, seguendo le vicende di una famiglia ebraica americana a cui non potrete fare a meno di affezionarvi.

I middle stein

Jarvis Miller lebt in New Yorks hippem Viertel Williamsburg, doch von dessen aufregendem Wandel bekommt sie nichts mit. Seit ihr Mann, ein berühmter Künstler, durch einen Unfall im Koma liegt, hat sie sich in hingebungsvolle Trauer zurückgezogen. Erst als sie im Waschsalon Tony, Mal und Scott kennenlernt, drei attraktive verheiratete Männer, entdeckt sie ihre Lebenslust wieder. Da enthüllen eines Tages alte Fotos nie Geahntes über die Vergangenheit des Künstlers, und Jarvis beginnt, nicht nur ihre Ehe infrage zu stellen.

Ehemänner

Fleeing her hometown with a suitcase of stolen money after being abandoned by her husband, Catherine Madison hopes to escape her painful past and self-doubt by starting over in Las Vegas, where unexpected friendships encourage her to accept difficult truths.

The Melting Season

"Se eu sei por que ele é do jeito que é, talvez eu possa entender por que sou do jeito que sou", diz Alex, uma advogada cabeça dura, mãe amorosa e filha de Victor Tuchman – um promotor imobiliário sedento por poder. Agora que Victor está no leito de morte, Alex sente que ela pode, finalmente, descobrir os segredos de quem ele é e o que ele fez ao longo de sua vida e carreira. Ela viaja para Nova Orleans para estar com sua família, mas principalmente para interrogar sua mãe, Barbra. Enquanto Barbra se defende das perguntas incansáveis de Alex, ela reflete sobre sua vida tumultuada com Victor. Enquanto isso, Gary, irmão de Alex, é incomunicável, tentando iniciar sua carreira no cinema em Los Angeles. E a esposa de Gary, Twyla, está tendo um colapso nervoso, explodindo em ataques de choro. A disfunção está no auge. À medida que cada membro da família lida com a história de Victor, eles precisam descobrir uma maneira de seguir em frente – um com o outro, por si mesmos e pelo bem de seus filhos. Este romance é uma exploração oportuna e penetrante do que significa ser pego na teia de um homem tóxico; mostra como um relacionamento abusivo pode envolver uma família por gerações e o que é preciso para se libertar e entender que nem tudo tem que ser seu.

Nem tudo tem que ser seu

Da grande

Instant Love

From New York Times bestselling author Jami Attenberg comes a dazzling novel of family, following a troubled mother and her two daughters over forty years and through a swiftly changing American landscape as they seek lives they can fully claim as their own. The women of the Cohen family are in crisis. Triggered by the death of Rudy Cohen, the glue that held them all together, everyone’s lives soon take a dramatic turn. Shelly, the younger of the two Cohen sisters, runs off to the West Coast to immerse herself in the emerging (and lucrative) world of technology. There she enters into a fraught and dramatic relationship with her womanizing boss and a roller coaster of a friendship with her (mostly beloved) coworker Margaret. Her sister, Nancy, marries young, to a traveling salesman with a shadowy lifestyle, while their mother, Frieda, hurls herself into a boozy, troubled existence in Miami, trying to forget the past even as it haunts her. But they each learn in different ways that running from the past can’t save you—and then must make life-altering decisions about what they want their family to be and what they need to move forward. Beginning in the 1970s and spanning forty years, A Reason to See You Again takes the reader on a kaleidoscopic journey through motherhood, the American workforce, the tech industry, the self-help movement, inherited trauma, and the ever-evolving ways we communicate with one another. Perhaps more than anything, this is a novel about women claiming their agency in uncertain times. With her inimitable verve and compassion, Jami Attenberg, “the poet laureate of difficult families” (Kirkus Reviews), tells a story of the bonds and scars that come from less-than-perfect families—and the many unexpected forms that love can take.

Jami Attenberg

About

Books

Join the club