Memoirs for Fiction-Only Readers

I tell people all the time that I only read fiction, and now I'll have recommended three memoirs in the last two months, if you count Kay Jamison's An Unquiet Mind. Maybe I'm unreliable, but maybe you'll still love these as well. While each one contains tips on how to accomplish a specific thing (writing, and biking from Oregon to Patagonia), they turn out to be more like field guides for overcoming challenges. Sorry everyone, all signs still point to "life is a journey, not a destination."

Bird by Bird

I have printed (beamed to the information superhighway) the excerpt from the jacket below, because I often think of it when I'm overwhelmed:

"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write. [It] was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said 'Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.'"

The essence of this book, and Anne Lamott at large, is self-awareness, self-love, and keeping on keeping on.

She also has a great conversation with Amy Poehler, on Good Hangs with Amy Poehler. I don't think they discuss the book directly, but I recommend it if you want an hour of Anne Lamott verbal hugs but have things to do.

To Shake the Sleeping Self

There was a time in my life where it felt like every time I would explain a thought or something I went through, my friend Carly would say, "Oh, Jed Jenkins posted about this–I'll send it to you." It was probably around 2018. The comfort of feeling understood mostly outweighed the feeling that I had no original thoughts. I don't have an older brother, but I imagine that's a bit what it would be like.

As it says in the title, Jed Jenkins RODE HIS BIKE FROM OREGON TO PATAGONIA. Even if you don't enjoy the metaphysical, this book is interesting from a strictly a logistical point of view. How on earth does one do that? It turns out that certain times of year are better, and certain types of bikes are better, but you also can't prepare for everything. While there are tons of logistical answers, layered over the top of it all is probably a key to life: a combination of not stopping, luck, and letting people help.