Some writers seem to have instant success. Lorrie Moore, Amy Bloom, Alice McDermott--all seem to have flashed across the sky like lightning, blah blah blah. (I think McDermott's "origin story" is especially irritating.)
By contrast, Jami Attenberg failed--again and again. At the age of twenty, she made the mistake of seeking approval from the novelist Robert Stone. Stone was a terrible teacher (I feel I know this, because I observed him in action)--and he sighed, when he saw Attenberg. "Honey," he said, "not everyone can make it as a writer. You could try a career in publishing...."
Attenberg dusted herself off and continued to write. She went broke three times. She noticed that her own preferred topics ("a woman waits, for twenty pages, to get her period") didn't always line up with conventional "Pulitzer" material ("a history of the Vietnam War").....She traveled. She made friends with established writers--not for strategic reasons, but simply because she realized that she wanted to have certain kinds of personalities in her life. Finally, she found success (via a random Jonathan Franzen blurb), and she planted herself in New Orleans; she writes at the back of the house, until it gets too quiet. Then she moves to the front, for the street noise. Then she returns to the back. And so on.
I think Attenberg's honesty is refreshing--and I particularly admire the compassion she extends toward Robert Stone. I'm looking forward to her upcoming novel.
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