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Deceptively simple and surprisingly addictive, Not Quite What I Was Planning is a thousand glimpses of humanity—six words at a time.
When Ernest Hemingway famously wrote, "For Sale: baby shoes, never worn," he proved that an entire story can be told using a half-dozen words. When the online storytelling magazine SMITH asked readers to submit six-word memoirs, they proved a whole, real life can be told this way, too. The results are fascinating, hilarious, shocking, and moving.
From small sagas of bittersweet romance ("Found true love, married someone else") to proud achievements and stinging regrets ("After Harvard, had baby with crackhead"), these terse true tales relate the diversity of human experience in tasty bite-size pieces.
The original edition of Not Quite What I Was Planning spent six weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and thanks to massive media attention—from NPR to the The New Yorker—the six-word memoir concept spread to classrooms, dinner tables, churches, synagogues, and tens of thousands of blogs. This deluxe edition has been revised and expanded to include more than sixty never-before-seen memoirs.
From authors Elizabeth Gilbert, Richard Ford, and Joyce Carol Oates to celebrities Stephen Colbert, Mario Batali, and Joan Rivers to ordinary folks around the world, everyone has a six-word story to tell.
Adult/High School- The editors of SMITH magazine invited readers to contribute brief life stories in the vein of Hemingway's bravura tale, "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." The hundreds selected for publication include offerings from children and adults, professional writers, bereaved parents, recovering broken hearts, and people with great pride in showing off their wit. Teens will recognize some of the "memoirists," including Janet Tashjian, author of The Gospel According to Larry (Holt, 2001), Ned Vizzini of It's Kind of a Funny Story (Hyperion/Miramax, 2006), and Deepak Chopra. The six words by the latter are followed by a handsome pun penned by his son: "Soul'd out so I could prophet." Some entries include cartoons, self-portraits taken with a camera, or other artwork. The index allows access by topic, some of which are adoption (two entries), coffee (five entries), and love (28 entries). A good combination of inspired, inspiring, and entertaining, this title is eminently browsable and shareable. It's a fine book to offer reluctant readers as well as teens who are interested in creative writing.-Francisca Goldsmith, Halifax Public Libraries, Nova Scotia
SMITH Magazine founding editor Larry Smith has worked as an editor at Men's Journal, ESPN: The Magazine, and Might. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Popular Science, on Salon.com, and many other places. Larry lives in New York City
Rachel Fershleiser is SMITH's memoir editor and has written for the Village Voice, the New York Press, Print, and the National Post. Rachel lives in New York City.
Chapter One
After Harvard, had baby with crackhead.
—Robin Templeton
Seventy years, few tears, hairy ears.
—Bill Querengesser
Watching quietly from every door frame.
—Nicole Resseguie
Catholic school backfired. Sin is in!
—Nikki Beland
Savior complex makes for many disappointments.
—Alanna Schubach
Nobody cared, then they did. Why?
—Chuck Klosterman
Some cross-eyed kid, forgotten then found.
—Diana Welch
She said she was negative. Damn.
—Ryan McRae
Born in the desert, still thirsty.
—Georgene Nunn
A sake mom, not soccer mom.
—Shawna Hausman
I asked. They answered. I wrote.
—Sebastian Junger
No future, no past. Not lost.
—Matt Brensilver
Extremely responsible, secretly longed for spontaneity.
—Sabra Jennings
Joined Army. Came out. Got booted.
—Johan Baumeister
Anonymous
Posted February 26, 2008
Got the book, read it, laughed!
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I love this book and plan to buy the sequel. These six word memoirs are short yet profound. You will run through many emotions and you have a peek into the lives of others: happy, sad, shock, horror. I used this book as a springboard to have my elementary school students do a six word statement about themselves. The results were amazing. What a great tweet a six word statement would be. I am fascinated by the concept as each day/month/year our six word life snapshot will be different. I would love to see people trying to put in six words their life at this moment and then continue to do it through the many other moments in their life. For non-writers...what a great way to get your life on paper!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Lawral
Posted March 24, 2010
I Also Recommend:
This is a great collection of six-word memoirs from an awesome array of people. Celebrities whose memoirs appear include Aimee Mann, Amy Sedaris, Mitali Perkins and more, but the really great memoirs come from us everyday folk.
"Can't read all the time. Bummer." (140)
"I love my lady ... and bacon." (127)
"I'm ten, and have an attitude." (83)
And the story of my life, written in six words by someone else:
"I wrote it all down somewhere." (43)
This is a quick read that will make you both laugh and think and will leave you with a very dog-eared book of lines to go back to later.
At times, depressing, others touching and completely inspiring. If you liked this, you'd LOVE Post Secret too.
:)
trishmc
Posted April 28, 2009
thats all
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Posted February 24, 2009
I Also Recommend:
I love this book and have given it to many people as gifts! It was very touching to read the 6-word memoirs of famous as well as not-so-famous people. Some are sad, some are funny and entertaining, some are very poignant. It has inspired my friends and me to write several of our own memoirs and share them together. We all agreed that we'd find ourselves thinking of words to describe our lives (or at least parts of life) and silently counting on our fingers to see if we had exactly six words. The book really helped us to know and understand ourselves and each other in new ways and was lots of fun. I highly recommend it.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged....to just 6 words! This is fun. Great for reading in the john, conversation starters, a great party game. I gave a copy for Christmas, and if I can't borrow it back, I'll buy another copy for myself.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted February 8, 2008
Just bought a copy and I love it! Full of amazing 6-word stories from hundreds of people, most I didn't know, but lots of interesting celebrities too! Stephen Colbert's was funny, Joan Rivers too. How did they get all these great people in their book? Who cares, when we get to enjoy the fruits of their labors. Hurray!
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Overview
Deceptively simple and surprisingly addictive, Not Quite What I Was Planning is a thousand glimpses of humanity—six words at a time.
When Ernest Hemingway famously wrote, "For Sale: baby shoes, never worn," he proved that an entire story can be told using a half-dozen words. When the online storytelling magazine SMITH asked readers to submit six-word memoirs, they proved a whole, real life can be told this way, too. The results are fascinating,...