I Didn’t Want to Write a Memoir: A Guest Post by Neko Case
Neko Case’s rural, quiet and lonely childhood paved the way to global stardom — this is the story of how she made her place in the world. Both heartbreakingly human and hilarious, Case’s memoir can’t be missed. Read on for an exclusive guest post from Neko on writing The Harder I Fight the More I Love You.
Hardcover
$27.00
$30.00
The Harder I Fight the More I Love You: A Memoir
The Harder I Fight the More I Love You: A Memoir
By Neko Case
In Stock Online
Hardcover
$27.00
$30.00
For readers of Carrie Brownstein’s Hunger Makes the Modern Girl and Brandi Carlile’s Broken Horses comes a profoundly moving portrait of a remarkable life forged through trial and error, unlikely inspiration, and hard work, from critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter Neko Case.
For readers of Carrie Brownstein’s Hunger Makes the Modern Girl and Brandi Carlile’s Broken Horses comes a profoundly moving portrait of a remarkable life forged through trial and error, unlikely inspiration, and hard work, from critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter Neko Case.
I didn’t want to write a memoir initially, I wanted to write fiction. It was the height of the pandemic when Grand Central came along and said, “But we’ll pay you for a memoir.” It was an offer I couldn’t refuse. I was broke and sad. Like many industries, mine (the music industry) had been gutted. First by streaming then by Covid 19. Who was I to say no? I don’t like to linger on talking about myself too much so I figured it would be a hellscape, but it actually turned out to be pretty fun. I was pleasantly surprised.
I’m a Virgo and love to organize things and put them in their proper places. Writing a memoir, it turns out, was a way to do this with my memories. I don’t put any real stock in the zodiac but the descriptions of Virgo are too spot on for me to ignore them, haha! So, with my friend and editor Carrie Fry I set out to do just that. I sort of started in order? I’m heavy ADHD so that likely looks a little different in practice from other people’s processes. Think of it as coloring with really nice, fine felt tip pens; first I would go snug to the inside of the lines in the coloring book reinforcing them and making a “safety” so when I go back to color the open spaces I am free-er, and don’t have to worry about going out of the lines as much. Carrie’s good prompts were there when I needed a nudge. They were always interesting and provoked a lot of thought. I ended up writing about things I’d long misplaced thanks to Carrie.
I wrote the book over the course of about a year and a half, maybe a little longer, pausing for touring and working on a musical. Sometimes I could fit some writing in on tour if inspiration struck, like the Demolition Derby chapter, which I wrote in one sitting in my dressing room in Baton Rouge. The musical was much too labor intensive to have energy left over for my own writing however, so it took a little bit. I’m an over-sharer with my friends and often strangers, so I didn’t have trouble sharing things about myself with the audience. Though, the book isn’t out yet as of this writing so maybe I have yet to freak out? It remains to be seen. Haha! At any rate, I hope people like it and find something in it that resonates with them.
