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A review by deedireads
I Came All This Way to Meet You: Writing Myself Home by Jami Attenberg
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.
First, big thanks to Libro.fm and Harper Audio for the audio review copy of this book! I’d been looking forward to it for a while, because I’m a big fan of Jami Attenberg’s substack newsletter, “Craft Talk,” and her annual 1000 Words of Summer write-a-thon.
I Came All This Way to Meet You is one of my favorite kinds of memoirs: about an ordinary life, made meaningful in the details. There’s no denying that Attenberg is a great writer of words, and it shows here. The book is honest, funny, heartfelt, sincere, and very generous.
I will say that the narration style of the audiobook wasn’t my favorite. (She did not read it herself, FYI.) Some people may prefer it; I think it was meant to be a more expressive style. But for me, I think the intonation distracted a bit from what were, underneath, really resonant and hard-hitting sentences. I may decide to reread a print copy in the future. But the book itself is excellent enough that I really enjoyed it anyway.
Thank you, Jami, for sharing this gift with us.
First, big thanks to Libro.fm and Harper Audio for the audio review copy of this book! I’d been looking forward to it for a while, because I’m a big fan of Jami Attenberg’s substack newsletter, “Craft Talk,” and her annual 1000 Words of Summer write-a-thon.
I Came All This Way to Meet You is one of my favorite kinds of memoirs: about an ordinary life, made meaningful in the details. There’s no denying that Attenberg is a great writer of words, and it shows here. The book is honest, funny, heartfelt, sincere, and very generous.
I will say that the narration style of the audiobook wasn’t my favorite. (She did not read it herself, FYI.) Some people may prefer it; I think it was meant to be a more expressive style. But for me, I think the intonation distracted a bit from what were, underneath, really resonant and hard-hitting sentences. I may decide to reread a print copy in the future. But the book itself is excellent enough that I really enjoyed it anyway.
Thank you, Jami, for sharing this gift with us.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Suicide attempt