A Life in Just Six Words


Inspired by Hemingway, who (maybe) wrote:
“For sale: baby shoes. Never Worn.”
6-word memoirs by various writers.

My “memoir” earned a comp copy.
The entry? Inspired by my book:
“Closed a door, opened a life.”
Pretentious? perhaps, but certainly heartfelt, true.

I can’t put the book down!
My copy from e-friend Felicia Sullivan.
Her entry, page 150, quoted here:
“Weird quiet girl, fading from view.”
Others worth a look; my sister’s:
“Learned reading, writing, forgot arithmetic”
(Though note, it’s only five words!)

Also love this, from Ariana Huffington:
“Fearlessness is the mother of reinvention.”
And also, from writer Daniel Handler:
“What? Lemony Snicket? Lemony Snicket? What?”
or commercial approach from Martha Clarkson:
“Detergent girl: Bold. Tide. Cheer. All.”
And a thoughtful entry; Arthur Harris:
“Good, evil use the same font.”
Brilliant understatement from Roy Blount, Jr:
“Maybe you had to be there.”
And I relate to Barb Piper:
“Rich in degrees and student loans”
Ayelet Waldman always makes me laugh:
“New Jersey to California. Thank god.”

Get the book; read some more.

3 Comments

  1. Libby says:

    I think I was one of a few who played with the format a little. I wanted to say “forgot how to add,” or “forgot counting,” but lost the 3Rs sense when I did it that way…

  2. Daphne says:

    I heard the NPR feature about this book. Here’s mine:
    “Inventing the plot as I go.”

  3. Aliki2006 says:

    I love this! I’m definitely going to buy the book–I teach my students about “shortest shorts”–and use that Hemingway (maybe?) one in my class. What fun to have them write memoirs too!