Here, in an edgy and provocative collection by some of America's most talented young writers, are the raw and personal truths of those in their twenties in the 1990s: essays on founding a theater company, on guarding your virginity, on searching for the perfect job . . . or the perfect love. Alongside stories of a Catholic single mother or a savvy bartender come musings on a southern road trip gone haywire and an outrageous childhood in the Midwest. A gritty mix of candor, longing, and desire, this collection lays bare life's highs, lows, and in-betweens for a stunningly gifted and eclectic group. A MARINER ORIGINAL.
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Despite what one might surmise from the subtitle of Personals, it is not a collection of dreams and nightmares but of personal essays by 20 variously gifted young writers. Editor Thomas Beller's mandate to his contributors, most of whom are under 30, was to "find something that matters to you and write a story about it." Too many of these writers live in New York City and too many are annoyingly self-indulgent (and editorially indulged). But much of what they write about--desperately seeking to lose one's virginity, life during and after a heroin addiction, dating in the electronic age, dropping out of Wesleyan, the effects of a rootless childhood, straddling two cultures, working as an overeducated bagel-store employee--is interesting because of what it reveals about our times. And several of the essays--in particular Bliss Broyard's "My Father's Daughter"--are genuinely thoughtful and affecting. --Jane Steinberg
From Publishers Weekly
There are more nightmares than dreams animating this rangy, rich collection of self-portraits by emerging writers mostly under 30. That isn't surprising, given the edgy realism that Beller (Seduction Theory) seems to prefer. In the introduction, he writes that, rather than imposing some single overarching theme or heavy-handed generalization on his peers, he simply asked each writer to "find something that matters to you and write a story about it." The results are uneven, but often trenchant. Set against backdrops as varied as old-money New York, the rural Midwest, Vietnam and Cambodia, the pieces are shot through with similar themes: relationships that crash and burn, unexpected pregnancies, addiction to drugs and other forms of self-destruction, lives in emotional and geographical transit. Some essays are clever and sharply told, such as Meghan Daum's story of a romantic fling that begins in cyberspace and turns crushingly banal in real life; Scott Heim's Midnight Cowboy-like odyssey from small-town Kansas to New York hustler bars; Daniel Pinchbeck's account of dropping out of Wesleyan?a kind of anti-liberal arts J'accuse; and Brady Udall's hilarious look at childhood fibs. Elsewhere, the burden of self-definition yields earnest mini-life summaries and the occasional cliche?phrases like "learning process" stand out like half-eaten Big Macs. If they are not consistently perceptive, these writers do manage to condense large, unresolved questions of identity, place and memory into engaging short takes, offering a coherent portrait of life after college and a roster of some writers to watch.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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More About the Author
Thomas Beller was born and raised in New York City. He has worked as Chief-of-Inventory at H&H Bagels (Broadway and 80th Street) and a staff writer at the New Yorker, the two jobs briefly overlapping. Other jobs include Bike Messenger and contributing writer to Elle, The Cambodia Daily, Spin, and Travel and Leisure Magazine. He founded and co-edited Open City Magazine for its twenty year run, and created a website, Mrbellersneighborhood.com, devoted to the urban sketch. He lives in New York and New Orleans, where he teaches at Tulane University.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A lovely example of "I could do that!",
By A Customer
This review is from: Personals: Dreams and Nightmares from the Lives of Twenty Young Writers (Paperback)
This book reassured me that my own self-involved musings on temp work, thwarted attempts at pursuing career and personal passions, and fascinations with dubious pop-culture items could be published, too...thanks, Thomas Beller!
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Getting "Personal",
This review is from: Personals: Dreams and Nightmares from the Lives of Twenty Young Writers (Paperback)
Thomas Beller compiles a strikingly honest, painfully earnest collection of essay with "Personals: Dreams and Nightmares from the Lives of Twenty Young Writers." In a time when overly indulgent fits of angst are all the rage, Beller and his writers present a tempered, wise view of their youths. Yes, there is regret, there are growing pains, there are the travails of young love, but somehow they seem different in this light. These writers know themselves and they know the time in which they live. This allows them to write with such an incisive nature and clear-eyed depth of character, that one cannot help but be compelled by their tales. Some are humorous, some are painfully morose, but all are little life lessons worth paying attention to.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The art of the personal essay,
By Millhouse van Houten "Thrillho!" (Springfield, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Personals: Dreams and Nightmares from the Lives of Twenty Young Writers (Paperback)
Personal essays are the bane of many a college career. Often tedious, or stupidly confessional, or arch, most personal essays are a drag. The essays here in Personals aren't. Yes, many of them are from New York writers, and their appeal is primarily aspirational, but even these essays are polished and intriguing. Others, detailing the first daily newspaper in Cambodia or brother-sister roadtrip or a Kentucky election campaign are superlative. Check it out. You'll be hearing from many of these writers again.
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