17 Comments
Sep 23, 2023Liked by Alexander Chee

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning is one of my father's favorite books, and its part of my inspiration for walking everywhere. That spell did you well ;)

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Love this! I wrote a 3rd person memoir and had an agent and a book deal for it and then during Covid the editor got really sick and everything fell apart, the agent quit agenting and it was dropped from publisher roster and now the manuscript has been just languishing in my closet. 😢

You’re inspiring me to pick it back up again! Thank you!!

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Sep 23, 2023Liked by Alexander Chee

That time I wrote a memoir in 3rd and was told that autofiction wasn’t a thing in American literature. All the pain I feel in my gut to realize how much I’ve given up on.

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author

I’m so sorry to hear it. Perhaps you can try again?

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Sep 23, 2023Liked by Alexander Chee

I just revisited an early common book full of lines and passages from books I'd read. Reading them one after showed me what I'd been wrestling with, wondering about, feeling, and led to an essay I didn't know I wanted to write. This exercise, going out and leafing through books, is a thrilling idea. I'm looking forward to trying it and to following your work with it in October. Thank you

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Sep 23, 2023Liked by Alexander Chee

'"The artist and the island..."

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author

Yes I love that bit.

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This reminds me of an exercise I came across in The Crossroads of Should & Must (or maybe it was in Elle Luna’s skillshare)! I LOVE the feeling of collaborating with inspiration like a scavenger hunt 🕵🏻

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Sep 23, 2023Liked by Alexander Chee

always trying

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I was just thinking about bibliomancy during this past week -- and I learned it from you in the Shipman classes! love how these turned out ✨🙏🏼

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Sep 24, 2023Liked by Alexander Chee

A perfect read for a rainy Shanghai Sunday. Now yo find a bookshelf...

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Love this exercise! Thanks for sharing. Really looking forward to trying it out the next time I get over to my local bookstore.

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I may have to try this at the Brooklyn library sometime

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I love this idea of third person memoir! It’s like a little detachment, a little more objective look at yourself, perhaps kinder❤️❤️ I’ve been toying with this for years! Thank you for the bright light!! And I’m definitely going to do your book/tarot/spell assignment.

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This was so great. Thank you for sharing so much with your readers, Alexander. Please let us know about any further speaking opportunities in London. It was incredible to hear you speak about Valentino and Natalia Ginzburg.

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I am going to try this in our local library on the island of Jersey and a Cahun and Carrington fan! amazing

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Interesting, I wrote a similar suggestion in this post for ways to get unstuck in writing! https://medium.com/the-shortform/are-you-stuck-for-ideas-heres-a-suggestion-bd9820eb65ae

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