There’s a new book out called Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure. It’s probably self-explanatory, but the goal was to have people sum up their lives in six words. Eight hundred phrases made the cut and are included in the book. Here’s my favorite: “Revenge is living well without you.” Joyce Carol Oates. That could be the divorced person’s lament.

The book comes from Smith Magazine. The folks there explain the idea this way:

Legend has it that Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in only six words. His response? “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Last year, SMITH Magazine re-ignited the recountre by asking our readers for their own six-word memoirs. They sent in short life stories in droves, from the bittersweet (“Cursed with cancer, blessed with friends”) and poignant (“I still make coffee for two”) to the inspirational (“Business school? Bah! Pop music? Hurrah”) and hilarious (“I like big butts, can’t lie”).

You still can submit your six words at the magazine’s website. Click the link above and give it a try.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 22nd, 2008 at 6:52 am and is filed under About Books, About Me, About Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.