In 2012, All Childhoods Are Difficult (Especially If You Want To Write A Memoir)

In Brief

In 2012, All Childhoods Are Difficult (Especially If You Want To Write A Memoir)

1:30 pm, September 18th | by Sarah Devlin

I’m a recent M.F.A. grad, and I know that it’s not a good look to hate on someone else’s book deal. This introduction might be the fault of the publisher, and Luisa Weiss may have chosen to focus on entirely different aspects of her story. Whether or not she’s responsible for this summary, though, I have to give this some major side eye:

Weiss is half-American and half-Italian, but grew up in Berlin. The central theme of this memoir is Weiss’ split identities—she feels connected to her roots in all three countries. After her parents’ divorce, she spent half her time in the States and half in Berlin, with occasional trips to Italy to see family. This might sound like a glamorous lifestyle—and she certainly doesn’t diminish the opportunities and good fortune presented to her through such travels—but Weiss feels as though she is constantly forced to assume different personalities and roles as she travels across the world.

After attending college in Boston, Weiss tried to ease her foreigner’s blues by moving to Paris.

I’m just saying, had I known that people wanted to read about my fraught upbringing as a Canadian-born half Italian living in Arizona, I would have skipped college and just gone straight to ~~Paris~~ writing my memoir. You wouldn’t believe what I went through — eating gnocchi in the backyard garden at my Nonno and Nonna’s house in Toronto, when I was used to desert scrub and macaroni and cheeeeeese…*the sound of tears softly falling onto open pages*

[Via Serious Eats]

TAGS: Memoirs | Serious Eats