Naked, Drunk, and Writing

No, I'm not naked, drunk, and writing! That's the title of a book I bought recently, and I love it. It's written by Adair Lara, and also has the subtitle: Shed Your Inhibitions and Craft a Compelling Memoir or Personal Essay. 

I found it while searching on Amazon for "writerly" books on craft, and especially for writing memoir. Somewhere during my scrolling, I came across this gem. After noticing the 63 rave reviews (4-1/2 stars), and taking a peek inside (love that option), I purchased it. Adair writes in terms we can all understand, and does so with my kind of humor.

In the first chapter, she says she called it Naked, Drunk, and Writing because she likes the title and somebody at a party once remarked to her that books with "naked" in the title always sell well. And then says:  "And also because writing about yourself is like stripping down to your Bali bra in a crowd so that others can see the stretch  marks on your belly (and be assured about their own)."

This book is now my favorite in my collection of "writerly" books on craft. Right after it, in no particular order are Old Friend from Far Away by Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, and Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. In fact, Ms. Lamott wrote a blurb for the back of Adair's book: "Very savvy and smart and hugely entertaining."

I haven't read all of it yet, and it's not the kind of book someone reads through like fiction. I read a sentence or two, a paragraph or two. I underline things in pencil that I particularly love and want to remember. It has writing exercises, too. I can't say enough about this book. I'm so happy I stumbled across it.  

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"Writing is a kind of word-drunkenness that makes you want to do that -- to take off your clothes and turn your experiences into art, despite who may be watching, despite your embarrassment, despite anything the world and your own self-doubts throw against you." -- Adair Lara