Readers' rating:
Published Feb 2008
336 pages
Genre: Advice
Publication Information
To write memoir, we must first know how to remember. Through timed, associative,
and meditative exercises, Old Friend from Far Away guides you to the
attentive state of thought in which you discover and open forgotten doors of
memory. At once a beautifully written celebration of the memoir form, an
innovative course full of practical teachings, and a deeply affecting meditation
on consciousness, love, life, and death, Old Friend welcomes aspiring
writers of all levels and encourages them to find their unique voice to tell
their stories.
Goldberg's enormously popular workshops have given countless students the ability
to heed the call to write. Old Friend from Far Away recreates her trademark
workshop style with its terse, demanding writing "sprints" that train the hand and
mind to quicken their pace and give up conscious control. These exercises divert
the eye from the obvious and redirect it to the tactile details we miss, the
embarrassments we pass over, and the complications we overlook in the blur of
everyday living. Goldberg writes, "No one says it, but writing induces the state
of love." Old Friend from Far Away guides us into that state of love, where
heightened attention and a rhythm of focus allow the patterns and details of the
past to emerge on the page.
Millions of Americans want to write about their lives. With Old Friend as
the road map for getting started and following through, writers and readers will
gain a deeper understanding of their own minds, learn to connect with their
senses in order to find the detail and truth that give their written words power
and authenticity, and unfold the natural structure of the stories they carry
within. An absolute joy to read, it is a profound affirmation of the capacity of
the written word to remember the past, free us from it, and forever transform the
way we think about ourselves and our lives. Like Writing Down the Bones,
it will become an old friend to which readers return again and again.
"A celebration of the memoir form...an impassioned call to write, delivered by an author who knows how to zero in on the truth, and lead others there as well. If you're serious about finding that voice inside yourself, Natalie Goldberg is a teacher you have to meet." - Steve Almond, author of Candyfreak.
"The brilliance of this book is that it immediately gets you writing your story. It opens the inner treasure and the inner zoo, makes you wriggle and weep, pawn the family jewels, laugh out loud, tear down memory lane, and reawaken to the mystery of your own life." - Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart.
"Natalie Goldberg doesn't fool around. The moment I started reading her new book, I found myself compelled to follow her lead. She's a master and this book is a must-read for anyone who even thinks about putting pen to page." - Cheryl Richardson, author of The Unmistakable Touch of Grace and Take Time for Your Life.
This information about Old Friend from Far Away was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Old Friend from Far Away is Goldberg's first book to focus solely on writing since Writing Down the Bones. was published about 20 years ago.
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