Book Title

A Postcard Memoir

Author 1

Lawrence Sutin

“Sutin’s ingeniously constructed memoir uses duotone reproductions of postcards—by turns nostalgic, quaint or exotic—as Rorschach blots to evoke his deepest memories and feelings. Here he writes about typical events—Little League, his discovery of sex, bar mitzvah, past loves—but imbues his reminiscences of adolescent insecurity with a rueful, forgiving wisdom. Between each image and the corresponding text, odd juxtapositions and eerie or hilarious disjunctions fly like sparks, amplifying Sutin’s memories and puncturing his wild fantasies.”—Publishers Weekly

Body

Drawing upon his collection of quirky antique postcards, Lawrence Sutin has penned a series of brief but intense reminiscences of his "ordinary" life. In the process, he creates an unrepentant, wholly unique account about learning to live with a consciousness all his own. Ranging from remembered events to inner states to full-blown fantasies, Sutin is at turns playful and somber, rhapsodic and mundane, funny and full of pathos. Here you'll find tales about science teachers and other horrors of adolescence, life in a comedy troupe, stepfathering--each illustrated with the postcard that triggered Sutin's muse--and presented in a mix so enticingly wayward as to prove that at least some of it really happened.

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List Price

$22.00

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Bookshop

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ISBN

ISBN

978-1-55597-304-9

Format

Format

Paperback

Publication Date

Publication Date

4/1/03

Subject

Subject

Antiques & Collectibles

Pages

Pages

224

Trim Size

Trim Size

7 x 9

Keynote

“Like Kafka in a good mood.” —Judith Katz

About the Author

Credit: Erik Saulitis

Lawrence Sutin was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on October 12, 1951. His parents, Jack and Rochelle Sutin, were Holocaust survivors who fought as Jewish partisans in Poland during World War Two. He graduated from St. Louis Park High School in Minnesota and then earned an undergraduate degree in psychology and English from the University of Michigan and a law degree from Harvard University. Since 1984 he has been a full-time writer and teacher, publishing books in multiple genres including biography, memoir, history and the novel. He is also currently working in the field of text-and-collage erasure books. He currently is a professor in the Creative Writing and Liberal Studies Programs of Hamline University and teaches in the low-residency program of the Vermont College of Fine Arts. He has been married to Mab Nulty, a psychologist, since 1990. He has three children, Ceallaigh Anderson (stepdaughter), Brennan Vance (stepson), and Sarah Sutin (daughter). He also has a part-beagle part-German shepherd dog, Murphy.

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Praise

“The child of Holocaust survivors, Sutin is intimate with sorrow and fear, but he is also blessed with a supple sense of humor. As he sets out each enigmatic postcard like a personal tarot, he inventively reimagines the story of his fantasy-rich boyhood, at-sea adolescence, and slowly liberating adulthood. Rich in unexpected associations and genuine wisdom, Sutin’s episodic memoir is a travelogue though the growth of a mind and a journey to love.”—Booklist
“A Postcard Memoir is the kind of book I’d secretly like to slip into my friends’ back pockets, marked READ ME.”—Rosellen Brown