This post is an experiment. I normally never listen to music when I write. Like many musicians music can never really serve as background for me. I can’t help listening to it, and it’s distracting to my words. Right now I’m listening to Ingrid Michaelson’s new album Lights Out. I’ve been spending a lot of…
A Writer’s Dilemma
Until a few years ago if you wanted your book published you had two options: find an agent to take it to publishers, or hire a vanity publisher. The first option was uncertain, and took a long time. The second was expensive, and (after your mom and best friends dutifully bought) saddled you with a…
Pete Seeger 1919-2014
Sometime in the early sixties my father took me to see Pete Seeger at the local High School. It was my first concert, and the first time I’d seen a banjo. What I remember most of that night is my father’s loud baritone as he sang along with Pete, “Oh you can’t scare me, I’m…
FIFTY YEAR AGO TODAY
by John Manchester Most Fridays in the fall of 1963 my father was working at American Education Publications, publishers of “My Weekly Reader.” I was in my eighth grade class. But that Friday, November 22nd, my father picked me up early from school in his green Austin-Healey Sprite. My father loved that car. He’d grin…
Murder Your Metaphors
(Part of an occasional series on writing) The process of learning to write comes in distinct stages, like peeling the layers of an onion. Each new layer first appears smooth and shiny. But over time the surface dulls and spiders with wrinkles. Somehow the layer that once appeared as an achievement has morphed into an…
The Death of a President
My father William Manchester’s account of JFK’s assassination, The Death of a President, is finally back in print after many years. Jill Abramson of the Times wrote an interesting overview of all the books on the subject, concluding with this about my father’s: “The good news, maybe the best, of the 50th anniversary is that Little, Brown has now…
You Can’t Write About Me!
(Dylan at Ginsburg’s typewriter) A few days ago I got an email confirming that something I suggested to someone a few months ago had resulted in a cool thing. Nothing scandalous, but it made a fun story. Something. Someone. Thing. Nothing. No, this is not an exercise in bad (i.e., purposely vague) writing. Please read…
When I Met Julie and Julia
When I met Julie and Julia Posted by John Manchester on June 27, 2012 at 4:00pm View Blog JUNE 27, 2012 3:21PM RATE: 21 Flag I enjoyed When Harry Met Sally. I found Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail a bit sugary for my taste. I didn’t really fall for Nora Ephron until Julie and Julia. I loved that movie. I don’t make movies, so…
Puzzle Love
Puzzle Love Posted by John Manchester on June 27, 2012 at 4:00pm View Blog JUNE 27, 2012 8:23AM RATE: 6 Flag “It’s all one.” I am well aware that my style of blogging does not fit the medium. My posts are too long, and worse, too complicated. Here’s why: When I was ten my mother gave me a…
Son of a Famous Man
Son of a Famous Man Posted by John Manchester on June 20, 2012 at 4:00pm View Blog JUNE 20, 2012 7:20AM RATE: 27 Flag This is the very short version of my memoir Escaping the Giant, minus the fun stuff (sex, drugs and rock and roll), for those of you who have understandably gotten tired of waiting…
Luminous Muse
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