Sarah manguso has emerged as one of the most unflinching and imaginative selfportraitists. Sarah manguso is an awardwinning poet and the author of ongoingness and 300 arguments. Her latest is remarkably brief, with more white space than. A new book by sarah manguso is always a cause for celebration. The end of a diary poses a similar set of questions. Sarah manguso is the author of seven books, including 300 arguments, ongoingness, the guardians, the two kinds of decay, hard to admit and harder to escape, and the poetry collections siste. However, what actually sealed the deal on this purchase was that. An elegy for a friend fsg, 2012, a salon top ten book of 2012. Ongoingness and 300 arguments by sarah manguso the guardian. This book also has the added bonus of actually being two books in one, and flipping it over and over again was too much fun for my little bookish heart. Sarah manguso is the awardwinning author of 300 arguments graywolf, 2017, an npr best book of 2017. Sarah manguso on reflective writing and ongoingness. Npr weekend edition 300 arguments is a delectation, a book whose great precision and honesty constitute an irresistible incitement to think.
Sarah manguso i wrote ongoingness to record the particular experience of losing a continuous anxiety of long duration. In two kinds of decay, her memoir about the paralyzing. Her previous book, 300 arguments 2017, a work of aphoristic nonfiction, was named a best book of the year by more than twenty publications. Now essayist sarah manguso has tried her hand at a stochastic book, in her own words a short book composed entirely of what i hoped would be a long books quotable passages. The farther one gets from the original document, the more abstract the whole thing becomes. In 2007, she was awarded the joseph brodsky rome prize fellowship in literature by the american academy of arts and letters. Ongoingness300 arguments by sarah manguso initially caught my eye on the hatchards bookshelf because of its eyecatching design. Sarah maas is a new york times best selling author of young adult and fantasy works. In her latest book that continues to define the contours of the contemporary essay, sarah manguso confronts a meticulous diary that she has kept for twentyfive. I wanted to end each day with a record of everything that had ever happened, she explains. The end of a diary, about her compulsive recordkeeping her third exquisitely honed memoir, exemplifies both trends. Sarah manguso has 18 books on goodreads with 23250 ratings. Her books interweave elements of memoir, poetry, and philosophy. From the age of 11 on, sarah manguso had kept a meticulous, desperate record of her life, a diary that is now over 800,000 words long.
The following is from sarah mangusos memoir, ongoingness. Manguso is the author of the guardians, the two kinds of. Manguso has written the memoir we didnt realize we needed. Jenny offill it seemed scarcely possible that, after the two kinds of decay and the guardians, sarah mangusos work could get more urgent, but somehow it has.
Manguso, whose previous books include two other memoirs and two books of poetry, grew up outside boston. Harvard book store welcomes memoirist sarah manguso for a discussion of her third book of essays, ongoingness. A memoir fsg, 2009, a san francisco chronicle best book of the year. Her work has been supported by a guggenheim fellowship and the r. As she describes it in her slim new memoir, ongoingness. Ongoingness tracks manguso through two decades and a half, much of which she spends, in her.
Honors for her writing include a guggenheim fellowship and the rome prize. The end of a diary, sarah mangusos third book of nonfiction, is a piece of work about 800,000 words of introspection. The end of diary, and 300 argumentsdelve deeply into personal subjects. Sarah manguso is the author of 300 arguments, ongoingness, the guardians, the two kinds of decay, hard to admit and harder to escape, siste viator, and the captain lands in paradise. So, yes, there is a before and an after, but its the same as with all my books. The more weighty and personal her books get, dealing with everything from her own dread illness two kinds of decay. The new yorkerin ongoingness, sarah manguso continues to define the contours of the contemporary essay. They never stall out on hills of indulgent lyricism or unmoored abstraction. She later attended hamilton college in the same state majoring in creative writing, with a minor in religious studies. The end of a diary 2015, an essay on selfdocumentation, motherhood, and.
Ongoingness by sarah manguso greywolf press published december 6, 2016 isbn. My diarykeeping is a vice michelle dean her diary is almost a million words long, but her new book, about diarykeeping, includes none of them. Her first novel, very cold people, is forthcoming from hogarth us and picador uk. The new yorker in ongoingness, sarah manguso continues to define the contours of the contemporary essay. A chronic diarist discovers that theres a lot to be said for putting your pen down. The end of a diary graywolf, 2015, a new york times editors choice. The end of a diary is a 2015 book by sarah manguso. Jenny offill it seemed scarcely possible that, after the two kinds of decay and the guardians, sarah manguso s work could get more urgent, but somehow it has. San francisco chronicle 300 arguments is inimitably manguso, but, suddenly, wonderfully, universally, ours.
To be made sense of, they demand to be read on their terms. Her short story collection hard to admit and harder to escape 2007, was included with story collections by dave eggers and deb olin unferth in mcsweeneys one hundred and fortyfive stories in a small box. Sarah manguso is the author of seven books including 300 arguments, ongoingness, the guardians, and the two kinds of decay. In ongoingness sarah manguso confronts a meticulous diary that she has kept for twentyfive years. In ongoingness, sarah manguso continues to define the contours of the contemporary essay. She is a poetphilosopher of the highest order who combines a lasersharp intellect with a lyric gift and a capacious, generous heart. Born on the 5th of march 1986 in new york city, new york, maas spent most of her youth reading and writing. Ongoingness is a short book but theres nothing small about it.
Her poetry collections are siste viator 2006 and the captain lands in paradise 2002. Jenny offill it seemed scarcely possible that, after the two kinds of decay and the guardians, sarah. Haunted by one book she may never write, the american essayist has instead. Her work has been supported by a guggenheim fellowship and the rome prize, and her books have been translated into chinese, german, italian, portuguese, and spanish. Here picador publisher paul baggaley introduces the books, and we speak to sarah about her writing process, inspirations, and advice for art and life. Discover book depositorys huge selection of sarah manguso books online. She is one of my favorite writers, and with 300 arguments she deepens her inquiry into the very essence of what it is to be human. For manguso, keeping a diary has been an obsession, a way not to lose anything, to avoid rumination, to stop thinking about what had happened and be done with it, to maintain an. In it, she confronts a meticulous diary that she has kept for twentyfive years. Sarah manguso covers vast territory with immense subtlety and enviable wit.