“I don’t think any word can explain a man’s life,” a reporter says in “Citizen Kane.”
Ah, but what about six?
A little more than a year ago, Smith, an online magazine for writers, asked its readers for the best six-word memoir. The inspiration was Ernest Hemingway, who, when asked to conjure a story in six words, came up with the classic, “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
The submissions piled in, from celebrities (Mario Batali: “Brought it to a boil, often”) to authors (Joyce Carol Oates: “Revenge is living well, without you”), from poetic (“Born a twin, died a loner”) to heartbreaking (“Cursed with cancer. Blessed with friends”). Now they’ve collected many of the entries into “Not Quite What I Was Planning,” and it’s easy to get caught up in the parlor game of portrayal. Imagine the tabloid variations! “Go to rehab? Yeah, yeah, yeah.” “Top gun in Hollywood. Hail Xenu!”
Or try doing one for yourself. They are still accepting entries at sixwordmemoirs.com. It’s not as easy as you think. Pretty soon you’re up all night trying to figure out what’s really important from your life. Is six words enough, or worse, too many?
But then, in describing a work in which the brilliance is in the brevity, I’ve said too much.
A good book. Go buy it.
Not Quite What I Was Planning
Six Word Memoirs by Famous & Obscure Writers
edited by Smith Magazine
Harper Perennial