Elizabeth Benedict's Blog, page 4
May 18, 2013
New York Times Bestseller List!
What My Mother Gave Me is #16 on the May 27th New York Times Bestseller List (nonfiction paperback)!! Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible - most especially my 30 co-authors.
For those who couldn't come to any of our events, our evening at the New York Society Library on May 7th is here on video, with contributors Margo Jefferson, Martha McPhee, and Roxana Robinson. It was a full house, and we learned during the Q/A that contributor Jean Korelitz's mother was in attendance, as was our favorite cultural concierge, Head Butler, Jesse Kornbluth, who recommended the anthology for Mother's Day - and beyond.
Thanks one and all!
For those who couldn't come to any of our events, our evening at the New York Society Library on May 7th is here on video, with contributors Margo Jefferson, Martha McPhee, and Roxana Robinson. It was a full house, and we learned during the Q/A that contributor Jean Korelitz's mother was in attendance, as was our favorite cultural concierge, Head Butler, Jesse Kornbluth, who recommended the anthology for Mother's Day - and beyond.
Thanks one and all!
May 8, 2013
NPR Interview on "Tell Me More"
Listen in here on our conversation with NPR's Michel Martin, who hosts a show every weekday called Tell Me More. I was with anthology contributor Cecilia Muñoz, a longtime Latina activist and MacArthur fellow.
May 7, 2013
Celebrating and Missing Our Mothers This Week
I have been so moved by so many responses to What My Mother Gave Me, from radio broadcasters to this email from the director of a senior center in Connecticut:
"This morning over coffee, I was sitting with a few members talking about your book, What My Mother Gave Me, and the reactions were priceless. The conversation was difficult for some, joyful for others and appreciated by all. Especially for our older seniors, talking about their own mothers is now a relative rarity. Our book discussion group has added the collection to their list for this summer."
Wednesday, May 8, contributor Cecilia Muñoz and I talk to NPR's Michel Martin, on her show "Tell Me More," during the last third of the hour. Please check here to find out what time the show airs on your local NPR station.
Among the many new reviews are this one from Ladies Home Journal, which recommends giving a box of tissues with the book. And these words from FIRST for Women, May 20th issue, print only:
"'It may sound corny, but my mom really is my best friend,' shares FIRST assistant editor Cassandra Zink. 'So when I saw this collection, I couldn't resist picking it up... My favorite essay was by Rev. Lillian Daniel, who shared how she learned to see the beauty in broken things... It made me think of all the wonderful things my mother had given me."
Tonight, May 7, a group of us will talk and read at the New York Society Library at 6.30, 53 E. 79th St. Join Margo Jefferson, Martha McPhee, and Roxana Robinson.
Thursday, May 9, we'll be in Brooklyn, at Greenlight Books, with Mary Morris, Maud Newton, Elissa Schappell, and Emma Straub, at 7.30.
"This morning over coffee, I was sitting with a few members talking about your book, What My Mother Gave Me, and the reactions were priceless. The conversation was difficult for some, joyful for others and appreciated by all. Especially for our older seniors, talking about their own mothers is now a relative rarity. Our book discussion group has added the collection to their list for this summer."
Wednesday, May 8, contributor Cecilia Muñoz and I talk to NPR's Michel Martin, on her show "Tell Me More," during the last third of the hour. Please check here to find out what time the show airs on your local NPR station.
Among the many new reviews are this one from Ladies Home Journal, which recommends giving a box of tissues with the book. And these words from FIRST for Women, May 20th issue, print only:
"'It may sound corny, but my mom really is my best friend,' shares FIRST assistant editor Cassandra Zink. 'So when I saw this collection, I couldn't resist picking it up... My favorite essay was by Rev. Lillian Daniel, who shared how she learned to see the beauty in broken things... It made me think of all the wonderful things my mother had given me."
Tonight, May 7, a group of us will talk and read at the New York Society Library at 6.30, 53 E. 79th St. Join Margo Jefferson, Martha McPhee, and Roxana Robinson.
Thursday, May 9, we'll be in Brooklyn, at Greenlight Books, with Mary Morris, Maud Newton, Elissa Schappell, and Emma Straub, at 7.30.
May 3, 2013
AARP, Head Butler & the Indie Bestseller List
It's been a wonderful week for What My Mother Gave Me. Our event, with contributors Mameve Medwed and Charlotte Silver, at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, was great fun, and family and friends - and maybe even a few people we didn't know - came out in abundance. Thanks to the bookstore and to Mameve and Charlotte.
AARP's on-line magazine gave us a rave review, by Bethanne Patrick, and so did Jesse Kornbluth, journalist extraordinaire and cultural concierge, at www.HeadButler.com.
From Bethanne Patrick at AARP: "What My Mother Gave Me: Thirty-One Women on the Gift That Mattered Most, edited by novelist Elizabeth Benedict, features fond-but-wise recollections by some high-candlepower daughters: Joyce Carol Oates, Roxana Robinson, Marge Piercy, Rita Dove — you get the picture. These essays are not fluff pieces. (Not a chocolate box or silk scarf in sight, I’m happy to report.) Instead they’re deeply considered, deeply felt writings on identity and relationships."
From Jesse Kornbluth on HeadButler.com:
What My Mother Gave Me: Thirty-one Women on the Gifts That Mattered Most: Elizabeth Benedict collected essays from women not inclined to platitudes. A strong, smart, complex anthology. You may recognize Elizabeth Benedict’s name not only for her own work but for her writing as a Guest Butler. On Tuesday, May 7, at 6.30 PM, she’ll be speaking at the New York Society Library, 53 E. 79th St. with Margo Jefferson, Martha McPhee and Roxana Robinson. For a reservation, click here.
Last week, the book debuted at 24 on the Indie Bestseller List. With Mother's Day coming up on May 12, it may inch up. Stay tuned.
AARP's on-line magazine gave us a rave review, by Bethanne Patrick, and so did Jesse Kornbluth, journalist extraordinaire and cultural concierge, at www.HeadButler.com.
From Bethanne Patrick at AARP: "What My Mother Gave Me: Thirty-One Women on the Gift That Mattered Most, edited by novelist Elizabeth Benedict, features fond-but-wise recollections by some high-candlepower daughters: Joyce Carol Oates, Roxana Robinson, Marge Piercy, Rita Dove — you get the picture. These essays are not fluff pieces. (Not a chocolate box or silk scarf in sight, I’m happy to report.) Instead they’re deeply considered, deeply felt writings on identity and relationships."
From Jesse Kornbluth on HeadButler.com:
What My Mother Gave Me: Thirty-one Women on the Gifts That Mattered Most: Elizabeth Benedict collected essays from women not inclined to platitudes. A strong, smart, complex anthology. You may recognize Elizabeth Benedict’s name not only for her own work but for her writing as a Guest Butler. On Tuesday, May 7, at 6.30 PM, she’ll be speaking at the New York Society Library, 53 E. 79th St. with Margo Jefferson, Martha McPhee and Roxana Robinson. For a reservation, click here.
Last week, the book debuted at 24 on the Indie Bestseller List. With Mother's Day coming up on May 12, it may inch up. Stay tuned.
April 26, 2013
Slate Radio: Susan Stamberg, Eleanor Clift & Me at Politics and Prose
If you couldn't make it to our kickoff event at Politics & Prose, in Washington DC, you can listen to the podcast, by Slate Radio and produced by Politics & Prose. I was lucky enough to be with contributors Susan Stamberg and Eleanor Clift. It was a wonderful event. I hope that comes through in the podcast.
April 25, 2013
Top-10 Amazon Pick
I was thrilled to learn that Amazon has chosen my new anthology, What My Mother Gave Me: Thirty-one Women on the Gifts That Mattered Most, as one of its top 10 book picks for Mother's Day, along with Lean In, The Interestings, and Life after Life, by Kate Atkinson. Great company! Some of the contributors to the anthology are Joyce Carol Oates, Mary Gordon, Rita Dove, Katha Pollitt, Susan Stamberg, Maud Newton, Lisa See, Karen Karbo, Emma Straub, Elissa Schappell, Elinor Lipman, Mameve Medwed, and Charlotte Silver.
Amazon's Top-10 Books Picks for Mother's Day
I was thrilled to learn that What My Mother Gave Me is one of
Amazon's Top 10 Book Picks for Mother's Day
- especially given the company, including Meg Wolitzer's The Interestings, Kate Atkinson's Life After Life and Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In.
Mother's Day is May 12. Visit our Tumblr page, look at photos of the gifts our mothers gave us, and find your favorite bookstore. Best news: it's a paperback, with a cover price of $15.95.
Mother's Day is May 12. Visit our Tumblr page, look at photos of the gifts our mothers gave us, and find your favorite bookstore. Best news: it's a paperback, with a cover price of $15.95.
April 24, 2013
"How do you approach Mother's Day?"
A MOTHER'S GIFTS LAST A LIFETIMEby ALICE CARYHow do you approach Mother’s Day? With reverence and joy, or sorrow and trepidation? Are you fulfilled, exhausted or both from being a dutiful child or caretaking parent? No matter what your emotions, these engrossing books about mothers, children and parenting are bound to speak to you.Particularly wonderful is a collection gathered by Elizabeth Benedict, What My Mother Gave Me. READ MORE
April 23, 2013
Oprah Gets Involved - a Free e-Reader too
If you're a tweeter, Oprah Magazine/website & Algonquin, publisher of What My Mother Gave Me, are having a contest to give away 2 new e-readers loaded with the anthology, and a copy of the book itself. Take a look here.
What's 1 thing your mom has taught you? Tell us & you could win a @kobo ereader &/or copy of #WhatMyMotherGaveMe: ow.ly/kiozb
— O The Oprah Magazine (@O_Magazine) April 22, 2013
April 19, 2013
Does Your Grandmother Read Your Novels?
My grandmother never used to phone me, so when I heard her voice on the phone that night in 1985, I was startled.
"I just read your book," she said sharply, "and I don't like it." She meant my first novel, Slow Dancing, which had recently been published by Knopf and greeted with far more attention than I had expected, "When are you going to write a book your grandmother will like?"
I knew what she meant: the book was filled with sex -- the pre-marital kind -- and references to it, beginning with the opening line. READ THE REST http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabe...Elizabeth Benedict
"I just read your book," she said sharply, "and I don't like it." She meant my first novel, Slow Dancing, which had recently been published by Knopf and greeted with far more attention than I had expected, "When are you going to write a book your grandmother will like?"
I knew what she meant: the book was filled with sex -- the pre-marital kind -- and references to it, beginning with the opening line. READ THE REST http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabe...Elizabeth Benedict
