CULTURE/SOCIETY and ENTERTAINMENT: Six Word Memoirs

From NPR's Talk of the Nation...

Talk of the Nation
February 7, 2008

Once asked to write a full story in six words, legend has it that novelist Ernest Hemingway responded: "For Sale: baby shoes, never worn."

In this spirit of simple yet profound brevity, the online magazine Smith asked readers to write the story of their own lives in a single sentence. The result is Not Quite What I Was Planning, a collection of six-word memoirs by famous and not-so-famous writers, artists and musicians. Their stories are sometimes sad, often funny — and always concise.

The book is full of well-known names — from writer Dave Eggers ("Fifteen years since last professional haircut"), to singer Aimee Mann ("Couldn't cope so I wrote songs"), to comedian Stephen Colbert ("Well, I thought it was funny").

The collection has plenty of six-word insights from everyday folks as well: "Love me or leave me alone" was scrawled on a hand dryer in a public bathroom; "I still make coffee for two" was penned by a 27-year-old who had just been dumped.

Larry Smith, founding editor of Smith magazine, and Rachel Fershleiser, Smith's memoir editor, talk about the experience of capturing real-life stories in six words — no more, no less.

Fershleiser's six-word memoir? "Bespectacled, besneakered, read and ran around." And Smith's: "Big hair, big heart, big hurry."

some six-word memoirs listed on NPR and Smith magazine websites...
Being a monk stunk. Better gay. - Bob Redman
Couldn't cope so I wrote songs. - Aimee Mann
Made other laugh. I still hurt. - Nicole Brown
Miss you dad. You'd be proud. - LaBajista
Job stinks. Art doesn't pay. Dang. - Peter Nelson
Life too short, eat good cheese. - Vince Yanez
life's too short to not tease. - riley
worked my life to redeem blondes. - Casey Cote
Did I miss it again? Damn. - Angela
Freak accidents haven't killed me yet.... - Kevin S
Detest cubicle city. Music it is. - Ty
Tried to write; accounting is easier. - Sarah
Why does technology hate me? - Karli
Storybook life, get your own author - kelsey me!!!
Life's short, throw cats at people. - Collin Rue
"If I only had a brain." - Will G
Still waiting for those lottery millions - Julie
America the free...then came W. - Peter Schott
Once upon a time. The end. - Caroly
"It was a dark and stormy life!" oops - Lynn Marshall
No novel. An accountant. Go figure. - Allison Teasdale
Still able to laugh about it. - Pamela Morsi
Yes, I still believe in Santa. - Katie
Existentialist: None of this really matters! - Rich Schonthal
Giving birth made my life funny. - Sally Adams
wild girl became boring accountant mother - A Stern
"Just a janitor with a Masters Degree" - Tony
Busy. Ask again in 30 years. - Jean
"Honorable Mention" was my middle name. - Chuck Herndon
Stop. I need to start again. - Diane
Born butt first, nothing's changed since. - Jennifer
i like music but can't play - Jordan (Hey, that's my life! - OlderMusicGeek)
Six word sentence most significant accomplishment. - benedetto
I guess this is about it? - Joe
Three simple words: I love you. - John
When this was posed to my 8-year-old, she responded: Not much yet, but it's plenty. - amy
A little evil on the side. - Christopher Liebbe
Life was not a Neil Simon comedy. - Henry Ma
Machiavelli was right, so was Ghandi - Nate
I survived. Not waiting for rescue. - andyux
Life is not for the timid... - MAC!
geminis need more than six words! - Jan
My life: ferocious beginnings and endings. - Tee Potenta
Look, I can write a biography! - Zach
Painful nerd kid, happy nerd adult. - Linda Williamson
Never really finished anything, except cake. — C. Perkins
Been there, done that, had fun! - Along

As for mine... Interesting, but not as I planned. :)

A link to Smith's six-word memoir project
A link to the original Talk of the Nation piece
A link to NPR's Blog on the Nation: A Life... In Six Words
A link to The Bryant Park Project's show on six-worded memoirs