Good News for Good Neighbors: Really Good Writing by a Good Writing Friend

I’m always pleased to get a note from one of my favorite creative nonfiction writers, Mimi Schwartz, letting me know what she’s up to writing- and teaching-wise. Mimi’s excellent memoir-in-essays, Thoughts From a Queen-Sized Bed, played a part in the critical research thesis I prepared as an MFA student, and when I contacted her with questions, instead of a return email, I received an invitation to visit and talk writing. I’ve been meaning to post something about her newest book, and am a little embarrassed not to have done so already.

So I’m going to pass Mimi’s most recent note on directly to my readers:

“I want to let you know that Good Neighbors, Bad Times, Echoes of My Father's German Village is a winner of the ForeWord Book of the Year Award in Memoir for 2008. It will be coming out in paperback this November, complete with "Discussion Questions" for use in courses, book groups, etc.
If you know of teachers and book groups who are interested in issues of decency during Nazi times of hate--and the implications for us, as neighbors, today--please refer them to my website for more information about the book and me.”

I recommend a tour around her site, where I found, among other gems, these behind-the-book insights about her process and key decisions on the writing and craft aspects of Good Neighbors. This isn't surprising since Mimi also wrote Writing True: The Art and Craft of Creative Nonfiction. My suggestion: put her newest book on your list. Not the To Be Read (sometime) List, but the To Be Read SOON List.