KURT VONNEGUT was among the few grandmasters of twentieth-century
American letters, one without whom the very term American
literature would mean much less than it does now. He was born in
Indianapolis, Indiana, on November 11, 1922, anddied on April 11,
2007, in New York City.
LEE STRINGER's journey from childhood homelessness in the '60s, to
adult homelessness in the '80s, to his present career as a writer
and lecturer, as told inSleepaway SchoolandGrand Central Winter, is
one of the great odysseys of contemporary American life and
letters. Stringer, the only board member of Project Renewal who is
also a former patient of the facility, has demonstrated that
writers are made, not born. He is the two-time recipient of the
Washington Irving Award and, in 2005, a Lannan
FoundationResidency.He is a former editor and columnist ofStreet
News.His essays and articles have appeared in a variety of other
publications, includingThe Nation,The New York Times, andNewsday.He
lives in Mamaroneck, New York, where he also serves on the board of
the Mamaroneck Public Libraries.
"The title comes from Stringer's description of writing: 'It's a
joy of discovery. I kind of would not like to know what I'm doing.
I had a lot of fun trying to figure out how I was going to fill up
these pages, and then, convinced that I'm not going to figure it
out, bingo! something happens. It's like shaking hands with God.
It's really a great payoff for the hours you sit around wondering
if you can do what you're trying to do.' Stringer is contributing
to four anthologies—two on homelessness, one about depression and
one on racism—and writing more memoirs on his earlier life. But
writing doesn't get easy: 'I still fear that I have nothing to say,
but if I keep my butt in that chair long enough, I'll get
somewhere, even if I don't always know where I'm going.'" —USA
Today
“Almost everyone I know is a fan of Kurt Vonnegut, and so the
colorful and curmudgeonly wisdom he brings to the table here is no
surprise. But who is this Lee Stringer guy? By the end, I began to
think of him as a superior version of James Frey with the main
difference that Mr. Stringer (1) writes well and (2) his tales
about life on Skid Row are true … Based on two conversations
between two friends with a lot of respect for each other, these
guys are smart, they know how to express themselves, and they've
been around the block a few times. The book bills itself as 'a
conversation about writing' and it is that. But it's more of a
conversation about being, but a kind of being that involves
writing. For a lot of avid readers, that's a perfect
fit.” —Essay Writing
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