Meredith Maran
| Meredith Maran | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | 1951, August 21 New York |
| Occupation | Journalist, novelist, essayist, critic, People Magazine stringer |
| Alma mater | Bronx High School of Science |
| Period | 1957 - Present |
| Genres | Memoir, Non-Fiction, Features, Essays, Autobiography, Fiction |
| Notable work(s) | My Lie (San Francisco Chronicle “Best Book of 2010”), Dirty (San Francisco Chronicle “Best Book of 2003”), Ben & Jerry’s Double Dip (National Bestseller), Class Dismissed (San Francisco Chronicle bestseller 2000), What It’s Like to Live Now (San Francisco Chronicle bestseller, 1995). |
| Children | Peter Graham, Jesse Graham |
| Relative(s) | Josie Maran (niece), supermodel, actress, eco-entrepreneur, CEO of Josie Maran Cosmetics |
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www.meredithmaran.com |
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Meredith Maran (born 1951, in New York) is an author, book critic, and journalist. She has written ten nonfiction books, several of them San Francisco Chronicle best-sellers; her debut novel has been widely praised. She writes features, essays, and reviews for magazines and newspapers including People, More, Ladies Home Journal, Salon.com, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Boston Globe. Maran’s storytelling is regarded as colorful, compelling, sympathetic, and evocative.[1] Her memoir, My Lie, has been described as a persuasive, compelling critique of media and psychology.[2] Her first novel, A Theory of Small Earthquakes, was praised by Anne Lamott as "A smart, sexy, funny, wrenching, delicious story of lust and trust and love and family."[3]
Work
Maran's first memoir, Chamisa Road, was published in 1971 by Random House. Her second book, How Would You Feel If Your Dad Was Gay?, was published in 1991 by Alyson Press. The book is a children's book about gay/lesbian issues.
What It’s Like To Live Now was published in 1995 by Bantam. It captures the contradictions and ambiguities of the modern American experience. Maran's fourth book, Ben & Jerry’s Double Dip, was published in 1997 by Simon & Schuster. What It's Like To Live Now became a Bay Area Bestseller. Ben & Jerry's Double Dip became a national bestseller.
Notes From An Incomplete Revolution was published in 1997, by Bantam. The book is written in first-person, with the narrator acknowledging the limitations and failings of feminism while still rejoicing in the power of the women's movement.
Maran’s book Class Dismissed, published by St. Martin's Press in 2000, presents an account of the stark realities of public education via a year in the lives of three high-school seniors from Berkeley High.[4]Class Dismissed was praised by critics and spent 15 weeks on the San Francisco Chronicle bestseller list.[5]
Dirty, which explores the causes and consequences of America’s teenage drug epidemic, was published in 2003, by HarperSanFrancisco. The book brings the reader face-to-face with seventeen-year-old Mike, whose life revolves around selling, smoking, and snorting speed; fifteen-year-old Tristan, the boy next door who cannot get enough pot, pills, or vodka; and sixteen-year-old Zalika, a runaway, crack dealer, and prostitute since the age of twelve. In Dirty, Maran combines powerful on-the-street reporting, groundbreaking research, and compassion, to showcase the anguish and resilience of teenagers in trouble.
According to Psychology Today:
"Dirty is eye-opening and compassionately delivered...a sympathetic evocation of ecstasy, heartbreak, horror, and hope. Provocatively revealing, informative, and not without humor, Dirty is itself an addictive read."[6]
My Lie, published in 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, is a memoir that recounts the sex-abuse panic spread across the U.S., during the 1980s and 1990s. Maran’s refusal to whitewash her own behavior, her ability to expose all sides of the issue, and her compassion for the abused as well as those still falsely imprisoned as abusers opens up a dialogue about memory, belief, and past- and present-day culture that is both riveting and important.[7] Maran is especially credible because of the number of years she spent working in the child-abuse prevention area.[8]
According to the National Center for Reason and Justice:
"It’s about time someone such as [Meredith Maran] wrote a book like [My Lie]. I urge anyone interested in late 20th century culture, gender conflicts, social influence, and human suggestibility to read My Lie."[9]
My Lie was named a San Francisco Chronicle “Best Book of 2010,” and San Francisco Chronicle “Notable New Book”.[10]
Why We Write was published in 2013 by Plume and edited by Maran. In the book, twenty of America's bestselling authors, including David Baldacci, Jennifer Egan, Terry McMillan, Jodi Picoult, and James Frey, share tricks, tips, and secrets of the successful writing life.
According to the Boston Globe:
Why We Write is filled with practical tips on writing, surviving, and thriving for anyone who works with words."[11]
Biography
Maran published her first national magazine article at age 15 and her first book at age 18. After a brief stint in Silicon Valley, Maran became Editor of the Banana Republic Magalog, then created award-winning socially responsible marketing campaigns for companies including Ben & Jerry's, Working Assets, Stonyfield Farm, Smith & Hawken, and Odwalla.
In addition to writing books, features, essays, and book reviews, Maran has been a keynote speaker at venues including the 2008 SNAP Conference, the California Writer's Club, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Charles Schwab Foundation, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Educators for Social Responsibility, and the Education Writers of America. From 2004-2006 she was Writer in Residence at UCLA. In 2006 she was Writer in Residence at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House in Taos.
In an interview with TIME.com, Maran explained how and why she decided to write her memoir, My Lie.[12] She explained that in 2007, a hiking acquaintance had asked if she had ever done anything she still regretted. Maran replied that she had accused her father of molesting her, and hadn’t spoken to him for eight years. Maran [later] realized that the accusation wasn’t true. Maran’s hiking acquaintance said that exactly the same thing had happened to her. That prompted Maran to address the examples and abuses that included false accounts—and the pain and suffering inflicted on people who were innocent like her father—in order to answer the question: “How could it happen that people who never suffered such harrowing experiences would come to believe that they had?”[13]
Asked why she made the transition from nonfiction to fiction, Maran said, "I started to feel limited by the nonfiction form. I've always been an activist who writes, not a writer with politics, and I wanted to explore the issues I've written about with fewer constraints of "truth."
Many of my nonfiction books have been described as "reading like a novel." Well, it turns out that writing a book that reads like a novel and writing a novel are very different things. I'm not reporting on characters; I'm creating them. I'm not arranging real-life events to form a plot; I'm inventing one. And I'm not pushing a "point;" the point seems to be pushing me."[14]
Maran was a fellow at the MacDowell Colony in September 2012.[15]
Bibliography
Books
- Chamisa Road (1970)
- How Would You Feel If Your Dad Was Gay? (1991)
- What It’s Like To Live Now (1995)
- Ben & Jerry’s Double Dip (1997)
- Notes From An Incomplete Revolution (1997)
- Class Dismissed: A Year In The Life of an American High School (2000)
- Enough About You (2003)
- Dirty: A Search for Answers Inside America’s Teenage Drug Epidemic (2003)
- 50 Ways To Support Lesbian and Gay Equality (2005)
- My Lie: A True Story of False Memory (2010)
- A Theory of Small Earthquakes (2012)
- Why We Write: Twenty Acclaimed Authors on What Gets Them Started and Keeps Them Going (2013)
Anthologies
- Travelers’ Tales San Francisco (1996)
- Women on the Verge (1999)
- I Do, I Don’t (Queers on Marriage) (2004)
- Roar Softly and Carry a Great Lipstick (2004)
- Why I’m Still Married (2006)
- About Face: Women Write About What They See When They Look In The Mirror (2008)
- Dirty Words (A Literary Encyclopedia of Sex) (2008)
- Behind The Bedroom Door (2008)
- One Big Happy Family (2009)
- Are We Born Racist? (2010)
- The Compassionate Instinct (2010)
- Dear John, I Love Jane (2010)
Articles and Reviews
- Looking Back (SF Chronicle, 2004)
- Not just another dead black man (Salon.com, 2006)
- A rough night for gay Obama supporters (Salon.com, 2008)
- 'By Nightfall,' by Michael Cunningham (2010)
- Meredith Maran: Did my father really abuse me? (The Guardian, 2010)
- 'Cinderella Ate My Daughter,' by Peggy Orenstein (2011)
- 'Darkness Visible,' by Russell Banks (Boston Globe, 2011)
- 'Confessions of an Ex-Memoirist' (Boston Globe, 2011)
Awards and recognition
- Keynote speaker at venues including the 2008 SNAP Conference, the California Writer's Club, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Charles Schwab Foundation, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Educators for Social Responsibility, and the Education Writers of America.
- Writer in Residence at UCLA (2004–2006). Residencies at Yaddo, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Mesa Refuge, and Ragdale.
- San Francisco Chronicle “Best Book of 2010,” and San Francisco Chronicle “Notable New Book” (MY LIE)
- San Francisco Chronicle “Best Book of 2003” (DIRTY)
- San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller (DIRTY, CLASS DISMISSED)
- San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller (WHAT IT’S LIKE TO LIVE NOW)
Interviews
- Interview at TIME.com (Oct 2010)
- Feature at Mirror.co.uk (Nov 2010)
- Interview at Salon.com (Sept 2010)
- Interview at Daily Express UK (Nov 2010)
- Q&A at People Magazine (Nov 2010)
References
- ^ Book Review: DIRTY. [1] Psychology Today. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
- ^ John Hockenberry (2010). [2] NPR . Retrieved February 2, 2011.
- ^ Anne Lamott (2011). [3] Novels | Soft Skull Press. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
- ^ Book Review: Class Dismissed. [4] Publishers Weekly (starred review). Retrieved February 2, 2011.
- ^ Class Dismissed. [5] Retrieved February 2, 2011.
- ^ Book Review: DIRTY. [6] Psychology Today . Retrieved February 2, 2011.
- ^ Caroline Leavitt. "Her false memories fuel painful memoir". boston.com. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
- ^ "FMS Foundation Newsletter, Winter, 2011, Volume 20 No. 1". FMS Foundation. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
- ^ Mark Pendergrast. "Mark Pendergrast’s Review of My Lie". National Center for Reason and Justice. Retrieved January 31, 2011.
- ^ "My Lie, Meredith Maran, Press". Retrieved January 31, 2011.
- ^ Chuck Leddy. "‘Why We Write’ by Meredith Maran". Boston Globe. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
- ^ Maia Szalavitz (October 18, 2010). "Mind Reading: An Author Takes Back Her Accusation of Incest". TIME.com: Healthland. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
- ^ Maia Szalavitz (October 18, 2010). "Mind Reading: An Author Takes Back Her Accusation of Incest". TIME.com: Healthland. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
- ^ Mark Pritchard (February 12, 2006). "Interview: Meredith Maran". TooBeautiful.org: What Are You Working On? . Retrieved January 4, 2012.
- ^ "Index of MacDowell Fellows". MacDowell Colony. February 13, 2013. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
