The Story I Am

"A prolific writer reflects on his commitment to his craft [in this] warmhearted testimony of gratitude and humility"—Kirkus Reviews

"The Story I Am makes a journey for us into the mind of the writer, with some of the most beautiful lyric prose in this contemporary moment. Rosenblatt makes plain the life of the writer as human as any other life: that of a grandfather, a friend. This is a gorgeous book, one that will inspire anyone to make the next sentence."—Jericho Brown, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 2020

"Roger Rosenblatt is a writer's writer—essays, humor, fiction, poignant family pieces, letters. He can do it all, and here he shares his insights and tips for a new generation. This book should be in every classroom."—Tom Brokaw

"As entertaining as it is useful, The Story I Am features the qualities one prizes in a book by Roger Rosenblatt: the insider knowledge, the proof of experience, the illimitable wit and singular, necessary voice." —Amy Hempel

"Roger Rosenblatt is the master of transmitting soul and substance into the novels, short stories, plays, essays, journalism, commentaries, monologues, lectures, scripts, and scraps--in fact, into all that he creates. We bless him and thank him for that, but also for his willingness to explain how and why he does it--must do it, really. The result is this joyful collection of ever-so-well-written glimpses into what it's like to treasure the written word as a way of life and living."—Jim Lehrer

"By turns funny, acerbic, and wistful, this collection will provide Rosenblatt’s many fans with much to delight them."—Publishers Weekly

"Rosenblatt’s writing brims with creativity and insight . . . His knack, as I recall from my days at TIME, was to see what everyone else saw, only, somehow, more clearly and more movingly . . . '[A]fter witnessing enough pain and plain courage in the world, I . . . started writing about the life before my eyes,' [says Rosenblatt]. In The Story I Am, that life is on vivid display."—Evan Thomas, The Washington Post