The memoir craze has been going on as long as I can remember, which is about 10 years. Anyone who wants to criticize my knowledge of the publishing world should remember that 10 years ago I was in high school and spent most of my time trying to discreetly look down girls’ shirts. I wasn’t that discreet. But, let the record show I was never perverted enough to look up anything, nor was I scholarly enough to look up anything. To be honest autobiographies aren’t my cup of tea. Sure, I got curious, especially in college, and I’ve read a few, but generally the genre falls flat unless the person is famous or serious addictions are revealed. Beg, Borrow, Steal: A Writer’s Life by Michael Greenburg is an exception. This memoir is a solid and engaging read as you see Greenburg’s life through New York City snapshots.

As Scott Stein once said to a short stories workshop he was conducting, “Writers love books and movies about other writers.” At the time I balked, but it’s true — very true. The whole reason I wanted to read this book is because it was a writer’s autobiography. Specifically, it was a writer I’d never heard about or read which gives the experience a sense of camaraderie. Instead of sitting with my writing buddies trying to figure out how to get a book published or sell a poem, I read about Greenburg’s adventures in screenwriting, the publishers rejecting his first completed novel, and a smattering of random adventures.
 
The stories follow a loose chronology starting with his family and childhood moving forward through the publication of his first book. Some are amazing and gripping while others felt flat so I skipped out half way through. And therein lies the beauty of this book: take it or leave it. Greenburg does a great job offering each of the 44 independent chapters. His style, a hybrid of conversational and literary first person, lets the book flow together. Because events and characters may only appear in one or two chapters, the read isn’t broken or interrupted if a chapter is skipped.
 
My favorites include Greenburg’s experience as a street vendor, when he sells fake cosmetics to a regular crowd of women. When his conscience bothers him, Greenburg reveals the products are forgeries (instead of stolen). To his surprise, no one cares — they came for their reasons and the moral implications didn’t bother them. It’s a really charming chapter that shows how far he’ll go to continue to write.
 
The commentary chapters on his youth, family, and religion are excellent. Greenburg transforms the fundamental American experiences, immigration and integration into a society, with a firm calm voice. While the work doesn’t dig deep enough to say it plainly, Greenburg is the product of three worlds: his Jewish ancestry, his family’s New York business, and a writer at large in contemporary times. You get a vague sense of how maddening it must have been to internally reconcile those different facets without the book turning into melodrama.
 
In another chapter he discusses a conversation with his daughter: it’s on the verge of Hurry Down Sunshine’s publication and the author is seeking the blessing from one of his central characters. This chapter is a little longer than the others, maybe four or five pages instead of three, but Greenburg expertly ramps up the tension within the reader by showing his internal conflict in a raw and charismatic way. The reader understands Greenburg needs to publish this book for his own sake and sanity, but needs his daughter’s love and affection. It’s the strongest short in the book and left me breathing a sigh of relief.
 
My only major issue is the lack of writing process discussed in the book. Greenburg shows his audio recording sessions from his first novel and numerous writerly encounters between himself and various people — great. But, as an aspiring writer in his audience I wanted him to talk about how he developed his process and the submission issues he faced with his first novel. There is never a moment where I feel we get behind the mirrored-self-narrator and reach Michael Greenburg directly as a writer. For example, Steven King’s On Writing gives the reader unabashed accounts of how he came to write as he does, making the book both interesting and helpful.
 
I enjoyed reading Beg, Borrow, Steal, and it made me want to read his first book: Hurry Down Sunshine.

Tweet  Print This Post

Tags: books & writing, fan boy says // Add Comment »