I Remember

An enduring gem, Joe Brainard’s ‘I Remember’ is a literary and artistic cult classic. As autobiography, Brainard’s method was brilliantly simple: to set down specific memories as they rose to the surface of his consciousness, each prefaced by the refrain ‘I remember’: ‘I remember that little jerk you give just before you fall asleep. Like falling.’ Recollections – jokes, confessions, daydreams and memories – were carefully, lovingly structured together. They were of family and friends; of movie stars; of early heterosexual fumblings and later gay life. The clean, economical prose dodged both self-pity and judgement of others yet was written with an ear for musical cadence, and an extraordinary painter’s eye. The result is witty, incantatory, profound and wholly captivating.

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