With a new introduction by Olivia Laing, alongside Paul Auster’s original.
An enduring gem, Joe Brainard’s I Remember is a literary and artistic cult classic.
Brainard’s method was brilliantly simple: to set down specific memories as they rose to the surface of his consciousness, each beginning with 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 woven together.
They were of family and friends; of movie stars; of early heterosexual fumblings and later gay life. Brainard’s pared-back prose dodged both self-pity and judgement of others, and was written with an ear for musical cadence and an extraordinary painter’s eye.
The result is witty, incantatory, profound and wholly captivating.
‘Completely original’ – Edmund White
‘Buy it, for everyone you know…I can’t think of a more original or lovely book’ – Olivia Laing
