How to Write An Autobiographical Novel
by Alexander Chee | 
The Wrong Way to Save Your Life
by Megan Stielstra | 
My Misspent Youth
by Meghan Daum | 
This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
by Ann Patchett | 
The Professor and Other Writings
by Terry Castle | 
My Heart Is an Idiot
by Davy Rothbart | 
The Unspeakable
by Meghan Daum | 
Learning to Drive
by Katha Pollitt |
Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs
by Wallace Stegner |
Alibis
by Andre Aciman | 
The Disappointment Artist
by Jonathan Lethem | 
Wallflower at the Orgy
by Nora Ephron | 
After Henry
by Joan Didion | 
Meditations from a Movable Chair
by Andre Dubus |
This Old Man
by Roger Angell |
"Reading Julia Alvarez's new collection of essays is like curling up with a glass of wine in one hand and the phone in the other, listening to a big-hearted, wisecracking friend share hard-earned wisdom about family, identity, and the art of writing." --People The rich and revealing essays in Something to Declare offer Julia Alvarez's dual meditations on coming to America and becoming a writer. In the first section, "Customs," Alvarez relates how she and her family fled the Dominican Republic and its oppressive dictator, Rafael Trujillo, settling in New York City in the 1960s. Here Julia begins a love affair with the English language under the tutelage of the aptly named Sister Maria Generosa. Part Two--"Declarations"--celebrates Alvarez's enduring passion for the writing life. From the valentine to mythic storyteller Scheherazade that is "First Muse," to a description of Alvarez's itinerant life as a struggling poet, teacher, and writer in "Have Typewriter, Will Travel," to the sage and witty advice of "Ten of My Writing Commandments," Alvarez generously shares her influences and inspirations with aspiring writers everywhere.