Selected Writings

Selected Writings compiles works from American artist and writer Joe Brainard, spanning his creative output from the 1960s and 70s. The collection includes his most well-known piece "I Remember," along with diary entries, art writing, and experimental prose pieces. The writing frequently draws from Brainard's personal experiences growing up in Oklahoma and living as an artist in New York City. His distinctive style combines stream-of-consciousness recollections with precise observations of daily life. The book moves between formats and approaches, incorporating elements of memoir, poetry, and art criticism while maintaining a consistent voice throughout. Brainard's frank discussions of sexuality, relationships, and identity emerge as central threads. The collection showcases Brainard's ability to find profound meaning in mundane moments and transform everyday observations into explorations of memory, desire, and self-discovery. His deceptively simple writing style opens up complex questions about how we construct and understand our own experiences.

Readers highlight Brainard's casual, unpretentious writing style and his ability to capture small moments and memories. Many note the accessibility and humor in his work, particularly in "I Remember." Several reviews mention the book's nostalgic quality and its effectiveness at triggering readers' own memories. Liked: - Raw honesty about sexuality and personal experiences - Short, digestible fragments that can be read in any order - Mix of poetry, prose, and art pieces - Straightforward language without literary pretension Disliked: - Some found the fragments too disconnected - Art reproductions are small and in black & white - Personal nature of memories can feel exclusionary to some readers Ratings: Goodreads: 4.31/5 (456 ratings) Amazon: 4.7/5 (11 ratings) "Like reading someone's diary but in the best possible way" - Goodreads reviewer "Deceptively simple but deeply moving" - Amazon reviewer

I Remember by Georges Perec A stream-of-consciousness memoir told through fragments of memory that shares Brainard's experimental approach to personal narrative.

Lunch Poems by Frank O'Hara A collection of observations and moments from daily life in New York City captures the same immediacy and casual intimacy found in Brainard's writings.

The Collected Works of Ted Berrigan by Ted Berrigan These poems from Brainard's close friend and collaborator reflect the same New York School aesthetic and commitment to documenting personal experience.

The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster by Richard Brautigan Short prose pieces and poems merge the mundane with the surreal in ways that echo Brainard's signature style.

Actual Air by David Berman Poetry that combines everyday observations with unexpected shifts in perspective mirrors Brainard's ability to transform common experiences into revelation.

🖋️ Joe Brainard wrote his most famous work "I Remember" in 1970, inspiring numerous writers to adopt its innovative format of starting each sentence with "I remember..." 🎨 Besides being a writer, Brainard was an accomplished visual artist who created over 3,000 works and designed book covers for poets like Frank O'Hara and John Ashbery 📚 The book includes "I Remember," which Georges Perec translated into French and adapted into his own memory work "Je me souviens" 🗽 Brainard was part of the New York School, an informal group of poets and artists that included Frank O'Hara, Kenneth Koch, and Andy Warhol 💌 Much of Brainard's writing first appeared in "little magazines" and small-press publications, making Selected Writings an important collection of previously hard-to-find works