How to Write an Autobiographical Novel

Chee began putting together the book after being asked to speak at Columbia University by Lis Harris. One of Harris' requests to Chee was asking him to put together some of his essays to send to her students. After Chee blogged about his experience gathering his essays, he and his agent quickly worked together to amass a "greatest hits," as well as a few essays which Chee had not yet finished. Some the essays "took over a decade to write."{{Cite web |date=2018-05-02 |title=Alexander Chee Can Teach You 'How to Write an Autobiographical Novel' |url=https://www.shondaland.com/inspire/books/a20105082/alexander-chee-how-to-write-an-autobiographical-novel/ |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=Shondaland |language=en-US}}

Many of the essays were previously published in magazines, such as "Mr. and Mrs. B" in Apology Magazine and "Girl" in Guernica. The essays address a wide variety of topics and experiences, such as Chee's time at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, working for the William F. Buckley Jr., and learning from Annie Dillard. Some essays, like "100 Things About Writing a Novel", are experimental in form. The last essay, "On Becoming an American Writer", was excerpted in The Paris Review shortly after the book's release and was derived from an email Chee wrote to his students in wake of the Iraq War.{{Cite web |last=Chee |first=Alexander |date=April 19, 2018 |title=On Becoming an American Writer |url=https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/04/19/on-becoming-an-american-writer/ |website=The Paris Review}}

According to Book Marks, the book received a "rave" consensus, based on twenty-two critics: nineteen "rave" and three "positive".{{Cite web |title=How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays|url=https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/how-to-write-an-autobiographical-novel-essays/|access-date=16 January 2024 |website=Book Marks}}

Publishers Weekly gave the book a starred review, citing Chee's "marvelously oblique style as an essayist".{{Cite web |date= |title=How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays by Alexander Chee |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-328-76452-2 |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=www.publishersweekly.com}} The New York Times revered the strength of Chee's prose and the subjects which it tackled: "Chee has written a moving and personal tribute to impermanence, a wise and transgressive meditation on a life lived both because of and in spite of America".{{Cite news |last=McCormack |first=J.W. |date=June 27, 2018 |title=Writing as Drag: Alexander Chee’s Essays Consider the Novelist’s Craft |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/books/review/alexander-chee-how-to-write-an-autobiographical-novel.html |work=The New York Times}} The Rumpus found the essay collection moving, a reminder of "why we write, but also, why we read, even in these times of never ending distress."{{Cite web |last=McQueen |first=LaTanya |date=2018-05-30 |title=Lessons from a Life: Alexander Chee's How to Write an Autobiographical Novel |url=https://therumpus.net/2018/05/30/how-to-write-an-autobiographical-novel-by-alexander-chee/ |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=The Rumpus |language=en-US}} NPR called Chee "a very special artist; his writing is lyrical and accessible, whimsical and sad, often all at the same time."{{Cite news |last=Toll |first=Martha Anne |date=April 18, 2018 |title='How To Write,' Yes — But Alexander Chee's Latest Is More Mesmerizing Memoir |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/04/18/600903235/how-to-write-yes-but-alexander-chees-latest-is-more-mesmerizing-memoir |work=NPR}} Some critics saw the book as an investigation and reflection into the self that animated his prior works, The Queen of the Night and Edinburgh.{{Cite web |last=Grady |first=Constance |date=2018-05-02 |title=Alexander Chee’s new essay collection is a searing examination of the costs of writing |url=https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/5/2/17286968/how-to-write-an-autobiographical-novel-alexander-chee-review |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=Vox |language=en-US}} Many critics noted the unified feeling of the book despite its format.{{Cite web |title=The Universally Particular: An Essay Review of Alexander Chee’s How To Write An Autobiographical Novel – 3:AM Magazine |url=https://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/the-universally-particular-an-essay-review-of-alexander-chees-how-to-write-an-autobiographical-novel/ |access-date=2024-10-26 |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last=Vega |first=Ingrid |date=2018-05-23 |title=A Balance Between Cultures: 'How to Write an Autobiographical Novel' by Alexander Chee |url=https://www.zyzzyva.org/2018/05/23/a-balance-between-cultures-how-to-write-an-autobiographical-novel-by-alexander-chee/ |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=ZYZZYVA |language=en-US}} The Washington Independent Review of Books, in particular, stated: "This work calls itself an essay collection. And, yes, each essay stands alone, but they also hum together, ebbing and flowing back and forth through Chee's life ..."{{Cite web |title=How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays {{!}} Washington Independent Review of Books |url=https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/bookreview/how-to-write-an-autobiographical-novel-essays#google_vignette |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com}} The Brooklyn Rail remarked on how the previously published essays had been polished for the book, with the effect that they "form a sort of autobiography themselves."{{Cite web |date=2024-08-19 |title=Alexander Chee's How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays {{!}} The Brooklyn Rail |url=https://brooklynrail.org/2018/05/books/Alexander-CheesHow-to-Write-an-Autobiographical-Novel-Essays/ |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=brooklynrail.org |language=en}}

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Category:Asian-American literature

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Category:Essay collections