When you work in a field that demands exposing your deepest self to the public, it fosters a deep, even profound kind of humility born from the habit of making oneself vulnerable.  The act of opening up is transformative.  What makes a memoir powerful? We asked Mira Jacob, author of the award-winning graphic memoir Good Talk (and Bookable’s very first guest)  to moderate a special roundtable about just that question.

She invited Kiese Laymon and Saeed Jones and the result is a conversation that is riveting and enlightening, exploring how a book’s success can hurt the people you love, and how the isolation that comes with touring and being alone in hard times can almost do a person in.

Amanda Stern is Bookable’s host. Founder of the popular literary event series Happy Ending at Joe’s Pub in New York City, Stern is also a writer. Happy Ending ran for more than a decade and was selected as New York’s best book-related series by New York Magazine, The Village Voice and NY Press. The New York Times Magazine singled out Happy Ending as a force keeping “downtown New York alive.”

This episode was produced by Andrew Dunn and Amanda Stern. It was mixed and sound-designed by Andrew Dunn who also created Bookable's chill vibe.  Our host is Amanda Stern. Beau Friedlander is Bookable's executive producer and editor in chief of Loud Tree Media.

Music:

"Books that Bounce" by Rufus Canis, "Different Strokes" by Jupyter, "Uni Swing Vox" by Rufus Canis.