Power Quote
Ander Monson Will Hack You
Ander Monson
I re-read Ander Monson’s brilliant “Essay as Hack” today and thought I might share a section for anyone out there who is writing memory-based stories or personal essays.
The brain reconfigures memory, reorders events, resets them among other events to form narrative, causality: it creates sense. The mind tells itself stories about what happens to it. So me saying that I did X because of Y rests on thousands of assumptions about who or what I think I am, how I thought of myself then—transmuted into how I think about myself now.
…Any sort of attempt to sort meaning from the past is fraught in thousands on thousands of ways, exponentially splintering. The more you think about it the more it asymptotically approaches impossibility.
This is not to suggest we shouldn’t attempt it. The attempt is glorious, and attempting rewires the brain. It moves the circuitry around, attaching a new conclusion to an action, reconstructing self. In a way, thinking about the self hacks it.
Tags: ander monson
Also, I should add that “Essay as Hack” is about essay in general, not just personal ones or memoirs.
Also, I should add that “Essay as Hack” is about essay in general, not just personal ones or memoirs.
He looks warm yet also angry.
He looks warm yet also angry.
I fucking love Ander Monson with all my heart. I honestly think “Other Electricities” will someday be recognized by the world as the literary masterpiece it really is. And he’s one of the nicest authors I’ve ever met. Also, I envy his beard, A GREAT, GREAT DEAL.
I fucking love Ander Monson with all my heart. I honestly think “Other Electricities” will someday be recognized by the world as the literary masterpiece it really is. And he’s one of the nicest authors I’ve ever met. Also, I envy his beard, A GREAT, GREAT DEAL.
Amazing essay, amazing author. I have had the distinct pleasure of working with Monson in workshops and he is really insightful and encouraging to aspiring, would-be writers. And the beard, come summer turns to a mustache, which is also quite majestic in itself.
Amazing essay, amazing author. I have had the distinct pleasure of working with Monson in workshops and he is really insightful and encouraging to aspiring, would-be writers. And the beard, come summer turns to a mustache, which is also quite majestic in itself.