Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs By Writers Famous & Obscure, edited by Smith Magazine, hardcover, 256 pages, 7.25 x 5 x 1.1 inches, 11.2 ounces, Harper, list price: $16.95
This expanded and newly released edition of the early-2008 New York Times bestseller builds on the gleeful and compulsive readability of the original. The concept, inspired by Hemingway, is simple: Sum up your life in six words. Here's what The Know-It-All author A.J. Jacobs came up with: "Born bald. Grew hair. Bald again." Mary Roach, author of Stiff, Spook and Bonk: "Cadavers played an unexpectedly large part." Iron chef Mario Batali: "Brought it to a boil, often." You don't have to be famous to be witty. Sublime lines from the book's "obscure" contributors include: "The freaks, they always find me"; "Loved Natalie, love Jacqueline, married Debbie"; "Thought long and hard, got migraine"; "No, you are in MY way." Let me give it a try: "Wrote pricey gift guide. Advice: Amazon!"
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