Elizabeth Benedict on Books, Money, Hair, Mothers, Gifts & What Not

Beauty and fashion guru Ingrid Nilsen raves in her NOVEMBER FAVORITES video about Me, My Hair and I.   Take a look at minute 10! Thanks, Ingrid! Want to buy the book - an original paperback, published by Algonquin? Try Amazon or your favorite indie. Some of mine are Porter Square Books and Politics and Prose . 

Hair-obsessed readers, please join Hallie Ephron, Elizabeth Searle and me,  Monday November 16 at 7pm Newtonville Books, Newton, MA.    There may be a drawing for a hair-related gift basket involved.                                                       _____________________ And if you're headed to the Miami Book Fair, four of us will be on a panel,   Saturday, Nov. 21, at noon. Details click  here:   Hair: A Cultural Exploration Saturday, November 21 @ 12:00 pm   | Free ADD TO SCHEDULE Have a good-hair day with  Hallie Ephron ,  Ru Freeman , and  Marita Golden  — contributors to  Me, My Hair, and I: Twenty-seven Women Untangle an Obsession , edited and moderated by  Elizabeth Benedict , the anthology that proves what every woman knows — many things in life matter more than hair, but few bring as much pleasure as a really great hairdo.

I was delighted to receive this story from a reader in response to my call for stories about going gray, or as we say around here, silver. Got one you want on this blog? It can be with or without your name - entirely your choice. Email me at info@ElizabethBenedict.com and I'll consider it.  In the meantime, here's one I really identify with - especially all the ambivalence - should I, shouldn't I? Thanks for sharing with us! "I am a 37 year old brunette who has never colored my hair. Prior to having any grays, I never thought my hair was my best feature, so I didn’t want to spend the time/money in the salon coloring it. It simply wasn’t a big deal to me. "As a few silver strands started showing up like obnoxious runway lights in an otherwise calm night,  I thought, “hmm.” About that time, a (male) colleague of mine gave me Anne Kreamer’s book [ Going Gray ]. Upon reading it, I resolutely decided to not color my hair and wrote her a fan letter (my first.

Where are you on the issue of going gray? Are you firmly for, against, or ambivalent? Before Me, My Hair and I came out, I thought the most risqué piece in the book was Alex Kuczynski's "And Be Sure to Tell Your Mother," about, well, pubic hair. But once it came out and the New York Post interviewed contributor Anne Kreamer on her decision some years ago to go gray, I realized this was a much more fraught issue than I'd imagined.  It has to do whether whether we're going to age naturally or intervene in the process - and what the costs of each decision are, financially, emotionally, and culturally. My own story: my essay in the anthology is called, "No, I Won't Go Gray," but soon after the book went into final production, I changed my mind. My hair dresser mistakenly dyed my hair black - it had been a soft brown, close to the original - and after a few weeks of trying to live with it, I decided I couldn't bear to go through what's necess

BOOK PAGE just published a wonderful review of Me, My Hair and I .   A taste from the beginning: “Gorgeous hair is the best revenge,” said Ivana Trump, she of the platinum blonde, sky-high hair. Hair as tool of revenge, as obsession, as embarrassment, as source of pride: Why does a long string of protein absorb so much of our attention?" and the end: "Thought-provoking and insightful,  Me, My Hair, and I  is a must-read for anyone who has ever dealt with frizz, gray hair, mothers insisting we get a haircut, fathers insisting we not, hair envy or hair disasters. In short, all of us." READ MORE Reviewer Amy Scribner mentions essays by contributors Suleika Jaouad , Alex Kuczynski , Hallie Ephron , Jane Green, Jane Smiley, Adriana Trigiani , and Anne Lamott. 

I love this review from the Chicago Tribune of Me, My Hair and I by Heidi Stevens. Here's the opening: "Truth and wisdom do such a delightful dance throughout "Me, My Hair, And I" that you finish the essay collection wondering why we don't spend more time, not less, obsessing over our tresses. "Ask a woman about her hair," writes Elizabeth Benedict, "and she just might tell you the story of her life." "Benedict, an Iowa Writers' Workshop coach and the author of five novels, did just that, gathering essays from a diverse group of 27 female writers, including Anne Lamott, Jane Smiley, Maria Hinojosa and Suleika Jaouad ." READ MORE

Our anthology, published just a week ago, has garnered accolades from PEOPLE magazine, where it was the FEATURED BOOK OF THE WEEK and from ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, where we made it to the #4 slot on the MUST List - which goes across genres and includes Martian Movie - #1- and the movie about Malala - #6.  To see photos of the contributors in various life stages, please visit Algonquin's fab tumblr page, which you can see HERE . This week you can gaze at hair photos of Jane Smiley, Deborah Tannen, Deborah Hofmann, Jane Green, and Katie Hafner.  The book's Facebook page is HERE .   And if you want to buy the book (an original paperback, only $16.95 list), please support your local indie - or visit your favorite on-line bookseller. Thanks for checking in. 

Here's the truth: Women like to talk about their hair. And other people's hair. And then their own hair. We can't escape it, so please join us to talk hair at these times and places, with these fabulous contributors to Me, My Hair and I: 27 Women Untangle an Obsession . The pub date is Sept. 29, but you might be able to find a copy at your local bookstore a few days early. Tuesday, Sept. 29 Powerhouse Arena , Dumbo, Brooklyn, with contributors Suleika Jaouad, Siri Hustvedt, Emma Gilbey Keller, Anne Kreamer, Rosie Schaap .  Thursday, Oct. 1 Upper East Side BN 86th bet 3rd & Lexington with contributors  Myra Goldberg, Alex Kuczynski, Deborah Hofmann, Honor Moore, Bharati Mukherjee .  Monday, Oct. 5  7pm. Porter Square Books , Porter Square, Cambridge, MA with contributors  Hallie Ephron, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, Elizabeth Searle. Tuesday, Oct. 13  6:30pm.  Busboys and Poets (Politics & Prose )   625 Monroe NE, Washington DC with contributors  Deborah Tann

But do you, should you, and should we have to suffer to be beautiful? Thanks to Yvette Walker at the Oklahoman  for bring this up in our first newspaper review of Me, My Hair and I,  which you can read (and see the great photo of Ms. Walker and her hair) HERE .

It's becoming clear to me that hair has, well, legs.  Two more of the essays in our upcoming anthology have recently been published in advance of the Sept. 29 pub date. You can read Marita Golden's searing essay, "My Black Hair," on Quartz, under the title "My Black Hair: A Tangled Story of Race and Politics in America," by clicking HERE .  And you can read Alex Kuczynski's (kind of naughty) piece on the hair that's usually hidden, in the August issue of Harper's Bazaar, under the title "To Ladyscape or Not." Trust me: You'll love the photo that runs with the piece. And love the piece. Which you can read by clicking RIGHT HERE . 

Lots of great hair news for our anthology.  Pub date: Sept. 29th. Our first three reviews have been spectacular. Read the Kirkus Review here , read the PW here ,  and watch BOOK RIOT's You Tube review here --it's the second book in, after about a minute. Suleika Jaouad's  piece,  "Hair, Interrupted"  is now on Vogue.Com , as part of a series, "Meet 9 Inspirational Women Who Have Embraced the Stylish Possibilities of Life After Hair Loss," which you can see in its entirety here , and you can read Suleika's fabulous piece here . Keep an eye out for the August issue of Harper's Bazaar , which will run Alex Kuczynski's piece, "And Be Sure to Tell Your Mother." You can pre-order a copy of the book now, and it will be yours on September 29, 2015, published by Algonquin Books. Support your local indie bookstores.

My personal essay, "What We Talk About When We Talk About Money" is just out in Salmagundi's 50th anniversary issue, along with a group of essays on the subject for which I was a guest editor, by Rick Moody, Phillip Lopate and Howard Norman.  Each piece is a striking testament to the elemental, immutable, sometimes harrowing power of money, to its fertility as a storytelling device, and to all the ways it makes us feel and act and think about ourselves, our families, and our place in the world. What We Talk About When We Talk About Money by Elizabeth Benedict In this corner is my kindly grandfather, who liked to say, when the subject of our not having enough came up, “It’s just money.” In the opposite corner, a different message from my mother, who longed for so much: “All you need is money.” When I was eight years old, I showed my father an ad in The New York Times   for a dog coat at Saks Fifth Avenue that cost nineteen dollars. I wanted him to be as

What's the most meaningful gift your mother ever gave you - the one that opens the door to your rich, complicated relationship with her?  When I asked 30 amazing women this question - including many writers whose work you know well -  What My Mother Gave Me was the answer. The collection was an instant hit and a New York Times Bestseller  when it came out two years ago, and it's still going strong. Among the contributors: Joyce Carol Oates, Mary Gordon, Katha Pollitt , Maud Newton , Rita Dove, Karen Karbo , Eleanor Lipman , Dahlia Lithwick, Sheila Kohler ,  Caroline Leavitt , Roxana Robinson , and pastor and writer Lillian Daniel .  In honor of Mother's Day - May 10th - Book the Writer has arranged two pop-up book groups - one in Manhattan, one in Princeton - to discuss the book and talk to the editor (me) and several contributors at these events.    Book the Writer  brings authors to homes to talk in intimate settings to book groups.   Space is limited. Scroll down to