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

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.   S...