Aram Saroyan – författare

“A writer’s vivid recollection of an age when every day could be a dream.” Kirkus ReviewsFrom humble beginnings in a fractured family, Aram Saroyan, author of the most controversial one-word poem in history, charts an unforgettable journey through art, fame, and the 20th-century bohemian counterculture.Before I Forget: A Memoir (and Then Some) is a powerful literary memoir from poet Aram Saroyan, son of William Saroyan, reflecting on a life shaped by art, fame, and fractured family. Includes rare photos, stories, and a behind-the-scenes view of American cultural and bohemian life from the 1950s onward.In Before I Forget, Saroyan remembers his beginnings in Manhattan, Los Angeles, London, and Bolinas. The son of the beloved author William Saroyan and step-son of Walter Matthau, he probes the fallout of his father and mother’s broken marriage and lessons gleaned in their wake.Saroyan paints a series of scenarios that impacted his life: An eight-year-old is cast out on the comic sea of Beverly Hills in the fifties. A young man encounters fame working with photographer Richard Avedon and a revolving list of models including Marilyn Monroe. A journey to nurture his own authentic, original literary voice finds love and support when least-expected, balancing the prickle of critical controversy. Here is a multi-faceted artist’s valedictory. Includes 20 rare photos from the author’s personal archive and two narrative novellas that frame Saroyan’s life in literature with imaginative reflections and sharp emotional insight.

"Friends in the World reminds us how much we need each other to truly be ourselves."--L.A. Reader¶". . . a thoughtful self-depiction of a budding writer of the sixties as well as sympathetic portraits of fellow literary figures such as Ted Berrigan, Allen Ginsberg, and Tom Clark."--Library Journal

"I grew up the son of a famous writer, grew up in his shadow in a general sense, except for two fortuitous graces . . . the first, that astrologically speaking I had many planets in Leo and so I was absurdly full of confidence, when I wasn't struck numb with my own incapacities. And the other, and perhaps the decisive factor, was that I had the honor of being a member of the generation that came of age in the sixties." So begins Aram Saroyan's essay, "Occupation: Writer," about his vocation, the sixties generation, and the fundamental task of coming to understand himself not as the son of William Saroyan but as his own person. Saroyan found his calling as a writer early on, starting out as a poet, and going on to write op-ed pieces, reviews, novels, biographies, memoirs, screenplays, and plays. In this essay and others included here, he explores the difficult task of finding one's way as a writer.