(Unlike previous issues of Unbeaten Paths, most of which included multiple reviews, this issue contains only one, longer review of Sheila Heti’s Alphabetical Diaries.)
I’ve never read Heti although she’s been on my list for a while, and I like other writers classified as autofiction (Knausgaard, Cusk, Cole). What I found interesting is how you describe her sleight of hand, blurring the boundaries between what’s real and what’s not via form. I find this to be common among the “autofiction” writers, mostly in that they want to convince us they are just writing about their lives, but really there is something deeper and more structured going on. They are, in a sense, unreliable narrators, even when promoting their books.
I’ve never read Heti although she’s been on my list for a while, and I like other writers classified as autofiction (Knausgaard, Cusk, Cole). What I found interesting is how you describe her sleight of hand, blurring the boundaries between what’s real and what’s not via form. I find this to be common among the “autofiction” writers, mostly in that they want to convince us they are just writing about their lives, but really there is something deeper and more structured going on. They are, in a sense, unreliable narrators, even when promoting their books.