Suri Hustvedt, "Memories of the Future" (Simon and Schuster, 2019)

How Do We Write Our Personal History at the Same Time That It’s Written for Us?

Today I talked to Suri Hustvedt about this question and others as we discuss her book Memories of the Future (Simon and Schuster, 2019).

The Literary Review (UK) has called Hustvedt “a twenty-first-century Virginia Woolf.” She’s the author of seven novels, four collections of essays, and two works of nonfiction. She has a PhD in English literature from Columbia University and lectures in psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College. Hustvedt is the recipient of numerous awards, including the European Essay Prize.

Topics covered in this episode include:

• What it can mean to be a heroine instead of a hero, including in regards to which emotions might conventionally be considered “off-limits.”
• The role that the author’s over-a-dozen drawings play in this novel.
• Musings on what the roots of ambition might be, and how ambition and shame as well as memory and imagination are often so intertwined.

Dan Hill, PhD, is the author of eight books and leads Sensory Logic, Inc. (https://www.sensorylogic.com). To check out his “Faces of the Week” blog, visit https://emotionswizard.com.

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