"Writing is a job and a miracle. It's at the center of Orlean's fantastic memoir, "Joyride," (Avid Reader Press, $30, Oct. 14), which also serves as a nonscolding guide to navigating that peculiar life. Orlean, 69, is still learning. Her refusal to be static, personally and professionally, courses through the book. "I've kind of poured my heart and soul out in a way I never have, and the consequence of that, I think, is that you feel a connection that's really different from when you're writing about an orchid thief or a movie star dog," Orlean said in a Zoom call with Poynter last month."
"Oh, that was not easy. (Laughs) I think the most important part of it was those two very deliberate attempts to objectify myself: namely be interviewed (by Manjula Martin) but also go and look through my archives (at Columbia University ) and treat myself the way if I was doing a biography of a writer named Susan Orlean. What would I do? Oh, I would look at the material, and I would interview that person. Those two processes were really important to me. I think they unlocked the tone and the approach for me."
A 69-year-old creative professional experiences recurring fear that bursts of vivid, confident language may suddenly stop, intensified by physical limitations like carpal tunnel. The work frames creative practice as both a job and a miracle and embraces ongoing personal and professional reinvention. Intimacy and emotional exposure increase connection with readers while producing some vulnerability. Two deliberate methods—being interviewed and examining extensive personal archives—served to objectify and clarify personal material, helping to unlock tone and approach. The process revealed surprises and prompted continued learning, reflection, and a refusal to remain static.
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