Autoportrait is written as one long, stream of consciousness paragraph. It's an interesting and engaging style for a memoir, as it creates a sense of how Ball thinks and the specific types of things that hold his interest. I enjoyed reading it.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Catapult, Counterpoint Press and Soft Skull Press for an advance copy of this new memoir and examination of a life.

A very good friend of mine is a writer who has collaborated on quite a few bestselling memoirs from singers, actors, and others tossed in the limelight of the public eye. The writer once told me that people to talk about their lives, but writing it down makes it more real. Something politicians understand. To write is to go deeper, to explore as the writer explains and leaving a physical reminder to be examined later. Few people want to go that far. Great achievements, goals, getting back at family or enemies, that's easy, deep truth, the whole truth and the minutiae of moments that make up a life that is very hard. Author, absurdist, teacher Jesse Ball has gone that deep in his new work, a memoir entitled Autoportrait, about the life and thoughts of Jesse Ball, or an amazing piece of fiction, again about the author Jesse Ball.

As quoted by the publishers, this book is inspired by the memoir of the French author Édouad Levé, written before his committed suicide at the age of 39. Ball is the same age when he starts this he writes and from there he writes about his life as it seems to pop into his head. We begin with a list of childhood injuries ranging from various accidents, across his childhood. Where in other books this might mean some reflection, we have no time here, a life is being lived. Soon the reader learns about Jesse Ball's tattoos, marriages, travel on trains in China, judo, fights, anger, lost books and reading in the bath, and some titles that he recommends to try also.

The book once started is very hard to put down. The book is small, but dense, with much to contemplate, and frankly go oh come on at. However this is his life, we are just observing and as readers who are we to judge. I would say that the writing seems improvisational, like a jam band solo that seems to go nowhere however as you go on you find themes, and things that look like long lists of likes and dislikes fit into ways that enhance the reading experience. At the end I knew more about Jesse Ball than about members of my own family, for good and bad. And I have more appreciation of what it takes to be human. Thousands of little bits, significant and insignificant but equally up into a life, well lived, or not well lived readers might have to decide, but lived.

Not a book for everyone. This is my second book by Mr. Ball, I read his novel Census, and have another on my to be read pile, which I will have to move up. I really enjoyed this, the idea, the honesty, the times that we had something in common, and the times that we were diametrically apart. A book for people who like to read different. For fans of the recent book The Novelist by Jordan Castro, also from the same publisher, and just as good and different or for other fans of autofiction such as Emmanuel Carrère.

Unique unusual Jesse Ball writes in a stream of consciousness.He tells the story of moments events occurrences in his life his past and present.His story flowed for me kept me engaged interested.#netgalley #catapult

It's All Good.........

This could be Jesse Ball's actual true autobiography, or it could be the might as well be true biography of a character created by Jesse Ball who happens to be named Jesse Ball. If you don't see this distinction as being much of a distinction at all, then you will likely enjoy this book.

I noted above that "it's all good". That is not true. The book is, more or less, log-normal. There are some misses, lots of solid bits, and a few amazingly engaging bits. Some lines are too coy or contrived; some are astonishing or even heartbreaking. Since the entire text is one continuing paragraph, and almost no thought is entertained beyond at most a few sentences, the use of the word "bits" seems quite appropriate.

I enjoy and admire Ball's fiction. I enjoyed and admired this.

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)