Joyride: A Memoir [Hardcover]

NATIONAL BESTSELLER
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NPR,TIME,OPRAH DAILY, GOODREADS, AND MORE

“Brilliant…A high-spirited, exhilarating memoir.” —The Wall Street Journal• “InJoyride, the takeaway often has as much to do with the art of living as the art of writing.”—Elle• “Wise and exuberant…It’s funny, as well. Just masterful.” —David Sedaris •“Superbly good…Ebullient, frank, moving, and inspiring.” —Booklist(starred review)

From Susan Orlean, the belovedNew Yorkerwriter and bestselling author ofThe Orchid ThiefandThe Library Bookwho has been hailed as “a national treasure” byThe Washington Post, comes a masterful memoir of finding her creative calling and purpose that invites us to approach life with wonder, curiosity, and an irrepressible sense of delight.

“The story of my life is the story of my stories,” writes Susan Orlean in this extraordinary, era-defining memoir from one of the greatest practitioners of narrative nonfiction of our time.Joyrideis a magic carpet ride through Orlean’s life and career, where every day is an opportunity for discovery and every moment holds the potential for wonder. Throughout her storied career, her curiosity has drawn her to explore the most ordinary and extraordinary of places, from going deep inside the head of a regular ten-year-old boy for a legendary profile (“The American Man Age Ten”) to reporting on a woman who owns twenty-seven tigers, from capturing the routine magic of Saturday night to climbing Mt. Fuji.

Not only does Orlean’s account of a writing life offer a trove of indispensable gleanings for writers, it’s also an essential and practical “master class” (The New York Timesl£!