I came across I Remember by Joe Brainard on a list of books to read before you die. And, now after reading it, I think I agree! This is a book composed of short sections that all start with the words “I remember.” Most of these sections are just one or two sentences long, with a few that are more like paragraph length.

At first I thought the repetition would be daunting, and it was for the first few pages, but I quickly acclimated to the words and found myself really liking the book, which is full of remembered things from the author’s life from childhood and on. I found these sections to be funny, lovely, poignant, relatable, grotesque, troubling–basically the gamut of the human condition, which is what all good literature will do.

As I read, I learned that Joe Brainard was a multi-genre artist, a writer and a visual artist and was well known for his comic book artwork. He was a true Renaissance man and lost too soon.