Why We Write Read Free

Write
is an homage, also, to my wonderful agent and my wonderful editor and to all the literary agents, editors, editorialassistants, art directors, book designers, illustrators, copy editors, proofreaders, production managers, compositors, printers, publicists, marketing directors, sales reps, book reviewers, book bloggers, booksellers, and writers of all stripes and polka dots, who continue to adapt to the ever-changing circumstances of their life’s work, and who keep one eye in the rearview mirror and one eye on the road ahead, making books so they might reach the people who want, maybe even need, to read them.

Why We Write

C HAPTER O NE
Isabel Allende
    In my forty years, I, Zarité Sedella, have had better luck than other slaves. I am going to have a long life and my old age will be a time of contentment because my star
—mi z’étoile—
also shines when the night is cloudy. I know the pleasure of being with the man my heart has chosen. His large hands awaken my skin.
    —Opening lines,
Island Beneath the Sea
, 2010
    I sabel Allende is the world’s most widely read Spanish-language author. Her name is invariably linked with magical realism, the genre originated by Franz Kafka in the 1920s and popularized by
One Hundred Years of Solitude
author Gabriel García Márquez, to whom Allende is often compared.
    But the scope of Allende’s work, ranging from historical fiction to bare-all memoirs to the pleasures of food and sex, defies categorization—as does she. A beloved light of the Bay Area literary scene, Allende is first to volunteer when there’s a benefit for Hurricane Katrina survivors or a fund-raiser for the public library or when the local indie bookstore needs a boost.
    Isabel Allende received me in her cozy, elegantly appointedSausalito salon, the front room of the 1907 brothel she bought in 2006. Upstairs her husband, Willie Gordon, practices “people’s law.” Downstairs, along with her longtime assistant, Juliette Ambatzidis (whose children are counted among Isabel and Willie’s grandchildren), Isabel Allende conducts the business end of her avocation: making beautiful words, making a more beautiful world.
    T HE V ITALS
    Birthday: August 2, 1942
    Born and raised: Born in Lima, Peru; raised in Chile, Bolivia, and Lebanon
    Current home: San Rafael, California
    Love life: Married 20+ years to attorney Willie Gordon
    Family life: “Tribe” includes son Nicolas, grandchildren, family members, and friends
    Schooling: Married her first husband at age 20; never attended college
    Day job?: No
    Honors and awards (partial listing): Feminist of the Year Award, 1994; American Academy of Arts and Letters, 2004; Chilean National Prize for Literature, 2010; 12 international honorary doctorates
    Notable notes:
    • Isabel Allende’s father’s first cousin was Salvador Allende, the president of Chile, 1970–73.
    • Allende writes in Spanish, and her books are all translated by Margaret Sayers Peden.
    • The Isabel Allende Foundation, founded in 1996, “promotes the fundamental rights of women and children to be empowered and protected.”
    • Allende’s 18 books have been translated into 35 languages, with 57 million copies sold.
    Website: www.isabelallende.com
    Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Isabel-Allende/103761352995313
    Twitter: @isabelallende
    T HE C OLLECTED W ORKS
    Novels
    The House of the Spirits
, 1982
    The Porcelain Fat Lady
, 1984
    Of Love and Shadows
, 1985
    Eva Luna
, 1987
    The Stories of Eva Luna
, 1990
    The Infinite Plan
, 1991
    Daughter of Fortune
, 1999
    Portrait in Sepia
, 2000
    City of the Beasts
, 2002
    Kingdom of the Golden Dragon
, 2004
    Forest of the Pygmies
, 2005
    Zorro
, 2005
    Inés of My Soul
, 2006
    The Sum of Our Days: A Memoir
, 2008
    Island Beneath the Sea
, 2010
    Memoirs
    Paula
, 1995
    Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses
, 1998
    My Invented Country: A Nostalgic Journey Through Chile
, 2003
    Film Adaptations
    The House of the Spirits
, 1993
    Of Love and Shadows
,