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Alibis: Essays on Elsewhere
Alibis: Essays on Elsewhere | André Aciman
A "Boston Globe" Best Nonfiction Book of 2011Celebrated as one of the most poignant stylists of his generation, Andre Aciman has written a luminous series of linked essays about time, place, identity, and art that show him at his very finest. From beautiful and moving pieces about the memory evoked by the scent of lavender; to meditations on cities like Barcelona, Rome, Paris, and New York; to his sheer ability to unearth life secrets from an ordinary street corner, "Alibis "reminds the reader that Aciman is a master of the personal essay."
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TieDyeDude
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Bailedbailed

I gave this a little more time than I should have, hoping that something would click, but as other reviews mention, it starts off strong before descending into meandering rants that he clearly thinks are very important, but I quickly grew tired of. I'd like to give the personal essay genre another go, though, if anyone has recommendations.

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Ddzmini
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Yes please 🤣🤣🤣🙌ðŸ½ðŸ“šðŸ“šðŸ“š

ItsAnotherJen 💯🤗🤗 5y
Soubhiville This is a great idea! All bookstores should offer this! 🤣 5y
LazyDays Yes!🙌 5y
Ddzmini @Soubhiville I know right 5y
brit91 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 5y
67 likes5 comments
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AVChrista
Bailedbailed

So f*****g boring. I understand that these are the author‘s thoughts, but I hate the feeling of the author not knowing themselves throughout each piece. I can tolerate “what ifs†but not the sense of not knowing yourself.

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chronicreader

"No disguise can forever hide love when it exists, or simulate it when it doesnt." ~ François VI, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marcillac, French author of maxims and memoirs.

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chronicreader

"What happens to life when we're not there to live it?"

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chronicreader
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Loved this chapter of Andre Aciman's Alibis: Essays On Elsewhere. He starts the chapter by talking about a "hidden nerve" and asking "don't all writers have a hidden nerve? And yet it's also the first thing every writer learns to sidestep..."

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Emiller
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#bookmail 📚📚😊😊

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dariazeoli
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Is it #NationalReadingDay or not?

Oh, who I kidding? This is Litsy - every day is reading day! Celebrate, you bookish people!

GripLitGrl 🎉🎉ðŸ‘ðŸ‘📚 7y
BookMaven407 Yes ðŸ‘ðŸ‘👠7y
46 likes2 comments
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readordierachel
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Today's #libraryhaul is brought to you mainly by Andre Aciman. Because I'm becoming mildly obsessed.

dariazeoli I‘m reading Alibis currently! 7y
saresmoore I hear that. @dariazeoli How are you liking Alibis? 7y
dariazeoli @saresmoore I‘m not quite halfway through. I really liked the first two essays. Some others are just ok, but looking forward to more 🙂 7y
See All 19 Comments
readordierachel @dariazeoli ðŸ‘🼠Have you read any of his other work or are you starting with Alibis? 7y
dariazeoli @ReadOrDieRachel It‘s my first, and it was a bonus book in a PageHabit box or else I‘d have no idea who he is! I hope I like the rest and am forced to add more to my TBR 7y
readordierachel @dariazeoli Cool! Great way to discover new authors (hopefully) 7y
LeahBergen I liked The Lost Garden. ðŸ‘🻠7y
Crystallinegirl I really enjoyed The Clockwork Dynasty! 7y
readordierachel @Crystallinegirl Good to hear! It sounds like a fun one. 7y
BookishMe I take it that you have read this. Someone tweeted titles to follow up for those who enjoyed 7y
BookishMe Some books to read, if you loved Call me By your Name:

The World of Normal Boys K.M. Soehnlein
At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill
The Collected Poems by Kenneth Koch
Dancer from the Dance by Andrew Holleran
Lovers by Daniel Arsand
The Carnivorous Lamb
7y
readordierachel @BookishMe Yes, I did read it! And loved it! Thanks for this!!! I will definitely check all of these out. Have you read any of them? 7y
BookishMe Nope actually ;D I have yet to read any books by Aciman *oops* 7y
readordierachel @BookishMe So many books, so little time... 7y
BookishMe Indeed indeed... 7y
EvieBee On my radar but where would you recommend I start?! 7y
readordierachel @EvieBee I would definitely recommend Call Me By Your Name. That was my gateway drug 😠7y
EvieBee @ReadOrDieRachel Ooh nice. Okay, thank you! 7y
81 likes2 stack adds19 comments
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dariazeoli
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“The better a writer, the better he erases his footprints- yet the better the writer, the more he wants us to intuit and put back those parts he chose to hide. With the right hunch, you could read the inflection of an author‘s soul on a single comma, in one sentence, and from that one sentence seize the whole book, his life work.â€

readordierachel 💙 7y
42 likes1 stack add1 comment
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DrSabrinaMoldenReads
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I am in my room reading and as always shielding myself from the outside world desperately using books as an imaginary screen...

SilversReviews LOVE this photo!! 7y
40 likes1 comment
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DrSabrinaMoldenReads
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Pickpick

One of the best things about my 2017 reading life has been the discovery of my love of essays. I now want to read the best collections that I can find. I love Aciman‘s writing style and his perspectives. I am always thankful to find someone who speaks my emotional language, that I am not alone in my thinking. The book did become tedious towards the end, more of the same but overall I loved it. 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Lacythebookworm Great review! I have a copy this and it looks like I need to add it to my 2018 TBR â˜ºï¸ 7y
Nat_Reads I have this on my shelf. You've inspired me to move it up! 7y
41 likes1 stack add4 comments
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DrSabrinaMoldenReads
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Serenity is the feeling of being one with the world, of having nothing to wish for, of lacking for nothing...of being entirely in the present. (I want this.)

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SarahSaysRead
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Mehso-so

I highlighted some passages, especially near the beginning. He definitely captures a few travel feels well. But.... maybe his writing isn't my style because a lot of it felt a little pretentious.

#travelessays #travel #readharder #nonfiction #globetrotter

24 likes1 stack add
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DimeryRene
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Last quote (just because I'm on the last essay). Travel high is finally wearing off too, so here's a final pic of my vacation. "What we ultimately remember is not the past but ourselves in the past imaging the future. And, frequently, what we look forward to is not the future but the past restored."

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DimeryRene
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Another pic from vacay as I continue Aciman and wish I was still on vacay: "it is always love that catches us unawares, exiles, tourists, and nomads alike. We walk about a dreamy town on a scalding hot day and as we're plotting the indifferent itinerary of a possible return trip in years to come, it suddenly hits us, as always obliquely, that this is love, isn't it? That it is really love we bring when we thought we were bringing nothing at all.."

MrBook Sweet! 7y
15 likes1 comment
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DimeryRene
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Shot of Dublin from a few days ago. This is always how I feel in a big city -- "I liked [...] especially in the early evening when the shops were all aglow and people were coming back from work, running last-minute errands, sometimes with children in tow, the bustling traffic of people giving the sidewalks a heady feel I grew to love, if only because it seemed rife with prospects for the evening I already knew were false."

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rach_simone
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Pickpick

Gorgeous writing. Such great essays on memory, being present (not sure if that is even possible) and belonging. #BookRiotReadHarder

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rach_simone
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Did I write this essay?

24 likes1 stack add
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Rachel
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This book is everything.

rach_simone I just read that part! His writing is so gorgeous 7y
RaimeyGallant We're playing #LitsyLove today. Consider yourself SmittenByLittens. :) 7y
27 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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cariashley
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Oh my gosh, Aciman is in my head. I do this obsessively, annoyingly, when I travel. I can't help it.

cariashley Later in this essay: "I count the days, already knowing that one day I will remember how tactless it was of me to have counted the days when I could so easily have enjoyed them." 8y
Laalaleighh I do this too! 8y
34 likes2 comments
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cariashley
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I agree with this as a descendant of immigrants to New York.

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cariashley
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So done with today in every possible way. Heading to bed with my next read 😴

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suvata
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Someone told me I should read this book ... so ...

15 likes2 stack adds
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Robothugs
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"Sometimes it is in blind ritual and not faith that we encounter the sacred, the way it is habit not character makes us who we are. Sometimes the clothes and scents we wear have more of us in them than we do ourselves."

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JessYowonske
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I live in the dark so as not to be blinded when darkness comes.

1 like2 stack adds
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Baileythebookworm
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I'm currently reading Alibis. Reading "Reflections of an Uncertain Jew" as an atheist while sitting in a Catholic church added multiple layers to an already layered text. Gorgeous, gorgeous writing

5 likes2 stack adds
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CiViiLy
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Currently reading

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HeatherG
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I've already felt all of the emotions and I'm only one essay in.