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Rating: 
Summary: Natalie Goldberg is our girlfriend!
Review: I feel as if I know Natalie!
After all, I have listened to all of her writing workshops and read most of her books. How cool is it to listen to a "Writing Workshop" while taking a walk in your neighborhood!?
And to listen to Natalie's (New York-Minnesota-New Mexico accent!) Loooove her."Old Friend from Far Away" is wonderful. Natalie gives the writer many ideas about how to get that pen moving, how to write that first sentence..."Write... I remember. My first kiss. My favorite meal is. My father was. My worse food. My favorite river." And Details... People are really interested. Not the flower...what kind of flower. Not red...Ruby, cranberry, rose. Get it???!!!!!! And what is Natalie's most amazing advice???? WRITING PRACTICE. If you know anything about Natalie, you would have realized that. She reads to us from some of her favorite authors and poets. She says that "Ballad of the Sad Cafe" by Carson Mccullers is the reason she became a writer. She says that we need to name things... Spanish olive, Oak tree, Buttercup. Isn't that more concrete than olive, tree, flower!!???? Natalie tells us to get going, write, pick up the pen. And practice, practice, practice!!!!!!! Well, what are you waiting for?!!!
Rating: 
Summary: And she does feel like an old friend...
Review: It's easy to get hooked on Natalie Goldberg and it's not always easy to say why. In her Long Island accent -- not much changed by living in Minnesota and New Mexico -- she delivers wry commentary on writing much as I'd imagine a zen master lecturing a favorite student. She can be tough and demanding but she clearly loves her students. And she's very open about her own life, in and out of writing.
There's an old saying that we like someone better after we learn their flaws. I listened to Old Friends, ostensibly about writing a memoir, after reading Natalie Goldberg's own story of her two great teachers, her father and her zen master. It's a nice combination. Here Natalie Goldberg comes across as warmer and easier to know than in Thunder and Lightning and she drops hints about her own struggles, self-accepting as well as self-deprecating. For instance, it's clear that Goldberg has some bad karma about cars -- and here she adds an anecdote about failing a driving test on a freezing Minnesota morning when she went wrong way on a one-way street. None of these car stories seem to bother her as much as they'd bother me or most people I know!
In the end, Old Friend is less about writing memoir than about getting motivated to write and spending time with Natalie Goldberg. Sure, we get lots of exercises that could lead to a memoir: "I remember..." and, "Biggest mistakes I made..." but these exercises could also lead to a novel or even a nonfiction self-help book. Mostly her enthusiasm and her examples would make almost anyone grab a pen and paper and start writing -- now! . She captures the excitement of conquering a blank page and really engaging with ideas, using writing to grow our minds.
I'd recommend this CD to anyone who wants to write, who's struggling with a blank page, who's gotten jaded and frustrated and wondering why bother. That's almost anybody who writes, probably. And I'd recommend the CD to anyone who doesn't especially want to write but just maybe wants to try. And of course I'd recommend the CD to anyone who's met Natalie Goldberg and wants to spend another couple of hours with her, sharing the journey.
Postscript: I live in southwestern New Mexico, so people always ask if I live near Natalie Goldberg. She's about eight hours away up in Taos where they get tons more snow than we do! Some days she probably thinks she's back in Minnesota.
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring, motivating, and fun
Review: This audio was a joy to listen to. I feel so motivated to continue writing my memoir. I took notes, but more than that I listened to Natalie's voice and felt encouraged. (Her voice made me homesick with her pronounced New York accent).She gives examples of other authors' memoirs as well as her own. She helped me keep going with my own story, which I stopped when the going got tough. Writing is the easiest activity in the world to procrastinate (easier to start a diet!) But I found myself welcomed and my life's story valued by listening to her. If you want a shot in the arm or a gentle nudge, to motivate your writing, get this tape. Thanks, Natalie!!
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring, motivating, and fun
Review: This audio was a joy to listen to. I feel so motivated to continue writing my memoir. I took notes, but more than that I listened to Natalie's voice and felt encouraged. (Her voice made me homesick with her pronounced New York accent).She gives examples of other authors' memoirs as well as her own. She helped me keep going with my own story, which I stopped when the going got tough. Writing is the easiest activity in the world to procrastinate (easier to start a diet!) But I found myself welcomed and my life's story valued by listening to her. If you want a shot in the arm or a gentle nudge, to motivate your writing, get this tape. Thanks, Natalie!!
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