''I Remember'' is a 1970

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

by American artist

Joe Brainard Joe Brainard (March 11, 1942 – May 25, 1994) was an American artist and writer associated with the New York School. His prodigious and innovative body of work included assemblages, collages, drawing, and painting, as well as designs for book ...

. It depicts his childhood in the 1940s and '50s in Oklahoma as well as his life in the '60s and '70s in New York City through a

stream of consciousness In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. The term was coined by Daniel Oliver (physician), Daniel Ol ...

list of moments and tangents that are prefixed with the phrase "I remember". Brainard followed ''I Remember'' with ''I Remember More'' (1972) and ''More I Remember More'' (1973), both published by Angel Hair.

Background

Synopsis

Reception

''I Remember'' is Brainard's best-known work.

Paul Auster Paul Benjamin Auster (born February 3, 1947) is an American writer and film director. His notable works include ''The New York Trilogy'' (1987), ''Moon Palace'' (1989), ''The Music of Chance'' (1990), ''The Book of Illusions'' (2002), ''The Broo ...

said the memoir was "one of the few totally original books I have ever read." ''I Remember'' has inspired many homages, none more notable than OuLiPian

Georges Perec Georges Perec (; 7 March 1936 – 3 March 1982) was a French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist, and essayist. He was a member of the Oulipo group. His father died as a soldier early in the Second World War and his mother was killed in the Holoc ...

's ''Je me souviens'' which was dedicated to Brainard.Padgett, Ron. (2004).
Joe: A Memoir of Joe Brainard
''. Minneapolis: Coffee House Press. Poet

Kenneth Koch Kenneth Koch ( ; 27 February 1925 – 6 July 2002) was an American poet, playwright, and professor, active from the 1950s until his death at age 77. He was a prominent poet of the New York School of poetry. This was a loose group of poets includ ...

was the first to utilize ''I Remember'' in the classroom as a prompt in teaching children to write poetry. The simplicity of the form has had great appeal to both writers and teachers, and most who use it are unaware of its origins. In 1998 filmmaker

Avi Zev Weider Avi Zev Weider is an American film director, writer, producer, and sound mixer. He is best known for his work on the films ''Welcome to the Machine'' and ''I Remember''. Career Avi wrote, directed, and produced the short film, ''I Remember'', whi ...

premiered his short film ''I Remember'' at the Sundance Film Festival. The film, an adaptation of Brainard's book, went on to play over 25 film festivals worldwide. Novelist

was the Executive Producer on the film. The film stars

John Cameron Mitchell John Cameron Mitchell (born April 21, 1963) is a two-time Tony Award winning American actor, playwright, screenwriter, singer, songwriter, producer and director. He is best known as the writer, director and star of the 2001 film '' Hedwig and th ...

and

Liam Aiken Liam Pádraic Aiken (born January 7, 1990) is an American actor. He has starred in films such as '' Stepmom'' (1998), ''Road to Perdition'' (2002), and ''Good Boy!'' (2003), and played Klaus Baudelaire in ''Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortuna ...

. In 2012 filmmaker Matt Wolf released the short ''I Remember: A Film About Joe Brainard'' using archival film footage and recordings of Brainard's readings. In 2014 Mexican author Margo Glantz wrote ''Yo también me acuerdo''. In a lengthy 2023 essay in the ''

New York Review of Books New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

'', the poet and critic

Geoffrey O'Brien Geoffrey O'Brien (born 1948 New York City, New York) is an American poet, editor, book and film critic, translator, and cultural historian. In 1992, he joined the staff of the Library of America as executive editor, becoming editor-in-chief in 19 ...

wrote that ''I Remember'' "revealed rainardas the inventor of an altogether new sort of book. The work eventually became globally popular and a widely used text for writing workshops."

References

1970 non-fiction books American memoirs Books about writers LGBT autobiographies 1970s LGBT literature LGBT literature in the United States {{lit-bio-book-stub