“I didn't go to graduate school, where all the important writers seemed to be getting their start. I didn't pursue getting published in literary magazines. I didn't even send out countless pitch letters and manuscripts to agents.”

American fiction writer and essayist

Jami Attenberg is an American fiction writer and essayist. She is known for a short story collection, seven novels, and a memoir. Born in the United States, she writes in a contemporary literary mode and has built a career around fiction and personal prose. Her work includes the best-selling novel The Middlesteins, published in 2012, and the memoir I Came All This Way to Meet You, published in 2022. Across her books, she is associated with fiction and essay writing, moving between invented stories and firsthand reflection.