“You write a book, and after 50 pages you think it's about one thing, and then you write another hundred and you realize it's about something else, and then by the time you're done, you can look back and say, 'Oh, this is what it's about.'”

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.