Meredith Maran
Encyclopedia
Meredith Maran is a journalist and writer
. She has written eight books, several of them San Francisco Chronicle
best-sellers. She writes features, essays, and book reviews for People
, Self
, Real Simple
, Vibe, Ladies Home Journal and Mother Jones
and contributes regularly to Salon.com
, the San Francisco Chronicle
, Family Circle
and More
magazines. Maran’s storytelling is regarded as colorful, compelling, sympathetic, and evocative. Her memoir, My Lie, has been described as a persuasive, compelling critique of media and psychology.
. Her second book, How Would You Feel If Your Dad Was Gay?, was published in 1991 by Alyson Press. The book is a children's book about gay/lesbian issues.
What It’s Like To Live Now was published in 1995 by Bantam
. It captures the contradictions and ambiguities of the modern American experience. Maran's fourth book, Ben & Jerry’s Double Dip, was published in 1997 by Simon & Schuster
. What It's Like To Live Now became a Bay Area Bestseller. Ben & Jerry's Double Dip became a national bestseller.
Notes From An Incomplete Revolution was published in 1997, by Bantam
. The book is written in first-person, with the narrator acknowledging the limitations and failings of feminism while still rejoicing in the power of the women's movement.
Maran’s book, Class Dismissed, was published by St. Martin's Press
in 2000. The book presents an account of the stark realities of public education via a year in the lives of three high school seniors from Berkeley High. Class Dismissed was praised by critics and spent 15 weeks on the San Francisco Chronicle bestseller list.
Dirty, which explores the causes and consequences of America’s teenage drug epidemic, was published in 2003, by HarperSanFrancisco. The book brings the reader face-to-face with seventeen-year-old Mike, whose life revolves around selling, smoking, and snorting speed; fifteen-year-old Tristan, the boy next door who cannot get enough pot, pills, or vodka; and sixteen-year-old Zalika, a runaway, crack dealer, and prostitute since the age of twelve. In Dirty, Maran combines powerful on-the-street reporting, groundbreaking research, and compassion, to showcase the anguish and resilience of teenagers in trouble.
According to Psychology Today:
My Lie, published in 2010 by John Wiley & Sons
, is a memoir which recounts the sex-abuse panic spread across the U.S., during the 1980s and 1990s. Maran’s refusal to whitewash her own behavior, her ability to expose all sides of the issue, and her compassion for the abused as well as those still falsely imprisoned as abusers opens up a dialogue about memory, belief, and past- and present-day culture that is both riveting and important. Maran is especially credible because of the number of years she spent working in the child abuse prevention area.
According to the National Center for Reason and Justice:
My Lie was named a San Francisco Chronicle “Best Book of 2010,” and San Francisco Chronicle “Notable New Book”.
In addition to writing books, features, essays, and book reviews, Maran has been a keynote speaker at venues including the 2008 SNAP Conference, the California Writer's Club, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Charles Schwab Foundation, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Educators for Social Responsibility, and the Education Writers of America. From 2004-2006 she was Writer in Residence at UCLA. In 2006 she was Writer in Residence at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House in Taos.
In an interview with TIME.com, Maran explained how and why she decided to write her memoir, My Lie. She explained that in 2007, a hiking acquaintance had asked if she had ever done anything she still regretted. Maran replied that she had accused her father of molesting her, and hadn’t spoken to him for eight years. Maran [later] realized that the accusation wasn’t true. Maran’s hiking acquaintance said that exactly the same thing had happened to her. That prompted Maran to address the examples and abuses that included false accounts—and the pain and suffering inflicted on people who were innocent like her father—in order to answer the question: “How could it happen that people who never suffered such harrowing experiences would come to believe that they had?”
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
. She has written eight books, several of them San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
best-sellers. She writes features, essays, and book reviews for People
People (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
, Self
Self (magazine)
Self magazine is an American magazine for women that specializes in health, fitness, nutrition, beauty and happiness. Published by Condé Nast Publications 12 times a year, it has a circulation of 1,486,992 and a total audience of 5,541,000 readers, according to its corporate media kit. The...
, Real Simple
Real Simple
Real Simple is a monthly women's interest magazine published by Time Inc.. Real Simple, which was launched by Time in 2000, features articles and information related to homekeeping, childcare, cooking and emotional wellbeing. Real Simple is distinguished by its clean, uncluttered style of layout...
, Vibe, Ladies Home Journal and Mother Jones
Mother Jones (magazine)
Mother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
and contributes regularly to Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
, the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, Family Circle
Family Circle
Family Circle is an American women's magazine published 15 times a year by Meredith Corporation. It began publication in 1932 as a magazine distributed at supermarkets such as Piggly Wiggly and Safeway. Cowles Magazines and Broadcasting bought the magazine in 1962. The New York Times Company bought...
and More
More (magazine)
More, launched in September 1998, is a women's lifestyle magazine published once a month by the Meredith Corporation with a rate base of 1.3 million and a circulation of 1.5 million...
magazines. Maran’s storytelling is regarded as colorful, compelling, sympathetic, and evocative. Her memoir, My Lie, has been described as a persuasive, compelling critique of media and psychology.
Work
Maran's first memoir, Chamisa Road, was published in 1971 by Random HouseRandom House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
. Her second book, How Would You Feel If Your Dad Was Gay?, was published in 1991 by Alyson Press. The book is a children's book about gay/lesbian issues.
What It’s Like To Live Now was published in 1995 by Bantam
Bantam
Bantam may refer to:* Bantam , a small variety of poultry* Bantamweight, a weight class in boxing-Places:* Bantam , a city and former sultanate on Java island, in Indonesia...
. It captures the contradictions and ambiguities of the modern American experience. Maran's fourth book, Ben & Jerry’s Double Dip, was published in 1997 by Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
. What It's Like To Live Now became a Bay Area Bestseller. Ben & Jerry's Double Dip became a national bestseller.
Notes From An Incomplete Revolution was published in 1997, by Bantam
Bantam
Bantam may refer to:* Bantam , a small variety of poultry* Bantamweight, a weight class in boxing-Places:* Bantam , a city and former sultanate on Java island, in Indonesia...
. The book is written in first-person, with the narrator acknowledging the limitations and failings of feminism while still rejoicing in the power of the women's movement.
Maran’s book, Class Dismissed, was published by St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in the Flatiron Building in New York City. Currently, St. Martin's Press is one of the United States' largest publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under eight imprints, which include St. Martin's Press , St...
in 2000. The book presents an account of the stark realities of public education via a year in the lives of three high school seniors from Berkeley High. Class Dismissed was praised by critics and spent 15 weeks on the San Francisco Chronicle bestseller list.
Dirty, which explores the causes and consequences of America’s teenage drug epidemic, was published in 2003, by HarperSanFrancisco. The book brings the reader face-to-face with seventeen-year-old Mike, whose life revolves around selling, smoking, and snorting speed; fifteen-year-old Tristan, the boy next door who cannot get enough pot, pills, or vodka; and sixteen-year-old Zalika, a runaway, crack dealer, and prostitute since the age of twelve. In Dirty, Maran combines powerful on-the-street reporting, groundbreaking research, and compassion, to showcase the anguish and resilience of teenagers in trouble.
According to Psychology Today:
"Dirty is eye-opening and compassionately delivered...a sympathetic evocation of ecstasy, heartbreak, horror, and hope. Provocatively revealing, informative, and not without humor, Dirty is itself an addictive read."
My Lie, published in 2010 by John Wiley & Sons
John Wiley & Sons
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., also referred to as Wiley, is a global publishing company that specializes in academic publishing and markets its products to professionals and consumers, students and instructors in higher education, and researchers and practitioners in scientific, technical, medical, and...
, is a memoir which recounts the sex-abuse panic spread across the U.S., during the 1980s and 1990s. Maran’s refusal to whitewash her own behavior, her ability to expose all sides of the issue, and her compassion for the abused as well as those still falsely imprisoned as abusers opens up a dialogue about memory, belief, and past- and present-day culture that is both riveting and important. Maran is especially credible because of the number of years she spent working in the child abuse prevention area.
According to the National Center for Reason and Justice:
"It’s about time someone such as [Meredith Maran] wrote a book like [My Lie]. I urge anyone interested in late 20th century culture, gender conflicts, social influence, and human suggestibility to read My Lie."
My Lie was named a San Francisco Chronicle “Best Book of 2010,” and San Francisco Chronicle “Notable New Book”.
Biography
Maran published her first national magazine article at age 15 and her first book at age 18. After a brief stint in Silicon Valley, Maran became Editor of the Banana Republic Magalog, then created award-winning socially responsible marketing campaigns for companies including Ben & Jerry's, Working Assets, Stonyfield Farm, Smith & Hawken, and Odwalla.In addition to writing books, features, essays, and book reviews, Maran has been a keynote speaker at venues including the 2008 SNAP Conference, the California Writer's Club, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Charles Schwab Foundation, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Educators for Social Responsibility, and the Education Writers of America. From 2004-2006 she was Writer in Residence at UCLA. In 2006 she was Writer in Residence at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House in Taos.
In an interview with TIME.com, Maran explained how and why she decided to write her memoir, My Lie. She explained that in 2007, a hiking acquaintance had asked if she had ever done anything she still regretted. Maran replied that she had accused her father of molesting her, and hadn’t spoken to him for eight years. Maran [later] realized that the accusation wasn’t true. Maran’s hiking acquaintance said that exactly the same thing had happened to her. That prompted Maran to address the examples and abuses that included false accounts—and the pain and suffering inflicted on people who were innocent like her father—in order to answer the question: “How could it happen that people who never suffered such harrowing experiences would come to believe that they had?”
Anthologies
- Travelers’ Tales San Francisco (1996)
- Women on the Verge (1999)
- I Do, I Don’t (Queers on Marriage) (2004)
- Roar Softly and Carry a Great Lipstick (2004)
- Why I’m Still Married (2006)
- About Face: Women Write About What They See When They Look In The Mirror (2008)
- Dirty Words (A Literary Encyclopedia of Sex) (2008)
- Behind The Bedroom Door (2008)
- One Big Happy Family (2009)
- Are We Born Racist? (2010)
- The Compassionate Instinct (2010)
Books
- Chamisa Road (1970)
- How Would You Feel If Your Dad Was Gay? (1991)
- What It’s Like To Live Now (1995)
- Ben & Jerry’s Double Dip (1997)
- Notes From An Incomplete Revolution (1997)
- Class Dismissed: A Year In The Life of an American High School (2000)
- Enough About You (2003)
- Dirty: A Search for Answers Inside America’s Teenage Drug Epidemic (2003)
- 50 Ways To Support Lesbian and Gay Equality (2005)
- My Lie: A True Story of False Memory (2010)
- A Theory of Small Earthquakes (2012)
Articles and Reviews
- Looking Back (SF Chronicle, 2004)
- Not just another dead black man (Salon.com, 2006)
- A rough night for gay Obama supporters (Salon.com, 2008)
- 'By Nightfall,' by Michael Cunningham (2010)
- Meredith Maran: Did my father really abuse me? (The Guardian, 2010)
- 'Cinderella Ate My Daughter,' by Peggy Orenstein (2011)
Awards and recognition
- Keynote speaker at venues including the 2008 SNAP Conference, the California Writer's Club, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Charles Schwab Foundation, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Educators for Social Responsibility, and the Education Writers of America.
- Writer in Residence at UCLA (2004–2006). Residencies at Yaddo, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Mesa Refuge, and Ragdale.
- San Francisco Chronicle “Best Book of 2010,” and San Francisco Chronicle “Notable New Book” (MY LIE)
- San Francisco Chronicle “Best Book of 2003” (DIRTY)
- San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller (DIRTY, CLASS DISMISSED)
- San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller (WHAT IT’S LIKE TO LIVE NOW)
Interviews
- Interview at TIME.com (Oct 2010)
- Feature at Mirror.co.uk (Nov 2010)
- Interview at Salon.com (Sept 2010)
- Interview at Daily Express UK (Nov 2010)
- Q&A at People Magazine (Nov 2010)
