''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 whe ...

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on 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 autob ...

by American artist Joe Brainard. 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. It is usually in the form of an interior monologue which ...

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 (February 3, 1947 – April 30, 2024) was an American writer, novelist, memoirist, poet, and filmmaker. His notable works include '' The New York Trilogy'' (1987), '' Moon Palace'' (1989), '' The Music of Chance'' (1990), ' ...

said the memoir was "one of the few totally original books I have ever read." ''I Remember'' has inspired many homages, such as

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 Ho ...

'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 has utilized ''I Remember'' in the classroom as a prompt in teaching children to write poetry. In 1998 filmmaker Avi Zev Weider premiered his short film ''I Remember'' at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

. 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 an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, singer, songwriter, producer and director. He is known as the writer, director and star of the 2001 film ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch (film), Hedwig and t ...

and Liam Aiken. 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 2019, video artist Nguyen Tan Hoang premiered "I Remember Dancing," commissioned by Visual AIDS as part of Day With(out) Art, which "brings together an intergenerational cast of 'trans and queer gaysians' ruminating on the past and future of AIDS, activism, gay culture, love, and (un)safe sex." The works takes Brainerd's poems as a prompt. In a lengthy 2023 essay in the ''

New York Review of Books New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

'', the poet and critic Geoffrey O'Brien 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 LGBTQ autobiographies 1970s LGBTQ literature LGBTQ literature in the United States {{lit-bio-book-stub