Harry Marten, the Edward E. Hale Jr. Professor of English and chair of the English Department, will sign his new book, “But That Didn't Happen to You: Recollections and Inventions” (XOXOX Press), at the Open Door Bookstore and Gift Gallery on Jay Street, Saturday, Oct. 20, 1-2:30 p.m.
Marten has called his memoir “a conversation across generations.” Set in New York City neighborhoods of 50-100 years ago, it offers reflections on the nature of memory, the immigrant experience, storytelling, old age and family relationships.
Marten, who was raised in the Bronx, holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His teaching interests include modern British and American literature. He has published in The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post Book World, The Gettysburg Review, The Ohio Review, New England Review, ELH, The Centennial Review, Contemporary Literature and others.
He has written books on poets Conrad Aiken and Denise Levertov, and he has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies and the Huntington Library.
Marten’s memoir has been called “heartwarming and sharply funny” and “deeply moving.” Anita Diamant, author of “The Red Tent ,” wrote, “I felt blessed reading ‘But That Didn't Happen To You.’ Not in any metaphysical woo-woo angel/heaven way. But blessed in the way of being surprised by a yellow sunset, or of seeing a 2-year-old waddling around in a tulle skirt, or of being in the presence of profound tenderness. Blessed. Wow.”
Marten, who has two grown sons, lives in Niskayuna with his wife, Ginit.