Guest Book
64 entries.
wrote on May 16, 2021
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2:13 am
I have just read your book “The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake”, after an hour spent picking precisely one book from my local library. I’m glad I selected this one; I devoured it ravenously in a few hours. It is the only thing to capture my attention and make me feel rooted, acknowledged in many, many months. It is a solid reminder that I am alive, and also exceptional in that it is very well, and interestingly, written.
wrote on March 20, 2021
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11:07 pm
I am looking for the text for a short story I was told you are the author of. It is called "Off". Where can I find it? I am a teacher, and the story is highly recommended for my Creative Writing class.
wrote on March 19, 2021
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3:58 am
We read "End of the Line" for class in my BFA program and I appreciate that you have a guestbook where readers can stop by to say thank you for your work. I can't wait to read more. End of the Line is heavy and light and enchanting and inspiring and needed. So, thank you!
wrote on March 4, 2021
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4:45 am
The Girl In The Flammable Skirt is one of my favorite books of all time. Comfort book. The written love of my life. came across your page to collect writing prompts and exercises next month for national poetry month. I can't wait to use your April exercise. 🙂
wrote on February 15, 2021
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11:14 pm
Hi,
I am currently reading The Butterfly Lampshade and I just want you to know it’s really insane how similar Francie’s life is to mine. Like It’s pretty unsettling the similarities. Lol. but there’s definitely some differences which have changed my perspective. Its also eerie because I grew up in the same area when I was adopted! It’s really been helping me, it’s really complicated. I know it’s fiction, but it’s making me realize some things within myself and has made me feel not alone. I bought it at Skylight books and I’m so glad I did.
Thank you. Thank you...
wrote on February 3, 2021
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6:25 am
I am reading your butterfly book . There is an error. Salem is the capital of Oregon, not Eugene, where I live.
wrote on January 18, 2021
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8:52 pm
Dear Aimee Bender,
I am interested in a brief interview with you for a Southern California literary journal. It could be non-invasive, 6 - 8 questions via e-mail. My other option was to write to Penguin Random House and they might forward you the request years from now. Thank you for considering this, and for keeping things weird. Best regards - Max
wrote on November 29, 2020
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7:22 am
I just finished The Butterfly Lampshade. I had been putting off reading the end to find time when I could read at leisure and not rush it. I have been thinking so much about mental illness - how a person can be on the edge of slipping into a distorted life that makes sense to the person but not to others around them.
Francie seems to be on the edge throughout her life but is supported by Vicky and her aunt and uncle and others in her life who give her time and space to work through the questions she has about the meaning of life’s events. I was especially drawn in by the scenes of heavy dialogue which seemed like genuine conversations (particularly the ones with young Francie). Your writing reminds me of Lydia Millett and I’m so glad to have discovered your work.
wrote on November 26, 2020
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7:06 pm
I just finished The Butterfly Lampshade and am in awe of your masterful deep-dive into Francie's fragile psyche while she courageously explores memories held in her body, heart, spirit, and environment await her on the edges of psychosis. I am a psychotherapist in private practice, and survivor of childhood medical trauma and adult violent sexual violence. My related memoir spans years of starts and stops as I explore the impact of those and other traumas on me: woman, victim, survivor, healer. Your novel helps me remember and be grateful for my constant yet often ignored yearning to sort through what was and remains real, who I was and have become, what I did and didn't do, who journeyed with me, how I survived, and lessons learned worthy to pass along to others. Your writing (I will read all your works) touches and inspires me to deep-dive again for understanding and words to tell my story, one tragically shared by too many and embedded within the collective unconscious of women. Thank you.
wrote on October 20, 2020
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10:02 pm
My book club is meeting in November to discuss The Color Master. Do you have any suggestions for discussion questions or do you know of any websites that might? Thank you!!
wrote on October 18, 2020
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12:38 am
Imagine my surprise completing the NYT Crossword this morning to come upon a clue: 5D Novelist Bender. So embarrassed to say that until then I hadn't realized the far-flung Bender clan had a famous writer amongst us.
Don't know if we're from the same branch of the family but my father was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1919, escaping the Nazis as a teenager and joining the British army - it's a long story which eventually led to Canada.
Anyway, being retired and an avid reader, I'll make a point now of acquiring and reading some of your works. Never read anything published by a Bender before so am looking forward to it!
wrote on October 14, 2020
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2:08 am
Hello, thank you for the inspiration!
wrote on October 9, 2020
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9:36 pm
Aimee, your writing has impacted my entire perspective on fiction. I admire you and your work. I am the Managing Editor of The Fourth River and would love to interview you regarding your new book, The Butterfly Lampshade, this upcoming week. Looking forward to hearing from you!
wrote on September 6, 2020
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4:54 pm
Just finished The Butterfly Lampshade and found it strikingly strange yet comforting. Our memories are ours alone and you bring us to recognize how exercising our minds may exorcise our problems. Now I'm going to eat a slice of lemon cake. Keep writing.
wrote on August 27, 2020
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7:17 pm
Do you remember me? I am your Eureka SD connection. I saw you in Chicago at a Book Conference. Five years ago we moved to Akron OH. I saw your picture and article in THE WEEK magazine and was glad to know you were still writing. I am wondering if your father is still alive. I went to high school in Eureka with him. I hope this brings back memories of our connection years ago.
Kathryn
wrote on August 26, 2020
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11:55 pm
I just finished Lemon Cake and loved it. I see the magical as a metaphor for the awkwardness of leaning to live with our strange selves as we grow in adulthood. Rose was so smart, knowing and wise for her age.
Do you know Ali Shaw’s The Girl With Glass Feet. It’s Magical too.
wrote on August 21, 2020
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3:46 am
Esteemed BenderBird,
It has been at least one person's lifetime (that is, the offspring known as Bird's) since I last saw and spoke to you. I have a question about one of your beautiful books. Would you or a trusted assistant kindly let me know where to address my query?
Hugs to you and your undoubtedly delightful mate,
Lisa
wrote on August 13, 2020
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3:43 am
Hi Aimee,
I look forward to the arrival of the New York Times book review that my folks send me. I first turn to By the Book page just to see who the latest personality is and I am just as happy if it’s someone I don’t know, which was the case with you. I hope that there might be one or two similarities in the person’s interest to mine. As I made my way through your interview, they kept popping out. A book about Sri Lanka and then War and Peace. I read War and Peace in a hospital with Typhoid when I was in the Peace Corps in Sri Lanka. I often find Kay Ryan’s poems comforting as well. And I remember reading the Oz books on my grandmother’s chaise lounge where I’m currently writing. What jumped at me the most was in the final paragraph where you mentioned liking the Phantom Tollbooth which is always been one of my favorite books and I smiled even bigger when I was listening to a video of you reading Words and Fruit. I knew I wanted to know more about you and your work and I tuned in to the Changing Hands book release and ordered your latest which you graciously signed. Thanks, for all of it,
John
wrote on August 2, 2020
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12:19 pm
Learning of your work today I had to write in appreciation of your power to inspire.
Life, the creative imagination, is busting out all over. The theology of my people is "our god is life and its source." And I could care less if you're an atheist.
wrote on July 28, 2020
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11:10 pm
I also read the Times interview and was charmed by your voice. I loved they didn’t ask or print the dreaded Who would you invite at a dinner party. I also liked your Dr Seuss reference to pile 1, pile 2......I believe it was Lucy Kelleway of the FT who referred to her kids as cost center 1 and cost center 2. Seuss again. I’ll try your books. Thanks for making me smile in these wonderfully strange times we’re living through.