# When "you can't pick your relatives," write about them! ... sooo **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 30, 2006, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-cant-pick-your-relatives-write-about-them-sooo/342171 "2006-01-30T05:05:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c2a13f/32.png) [@pace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pace)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-cant-pick-your-relatives-write-about-them-sooo/342171/1 "2006-01-30T05:05:22Z")
not sure how to go about it, and looking for suggestions, recommendations, directions, anything! has anyone done this and did it well? Was it an interesting read, did it keep you wanting to turn the page? ---
**Author:** ![pendgwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@pendgwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pendgwen)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-cant-pick-your-relatives-write-about-them-sooo/342171/2 "2006-01-30T20:32:21Z")
You have read all of Sampiro’s threads about his family right? He’s an example of someone who’s done this and done it well. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-cant-pick-your-relatives-write-about-them-sooo/342171/3 "2006-01-31T04:22:01Z")
Yep, Sampiro does it excellently. Check out [David Sedaris](http://www.barclayagency.com/sedaris.html) as well. ---
**Author:** ![pace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c2a13f/32.png) [@pace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pace)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-cant-pick-your-relatives-write-about-them-sooo/342171/4 "2006-01-31T04:24:41Z")
> [@elelle](#): > > Yep, Sampiro does it excellently. Check out [David Sedaris](http://www.barclayagency.com/sedaris.html) as well. Pendgwen and elelle, thanks for pointing to Sampiro, as well as D. Sedaris! I’ve been reading someof Sampiro’s tonight, now will search out David’s. many thanks! ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-cant-pick-your-relatives-write-about-them-sooo/342171/5 "2006-01-31T04:32:34Z")
In a darker vein, anything by Pat Conroy is heavily based on his family. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-cant-pick-your-relatives-write-about-them-sooo/342171/6 "2006-01-31T23:52:41Z")
Thanks for the compliments. Pardon me for being self-referential, but [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=326481) is the largest thread in which my family’s mentioned. Authors whose family memoirs I like a lot are Jeanette Walls (_The Glass Castle_), Augusten Burroughs (_Running With Scissors_ [soon to be a major motion picture and a $2 million lawsuit]), Sedaris (again), Lewis Grizzard (Southern author, dead for a decade but still in print), Fannie Flagg (_Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe_ is based, at times very closely, on her favorite aunt and other people from her childhood) and Truman Capote’s _Trilogy_. I’m almost convinced that all families are fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-cant-pick-your-relatives-write-about-them-sooo/342171/7 "2006-01-31T23:55:43Z")
**Pace**. You username is my last name. Is it yours as well? If so, that family name has an interesting geneology. ---
**Author:** ![pace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c2a13f/32.png) [@pace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pace)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-cant-pick-your-relatives-write-about-them-sooo/342171/8 "2006-02-01T02:57:42Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Thanks for the compliments. Pardon me for being self-referential, but [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=326481) is the largest thread in which my family’s mentioned… Thanks for the link to the thread! Really looking forward to reading through it and learning all I can from your style, as well as others who were recommended. Have you published yet? APPLECIDER, thanks for pointing me to Pat Conroy… I KNOW i’ll be leaning towards a darker vein, too. ---
**Author:** ![pace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c2a13f/32.png) [@pace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pace)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-cant-pick-your-relatives-write-about-them-sooo/342171/9 "2006-02-01T03:08:14Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > **Pace**. You username is my last name. Is it yours as well? If so, that family name has an interesting geneology. No, my username is not my last name. “pace” is “peace” in Italian… but now I’m curious about your last name… care to share? ciao 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-cant-pick-your-relatives-write-about-them-sooo/342171/10 "2006-02-01T18:43:03Z")
**Scylla** has written quite a lot about his family, but in a positive vein.