The Moment: Wild, Poignant, Life-Changing Stories from 125 Writers and Artists Famous & Obscure

From the creators of Six-Word Memoirs comes The Moment, a collection of personal stories from writers both famous and obscure revealing how a single instant changed their lives forever. 

An innocuous decision, an unforeseen accident, a chance conversation, a tag sale, a terrorist strike, a tweet . . . sometimes all it takes is a single moment to redirect the course of an entire life. In the tradition of Smith magazine’s Not Quite What I Was Planning and the sensational Six-Word Memoirs on Love & Heartbreak—and in the spirit of StoryCorps, the Moth, and This American Life—The Moment unveils everyday people’s inner lives in narratives of all shapes and sizes, with stories from six to 1,000 words, photographs, comics, illustrations, handwritten letters, and more. It’s enough to change your life forever.

This unforgettable collection of true stories explores the pivotal moments we all face:

• Turning Points: Discover how an unforeseen accident, a chance conversation, or even a tweet can redirect the course of an entire life.
• Famous and Unsung Voices: Poignant, funny, and unforgettable true stories from contributors like Dave Eggers, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Melissa Etheridge alongside brand-new writers.
• Moments of Self-Discovery: Explore raw, honest accounts that reveal the inner lives of everyday people facing extraordinary circumstances.
• A Multimedia Experience: More than just text, this collection brings moments to life with vivid photographs, illustrations, and even comics.

The turning points, revelations, epiphanies, dramatic changes, the opening or closing of a door—in a life, a career, a love—can occur in a single glorious, terrible, unpredictable, serendipitous, crucial, calamitous, chaotic, amazing . . . Moment.

The creators of the enormously popular Not Quite What I Was Planning and Six-Word Memoir series now offer stories of the Moment—the one-time chances, unexpected coincidences, and sudden catastrophes that made all the difference in the story of one life.

The results are triumphant, outrageous, heartwarming, heartbreaking, embarrassing, illuminating, and inspiring—life-changing moments from contributors Dave Eggers, Diane Ackerman, Elizabeth Gilbert, Bill Ayers, Jennifer Egan, A. J. Jacobs, Judy Collins, and many more.

“A fabulously appealing exercise both for writers and for readers.” - Telegraph

“A perfect distraction and inspiration, and a collection that begs to be shared.” - Denver Post

“Compulsive reading . . . as insightful as any 300+ page biography.” - Publishers Weekly

“Irresistibly clever.” - Chicago Tribune

“Will thrill minimalists and inspire maximalists.” - Vanity Fair

“Smith seems to have struck a chord in the current zeitgeist, unleashing a torrent of self-expression not unlike the one launched by Frank Warren when he began inviting people to write their secrets on the back of postcards.” - Toronto Star

“These tiny windows into people’s lives are at once addictive and illuminating, challenging and accessible.” - BlackBook