Mira Jacob (born January 5, 1973, in Albuquerque, New Mexico) is an American writer. She is the author of The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing (2014), a novel about a patriarch who starts talking to ghosts, and Good Talk (2019), a graphic memoir.
Early and personal life Jacob was born and raised in New Mexico to Indian Malayali parents who immigrated from Kerala, India in 1968, the same year they were wed in an arranged marriage. Because there were so few Indian Americans in New Mexico, people often assumed she was Native American, she told Kirkus: "They all thought we were Hopi or Apache or Mexican." When Jacob was 20, her parents fell in love, she wrote in an essay for Vogue. Jacob wrote that their renewed relationship allowed her to form her own romantic relationship with filmmaker Jed Rothstein, whom she later married.
She now lives in Brooklyn with Rothstein and their son.
Education and career Jacob earned her BA from Oberlin College in 1996.Hagen, Jeff. "Comics Versus the Comments: Great Talk with Mira Jacob '96," Oberlin Alumni Magazine vol. 114, #2 (Fall/Winter 2019), pp. 12-13. She earned her MFA from the New School for Social Research.
Jacob is the founder of Pete's Reading Series, a reading series in Brooklyn. She is the author of The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing, a novel about a patriarch who starts talking to ghosts, and how his seeing spirits affects his family. The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing took Jacob 10 years to complete, during which time her father became sick and died. After his death, Jacob rewrote much of the book with the father character as her own father.
Jacob's second book, Good Talk, is a graphic memoir published in 2019. Good Talk was shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award,Kellogg, Carolyn. "Announcements: Awards: Announcing the finalists for the 2019 NBCC Awards," National Book Critics Circle website (January 11, 2020). long-listed for the PEN Open Book Award,Press release. "ANNOUNCING THE 2020 PEN AMERICA LITERARY AWARDS LONGLISTS," PEN America website (before March 2020). and named a New York Times Notable Book.Ramana, Ramya/ "2020 NBCC Finalists Interviews, TNS Lit Scene: INTERVIEW WITH 2019 NBCC AUTOBIOGRAPHY FINALIST MIRA JACOB," Creative Writing at The New School (March 4, 2020). It was selected as a best book of the year by Time,"Must-Read Books of 2019," Time (2019). Esquire, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal. The memoir is currently in development as a television series with Film 44.Andreeva, Nellie, and Denise Petski. "Mira Jacob’s Memoir ‘Good Talk’ In Works As TV Series From Peter Berg & Michael Lombardo’s Film 44 And Eddie Huang," Deadline (Feb. 1, 2019).
Works
Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations. Bloomsbury Publishing. 2019. .
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