Jamie Fisher in conversation with Lydia Kiesling
The Literary Arts Bookstore & Cafe is excited to welcome author Jamie Fisher to celebrate her latest book, Nobody Broke Your Heart: An Intimate Biography of Elliott Smith. Fisher will be joined in conversation by author Lydia Kiesling.
About the book:Â
The first all-encompassing biography of Elliott Smith, offering an intimate portrait of his life and musical legacy with brand-new interviews, lyrics, and correspondence from the people closest to him, many speaking for the first time
Nobody Broke Your Heart is a tender, nuanced narrative of Elliott Smith, one of the most influential and tragic musicians of the 1990s, whose records are deeply beloved to this day, written by New York Times Magazine and The New Yorker–published author Jamie Fisher.
Starting with his childhood in Texas, following him through his making as an artist in Portland and New York, and reckoning honestly with his unmaking in Los Angeles, Fisher has used never-before-seen archival evidence (unheard recordings, draft lyrics, photos, and correspondence) alongside extensive interviews with friends, family, girlfriends, and collaborators to shed light on the real Elliott Smith, in all his complexity.
Vividly animating Elliott’s world and analyzing his work and legacy in loving depth, Nobody Broke Your Heart is an essential book for anyone who loves Elliott Smith and his music—and anyone who’s loved someone grappling with addiction and mental illness.
Jamie Fisher
Jamie Fisher is a freelance writer, Mandarin Chinese translator, and staff researcher for The New York Times Magazine. Her essays and book reviews have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, The London Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement, and The Los Angeles Review of Books. Nobody Broke Your Heart is her first book.
Lydia Kiesling
Lydia Kiesling is a novelist and culture writer. Her first novel, The Golden State, was a 2018 National Book Foundation “5 under 35” honoree and a finalist for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Her second novel, Mobility, a national bestseller, was named a best book of 2023 by Vulture, Time, and NPR, among others. It was longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize and a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. Lydia is the recipient of a 2025 Miller Foundation Spark Award for Oregon artists. Her essays and nonfiction have been published in outlets including The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, The Nation, and The Cut.
