I Regret I Am Able to Attend
A Life Among Artists

Quotes

“Jessica Craig-Martin is a natural-born storyteller. Luckily for us, she was born in a decadent art-fueled universe chock-full of wild stories. This is the memoir of Alice raised in Wonderland, a coming-of-age of a young woman trying find her way amid the upheaval and glamour of New York and London bohemianism. Your jaw will only stop hanging open to crack up in laughter or wince in compassion.”—Christopher Bollen, author of Havoc

“You may know from Vogue and other glossies, Craig-Martin’s pointed, less-than-flattering photographs of high society. Now read how she got there, surviving an adventurous, largely self-reliant upbringing in the wilds of the London and New York art worlds. Her pen is as keenly observant as her camera.”—Roberta Smith

“Craig-Martin writes with extraordinary perception about the invisible inheritance of being the child of two artists, and the ways art, family, ambition, identity, and the social worlds we inhabit quietly shape a life. Elegant, incisive, and deeply humane, this is a memoir of rare intelligence and lasting resonance.”—Zac Posen

“The book feels as dishy as gossip, but Craig-Martin writes with a deft lightness. Her prose shares the same quality as her photographs, an instinct for where to look when everyone else is distracted by the spectacle.”—Vogue

“Vivid.”—The Millions

“Very addicting.”—Interview Magazine

“To Craig-Martin’s achievement as photographer she can now add author, and while the charm of her book is considerable, I found myself drawn to the poignancy of her role as daughter. The meticulous love and care she extends to her complicated parents and her large extended family of creators is heartwarming without being pious, insightful without being cruel. This unusual book shimmers with truth and goodness and should sit proudly on your shelf.”—Hilton Als, author of The Women

“From her childhood perch at the top of Jasper Johns’s studio ladder, and at a parade of art openings, dinners, and parties, Craig-Martin chronicles an era of invention and excess with brutal candor and wry insight, laced with acid wit. . . . Highly entertaining—a celebration and a moving reconciliation.”—A. M. Homes, author of The Mistress’s Daughter

“Compelling, hilarious and poignant, Craig-Martin's memoir hits as hard as her photographs, reveling and revealing, as she turns her unflinching eye backwards to an era of gritty glamor and bad behavior.”—Cecily Brown

“In her wry, irreverent debut memoir, event photographer Craig-Martin recounts coming of age in the heady art worlds of London and New York in the 1970s and ’80s, where freewheeling fun was tempered by emotional upheaval, neglect, and loneliness. . . . Raunchy, vivid, and thoroughly entertaining.”—Kirkus Reviews

“In a series of short chapters, the author brings readers into her experiences growing up largely on her own in the 1970s and 1980s . . . Her stories span continents, with global travel becoming her ongoing inspiration. . . . After opening her book with an assurance that she will not provide a redemption arc, but rather, episodes from a questionably lived life, Craig-Martin writes with humor and reflection. Readers will enjoy seeing her world through her words.”—Booklist