NEW MEMOIR ABOUNDS, and some of it sounds so damn good that I actually cleaned my office to make room for the incoming pile. So fair warning, readers, here comes the winter list and some holiday suggestions, as well as a sneak peek at what’s on the way for summer, 2016.
First up is the superlative Negroland by Margo Jefferson, the Pulitzer Prize winning culture critic. Jefferson has been watching the world for a good long time, writing about it with a great set of eyes, and reporting for no less than Newsweek in the 1970s, where she was one of the first black journalists big-house journalism, and The New York Times in the 1990s, which is where she won her Pulitzer in 1995. The book is perfect.
Mentioning The New York Times here reminds me of a recent review of theirs that flatly stated that a book I was reading is not a memoir. I thoroughly disagree. So let’s listen in to the NPR interview with Mary-Louise Parker her and see what she has to say about her critically-acclaimed Dear You. Not only is this book a memoir, but it is one of depth, elegance, and clarity, as well as one from which every writer in this genre can learn a great deal.
Other new releases
Did you know that Carly Simon recently released a soundtrack to accompany her new memoir, Boys in the Trees? It’s called Songs in the Trees, of course, and nicely accompanies her much-anticipated book.
Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl also covers the music scene well, exploring the world of Sleater-Kinney, but pretty much ignoring the Portlandia aspect of the life of its author, Carrie Brownstein. But oh how cool she is. And I love that, as will anyone wanting to read about the world of indie rock.
And speaking of cool, despite reports that he is dead, Terry Gilliam writes on. Quite honestly, I didn’t know he had been reported dead, so I’m doubly glad to read about his new book, Gilliamesque: A Pre-Posthumous Memoir. If you are a Monty Python fan, this is for you.
Memoir to Get Ready to Read
Also in celebrity memoir comes news that Amy Schumer was reportedly the recipient of a $8-10 million book contract. Oh my, that is a whole lot of money for a book. Let’s hope it’s great.
Due out next summer is a memoir by Moby, the musician born Richard Melville Hall (yes, that Melville, hence the name Moby), or so reports The Guardian.
Last-minute shopping
Missed a few along the way this year? Here’s help. On The New York Times’ year-end list of notable books of 2015 are several memoirs, including Tracy Smith’s Ordinary Light, The Odd Woman and the City by Vivian Gornick and the great H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald.
