What New Memoir to Read? I’ve Got a Little List Right Here.
WHAT NEW MEMOIR TO READ next? How’s a reader and writer to know what’s best amid the onslaught of bad, good or great books? Let me see if I can help by supplying some insight into memoir in the news.
Talking purely about what is making memoir news right now, the top item is the much-anticipated memoir by Michelle Obama. The title is Becoming. The book is due out on November 13, 2018, but you can get a little sneak peek into the book on the Crown book page for Michelle Obama’s memoir. That will have to keep you going for a while, of course, since the book is under tight wraps until the release, but this New York Times piece on the publication gives some great details of the breadth of the upcoming book.
I love memoir by creative people, especially if they give insight into the process. My all-time favorite in this subcategory of memoir is Finishing the Hat by Stephen Sondheim. I literally keep it by the bed and dip into it regularly. It’s actually part of a collection called Hat Box, in which Sondhiem offers the lyrics to his remarkable songs as well as insights into the process of writing. Following along those lines comes the new memoir from Andrew Lloyd Weber. Titled, Unmasked, it reveals the life of one of the most successful theater composers ever. Here is a wonderful sampler of the book brought to you via an NPR interview with the marvelous Renee Montagne.
If there is a better-reviewed memoir out right now than Educated by Tara Westover, I cannot think of it. Seemingly perfect in argument, structure and execution, as well as a tale that might distract a lesser writer, this is the book to read right now. On the Amazon site, make sure to listen in to the Audible sample of the book read by the author.
I frequently get questions in my online memoir classes or in person about the consequences of writing memoir. There are many, of course, but this time I’ll let those questions be answered by Aminatta Forna, in this wonderful piece in The New York Review of Books. Forna writes beautifully about what she calls, “the afterlife of writing memoir.” I love that phrase.
Also new in memoir is the much-anticipated book by Albert Flynn DeSilver. Titled, Writing as a Path to Awakening: A Year to Becoming an Excellent Writer & Living an Awakened Life (Sounds True, 2018), it has gotten great reviews by Shelf Awareness, Library Journal, Publisher’s Weekly, and The Writer magazine. Bustle magazine called it “A Must Read!” Bestselling author Dani Shapiro has called it “A lucid, erudite, and compassionate guide,” and anything Dani likes, I like. Period. Does DeSilver sound familiar? He should. He is the author of Beamish Boy: A Memoir (The Owl Press, 2012) which Kirkus Review named one of the “Best Books of 2012,” calling it “a beautifully written memoir. . .poignant and inspirational.”
I’ve talked about this next book before, but let me do it again. Do you love Dublin? Read Time Pieces: A Dublin Memoir, from John Banville. The author is one of that fine city’s finest flaneurs. I learned from a recent newsletter that many people do not know that word. It’s good one, and this is a fine book about the rich and rewarding insights of one of the world’s greatest flaneurs.
And this one rates an Oooooh! A list of recent medical memoirs. I love those. After all, two of my books have medical themes – my first, in which I wrote a book about my family’s struggle with Alzheimer’s disease, and a book I wrote from behind the scenes in the world of forensic science. Do you love medical memoirs? If so, see this recent list in The New York Times.
Want to read more about how to write memoir? I suggest this post from Cindy Etler, found on the site of the great Jane Friedman. Jane is the the go-to voice for everything about publishing. I trust her advice on how to get an agent for your book, how to self-publish, and pretty much everything else having to do with the business end of having a writing life. And when she has a guest post on how to write emoir, I read it, and usually pass it along, as I am doing here. My point? Get only a few people from whom you take advice, take it and write.
And you?
So, what’s on your nightstand?
Thanks for the tip about medical memoirs. I didn’t know about psychiatrist Irving Yalom’s book “Becoming Myself.” I would add Lauren Slater’s newest “Blue Dreams: The Science and the Story of the Drugs that Changed Our Minds,” also favorably reviewed in the NYT last week. But I must make a sacrilege pitch for a gorgeous historical novel by Amy Bloom, “White Houses” about the relationship between Lorena Hickok and Eleanor Roosevelt. In the words of The Paris Wife author, Paula McLain, “the most intimate, crackling, and expansive rendering of Eleanor Roosevelt in print…”
Such a banquet of delight here Marion! Thanks so much. Just ordered Writing as a Path to Awakening — how could I not?? Thanks for all the good tips..
I, too, tend to take Dani’s word as gospel but Albert’s book contains writing exercises! Can your approach and his coexist? :o )
I know. He includes writing exercises and prompts, which I eschew, abhor and, hmmm, don’t like at all. But I know many people love them, so I include the book here. What I love about the book is the awakening aspects — that writing can do that for us. It’s true, of course.
Guided by the Light by Michelle and Steve Handwerker
available at Amazon
A story of survival and enlightenment and the essential presence within us all!
Thank you, Marion, for helping Steve and I gather our thoughts and our “argument” (it took a while but I finally got what you meant by that!). The process of writing this dual memoir was outstanding and you were a great coach!
*me and Steve LOL!
Love this blog. Since January, I’ve been following it with great interest as I edit my memoir—working title is In Black and White: Confessions of a Radical Activist. Thanks for suggesting the NY Review of Books article by Aminatta Forna. Her memoir, along with Educated and Time Pieces are now on my must read list. Currently on my bedside table are the memoirs Daring to Drive: A Saudi Woman’s Awakening by Manal al-Sharif and Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd; and the novel Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (loved the Reluctant Fundamentalist). I’m reading News of the World by Paulette Jiles: beautifully written novel.
I would recommend Amber Starfire’s memoir called Accidental Jesus Freak. Her young life in a fundamentalist religious group in the 70’s and then her journey out. Amazing. writingthroughlife.com is her site and her book information is there too. A great read about an amazing journey.
Wonderful, thank you. I agree, and promoted the book and asked her to write this marvelous post.
Thank you, Lorraine for the recommendation to others, and Marion, for your encouragement and endorsement. I hope others will find inspiration in my story.
Marion, this list of new memoirs is enticing. I’ve just added a few of them to my to-read list, as if I didn’t already have a huge pile by my nightstand! LOL.