Memoirs & Autobiography on The Point
Today on The Point Mindy, Melanie, and I did a show on autobiographies and memoirs. Miss the show? You can listen online! Here is our lists of titles we mentioned:
Books That Jill Mentioned
Memoir: a history by Ben Yagoda
How to Do Biography: a primer by Nigel Hamilton
The Know-It-All: one man’s humble quest to become the smartest person in the world by A. J. Jacobs
Graphic Memoirs
The Impostor’s Daughter: a true memoir by Laurie Sandell
Fun Home: a family tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
Epileptic by David B.
Memoir/Novels
The War at Home by Nora Eisenberg
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Articles about memoirs:
The New Yorker (January 25, 2010) : “But Not Enough About Me” by Daniel Mendelsohn
“Memoirs” article from Encyclopedia of Life Writing: autobiographical and biographical forms edited by Margaretta Jolly
I didn’t mention this, but there is also a really good article on memoirs in our database Novelist Plus: “Reading Memoirs, Remembering Ourselves” by David Carr. He writes: “… the memoir is a memory speaking, as though the mind were on a witness stand, sworn to reconstruct an authentic story of lived experiences and observed situations. The story is spoken directly to us, with the same direct voice we might hear over coffee or drinks in a bar. Like those intimate private conversations, the telling memoir is not a record or a document; it is a version of the truth, to be proven worthy of trust.”
I had so much fun asking people what memoirs they were reading while preparing for today’s show, that tomorrow there will be another blog entry about what I discovered!
Books That Melanie Mentioned
Street Shadows: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion and Redemption by Jerald Walker
Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace With Marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert
Walking Through Walls: A Memoir Philip Smith
Eating: A Memoir Jason Epstein
Here’s the Deal: Don’t Touch Me by Howie Mandel
Hungry: A Mother and Daughter Fight Anorexia by Sheila & Lisa Himmel [Looks like this isn’t owned by any CLAMS library yet, so I’ll try to get one ordered for Falmouth ASAP.]
Blue Genes: A Memoir of Loss and Survival by Christopher Lukas
Six Months in Sudan: A Young Doctor in a War-Torn Village by James Maskalyk