—————————————————————————————————
Are you a memoir junkie like we are? Then tuck into these top picks from FOF book reviewer Linda Wolfe. Plus, enter to win them all when you answer this question in the comments below: What’s your favorite memoir of all time?
Lately there’s been chatter in the publishing circles I inhabit about memoirs being difficult to sell; one editor even told me emphatically, “The age of the memoir is over.” What? Most of the women I know love reading memoirs. They may be harder for publishers and editors to market nowadays, but so too are all kinds of other books, what with bookstores disappearing faster than endangered animals, and self-published books making editors themselves an endangered species. But let’s not pick on the memoir. Those of us who like to read will always be captivated by well-told personal stories of love and loss, divorce and death, the triumph over illness or abusive rearing. So I want to say to my editor friends, keep those memoirs coming!
Here are four fascinating ones I’ve read in recent weeks:
—————————————————————————————————
ONCE UPON A SECRET by Mimi Alford. Random House. 198 pages.
You probably saw Mrs. Alford on television. She was on every talk show imaginable: a discreetly dressed woman in her sixties, with a soft voice and unprepossessing manner. But back in 1962, still in high school – she attended Miss Porter’s prep school, the same school as Jackie Kennedy – she landed a summer job as a White House intern. On her fourth day at work she was invited to join a small group of the president’s special friends for a lunchtime swim in the White House pool. Kennedy turned up while Alford was swimming, liked what he saw, and invited her for a tour of the residence that evening. It was an evening that would shape – and scar — the entire rest of her life. The preppie Alford was not just sexually inexperienced, she was a virgin. She’d been kissed only once in her life, back in eighth grade, and despite her pretty, Waspy looks, suffered from a severe case of low self-esteem. She’d had no boyfriends throughout highschool, had been anorexic at seventeen, and had always felt anxious and somehow undesirable.
{Click here to read the complete review!}
The details of the affair are engrossing and often shocking. And the book has a rare authenticity. It doesn’t sound ghostwritten. Alford’s voice is her own: gentle, modest, and self-revelatory.
When the author was interviewed on TV some of her young interviewers were critical of her for having succumbed to the advances of a much older man. Didn’t she feel abused? Alford’s response was no, that his attentions made her feel important.
I felt the young interviewers just didn’t get it. They’ve grown up in a different time, a time when women feel outraged at the thought of an older and more powerful man attempting to seduce a younger powerless female. And seem to expect said female to feel outraged, too. But Alford’s time was my time, too. And I can assure you that if the charming, handsome and powerful Jack Kennedy had wanted to make love to me, I’d have done just what Alford did. And felt just the way she did.
—————————————————————————————————
INTIMATE WARS by Merle Hoffman, The Feminist Press. 267 pages,
How you feel about Intimate Wars will depend entirely on how you feel about a woman’s right to choose whether and when to bear a child. Hoffman is the director of a prominent New York abortion clinic she opened at the age of twenty-five–two years before Roe v. Wade–which she is still running today, forty-one years later. Strong-willed, outspoken and fearless, Hoffman has fought in all the battles over reproductive rights that have tormented our times since the day dangerous, unsanitary and cruel back-alley abortions, were supplanted through U.S. law by safe abortions performed in clean, accountable, professionally-staffed medical clinics. Hoffman has been a hero in these battles, and a crusader in other women’s health issues as well, like the need for affordable mammography for all women. I say hero deservedly; Hoffman has faced down innumerable bomb-threats; opened hate mail that contained deadly powders; and learned to shoot a gun in order to protect not just herself but her many employees from threatened attacks.
{Click here to read the complete review!}
Hoffman can be grandiose. But she’s refreshingly open, no secrets this woman; she tells us that she and the married Gold were lovers. She tells us that they remained so for many years, until eventually he divorced his wife and married her. They had no children–he already had some, and she didn’t want any. But long after his death, Hoffman realized, at the age of fifty-eight, that what was missing from her embattled life was a child. A year later she adopted a three-year-old Russian girl, and discovered the intense joys of motherhood.
Has raising a child altered her commitment to providing abortions? Not at all. It has simply strengthened her dedication to helping women experience those joys only when they want and are ready to do so.
—————————————————————————————————
WHY BE HAPPY WHEN YOU COULD BE NORMAL? By Jeanette Winterson, Grove Press. 250 pages.
Jeanette Winterson’s best-selling 1985 autobiographical novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, told the story of her adoption as an infant by a fanatical born-again Pentecostal Christian who saw evidences of Satan in the tiny child. Trying to alter her nature and destroy her spirit, her mother, who she refers to as “Mrs. W.”, punishes her for the slightest infraction of rules. She is not just beaten, or sent to bed hungry, but sometimes even locked in the basement coal bin or made to spend the night outdoors on the front stoop. When the pre-teen Winterson falls in love with books, her mother burns them. And when she is a teenager and her mother learns she is attracted to women, she is forced to undergo a cruel and frightening church exorcism. Winterson survived Mrs. W., left home at fifteen, started working, managed against all odds to attend a local college and then Oxford University, and ultimately went on to write Oranges–which has become a classic of lesbian literature–and several other books.
{Click here to read the complete review!}
The author’s undauntable personality manifests itself throughout this powerful book, which culminates in her search for her birth mother. With increasing suspense, she tracks her identity and whereabouts, and ultimately the pair is reunited. Her mother turns out to be a kindly motherly woman, as happy to meet Winterson as Winterson is to meet her. Winterson likes the woman she finally meets. But regretfully, she realizes that the reunion has come too late; she can never be the happier person she might have been had she been raised by her genial birth mother. She is Mrs. W’s creature. And, she speculates, that has made her into the strong, successful woman she is now. Indeed, when her birth mother, learning of her child’s unhappy rearing, condemns Mrs. W., Winterson finds that, “I hate Ann’s criticizing Mrs. Winterson. She was a monster, but she was my monster.”
—————————————————————————————————
FIERCE JOY by Ellen Schecter. Greenpoint Press. 2012
In her late thirties, Ellen Schecter, married, and the mother of two small children, began experiencing pain in various parts of her body. Her left foot felt numb, her fingers tingled, her ears ached, she saw white flashes in one of her eyes. The pain was so cosmic and so difficult to pin down that she sometimes thought it might be a figment of her imagination, that she might be a hypochondriac or a hysteric. But after two years of trying to ignore the ever-increasing anguish colonizing her body, she and her husband finally sought medical attention and a diagnosis. What she had turned out to be not in her head at all, but systemic lupus marked by inflammation of her peripheral nerves. The disease is progressive. The commonly used treatment – heavy doses of steroids – failed to slow its march through the corridors of her body. And Schecter proceeds to fight her deterioration with every scrap of will and humor she can muster. Fierce Joy is the story of this courageous woman and her battles to maintain her spirits even while she was losing not her nerve, never her nerve, but her nerves.
{Click here to read the complete review!}
You’ll like this brave woman, who can laugh through her tears, and make us laugh too. I have one caveat. The book ends abruptly in the year 2000, leaving one to wonder what’s happened to Schecter in the past twelve years. Presumably she spent a lot of that time working on the writing of this book. But I wish she’d told us more about these years, and how she’s been coping of late. It’s a criticism, but one I doubt I’d be making if she hadn’t made me feel close to and concerned for her.
—————————————————————————————————
FOF Linda Wolfe is the award-winning author of 10 books and a 12-year veteran of the National Book Critics Circle.
Enter to win all four memoirs–your spring/summer reading list!–when you answer this comment in the questions below: What’s your favorite memoir of all time?
0 Responses to “{FOF Book Critic} The Best Memoirs of the Year (so far!)”
Caitlin says:
An outstanding share! I have just forwarded this
onto a friend who has been doing a little homework on this.
And he actually bought me lunch simply because I found it for him…
lol. So allow me to reword this…. Thanks for the meal!! But yeah,
thanks for spending some time to talk about this subject here on your internet site.
my web page: bathroom renovations
Bettye says:
This will not only give a feeling of blissfullness but also bring people into the mood
off Christmas. This new system of shopping is needed to offer a large menu of gift giving optionns to consider at any given moment.
There is an increasing demand for gift baskets both at
household and corporate levels.
Feeel free to surf to my blog: stoddiesworkshop.com
john meyer says:
ACT ONE, by Moss Hart. This gifted playwright shows such grit and determination in relating the story of how he got his first play on that it becomes inspirational to anyone who is involved in ANY endeavor, any endeavor whatsoever. You learn one of life’s most important lessons (how not to give up) while at the same time laughing at Hart’s self-effacing depiction of the callow youth he was.
A sensational read.
Jeff Emmerson says:
Hey from Canada! I have a question: as an up-coming memoir author myself, might it be at all possible to do a guest post here? I would love to share my journey to becoming an author!
I have a very powerful and inspiring story in the works, and my mission is to get a book deal. It’s called The Road to Myself: Dying to Live.
Let me know! jeffemmerson76(at)gmail(dot)com
– Jeff
melinda says:
Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs. Truly enjoy peoples stories. Appreciate how different we may experience the world and at the same time are so connected.
Lawrence F. Lihosit says:
Favorite memoir of all time? The humorous and fast-paced South of the Frontera; A Peace Corps Memoir, most naturally!
Will Lutwick says:
A great new memoir for FOF affcionados which was released too late for this blog is the acclaimed and compelling serio-comic memoir, “Dodging Machetes: How I Survived Forbidden Love, Bad Behavior, and the Peace Corps in Fiji.” It has opened to fabulous reviews. Check out it’s Amazon page at:
http://www.amazon.com/Dodging-Machetes-Survived-Forbidden-Behavior/dp/1935925113/
alice says:
The Glass Castle
BPuhala says:
Nancy Regans book was an interesting look at White House life. And a true romance . Nancy and Ronnie.. Two class acts!
Admin Officer says:
My favorite: a gift from my son who met the author at a symposium at Norwich University – “Generally Speaking” by LTGEN Claudia J. Kennedy (ret). She is the first woman promoted to three-star General in the United States Army. I loved it too since my mother was in the Womens Army Air Corps.
betty wald says:
Fierce Joy no doubt will become my favorite when it’s out but in the meantime I Loved Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan,
Sleeping Arrangements by Laura Cunningham, Are You Somebody by Nuala O’Faolain,and Mary Cantwell’s American Girl. So many wonderful memoirs! I must stop there. Thanks so much Linda for this article. hope I’m not too late to put in some favs.
Betty Wald
kakkie60 says:
Memoirs are a bit different, yet similar to an autobiography. I enjoy all of them , as they give a bit of history lesson in a different way than the usual situation that we learn about the Human experience.
AJB says:
I don’t have a favorite yet.
Angela K says:
One of my favorites is Pull Me Up: A Memoir (Dan Barry). Crisp, clean writing.
Phoenix says:
The Measure of A Man, Sidney Poitier.
orchidlady01 says:
At Home In the World by Joyce Maynard
Jane Immel says:
I love memoirs, so there are too many to mention…The Glass Castle is a current favorite…ji
Jessica Bernstein says:
More favorite memoirs:
“Living My Life” by Emma Goldman
“Dreams From My Father” by Barack Obama
I’d momentarily forgotten to mention these. Thanks for a great book blog!
Maria Carmela Renna says:
I adore memoirs – but the most moving one I have read lately is “A Ticket to the Circus” by the late Norris Church Mailer. Another one that I have read over and over again is the one by Irene Mayer Selznick.
Jessica Bernstein says:
One of my favorite memoirs is “Alive” by Piers Paul Read. I also love the Diary of Anne Frank (which many people have mentioned here), as well as “Go Ask Alice” by Anonymous and “Death Be Not Proud” by John Gunther.
Linda Wolfe says:
Thanks — Anne Frank seems to be a lot of people’s favorite. Angela’s Ashes, too. Like you, I loved Alive. And Death Be Not Proud. But I don’t think I ever read Go Ask Alice. What;s it about?
Phyllis says:
I have many favorites, but the one that stands out is “The Diary of Anne Frank”.
Beth Corrigan says:
Rick Bragg’s All Over But the Shoutin’ is a favorite memoir. Thanks, Linda, for these picks!
Linda Wolfe says:
Thanks for reminding me about Rick Bragg’s book. I always meant to read it.
bison61 says:
Nun: A Memoir by
Mary Gilligan Wong
tiramisu392 (at) yahoo.com
bearbara says:
Boy, I don’t have a particular favorite! Umm…maybe “Take The Long Way Home”
kls_sea says:
Running with Scissors: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs
Carole Penner says:
For a contemporary memoir I definitely loved Bossypants by Tina Fey.
Susan says:
I adore the wit and romance of “My Life In France” by Julia Child & her grandnephew Alex Prud’homme. Julia Child’s love of life and for her best friend and husband, Paul, is inspiring. She discovered her passion for French cooking late in life, but that did not deter her from embarking on a new career. She lived and loved without fear or apology. An enchanting read!
Jewel Hopson says:
I’m impressed with The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Henrietta Lacks died from cervical cancer in the early ’50’s. The cells from her tumor, the first to live outside the body, used to cure polio and other diseases are reproducing. They’ve even been used for scientific studies in space travel. Ms. Skloot wrote made difficult to understand material exciting.
kgritts says:
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Zora says:
Maya Angelou – Soul of a Woman
Larisa Khodorkovskaya says:
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
hofken says:
My favorite memoir is Bossypants by Tina Fey
Cynthia.Richardson@azbar.org
LisaLisa says:
I would be hard pressed to name one memoir as being my favorite of all time. I love people and am very interested in reading about other people and how they became who they are. Its fascinating.
mandrada says:
It’s complicated I an torn between Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson; Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare and Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie (Great Discoveries). I’m a literature, passionate and scientific reader buff!
mawk313 says:
Can’t say, but I would love to win these.
pameladw says:
I think the memoir that affected me most was Anne Frank’s Diary. I read it while very young and naive and still thought that the world was a good and safe place. I always believed that adults were wise and good. This book helped me realize that adults were no different from my peers in that some people (young or old) are more compassionate and wise than others, and that age was not a determination of wisdom! I would love to read these four wonderful life stories to see what message would be there for me!
Brenda says:
My all time favorite book is Pearl Buck’s The Good Earth. It tells the remarable story of what our ancestors had to go through and the hardships they faced.
Marilyn says:
Augusten Burroughs: Running With Scissors.
Clara says:
Jeanette Walls’ The Last Castle is the best memoir I’ve read in years.
marie says:
The Diary of Anne Frank is so moving and bittersweet. It will always be my favorite.
Kai W. says:
It would be Anne Frank. She wrote of her family and her life in a Nazi-occupied country which gave us more information of how everybody fares there. After all, the Nazi was trying to depicts that everything is rosy under their reign when it’s not.
hrbeck_98 says:
“Me : Stories of My Life” by Katharine Hepburn
Joann Langdon says:
Book by nancy Reagan
Debbie Chaney says:
Death Be Not Proud
tksinclair says:
My favorite of all time was “At Home In the World” by Joyce Maynard. She lived with JD Salinger when she was barely 18 and he was in his 40’s. In fact I wrote to her after I read it I was so moved…YOU MUST READ IT…and we became friends.
Amazing…well written…much more than the part about Salinger but I read it in a day…I could not put it down…
Linda Wolfe says:
Thanks for reminding me about Joyce Maynard’s book. I meant to read it when it came out, and then forgot to get it. Will have a look now.
Fran Kahn says:
Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs is my favorite.
MaryBeth says:
water for elephabts, I love to ead
harriet42861 says:
Angelas Ashes
RarnChild says:
I think it has to be Life by Keith Richards – talk about a life! (The audio book version)
starsmom says:
On Writing – A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King. So interesting!
ktpotat says:
I enjoyed ” Dear Fatty” Dawn French’s memoir
kittywhiskers says:
I read everything and want these too!
Ann sieden’s, Voices of the Sea.
Jo says:
A book called Rose about rose Kennedy. So much that was done in the background, with their own mopney to help people. A very interesting read.
Mary says:
Angela’s Ashes was a good one, I don’t really read a lot of memoirs but I have a great interest in Ireland and read a lot of books by Irish authors and Irish settings.
Gayle LaSalle says:
I’m particularly interested in reading Ms. Shechter’s book as my mother suffered from Lupus.
Diane says:
While I do occasionally enjoy fiction, I much prefer true stories about life. One of many that I have enjoyed is A Silence of Mockingbirds: the Memoir of a Murder by Karen Spears Zacharias.
If you love memoirs, you will not be disappointed in this one.
Linda Wolfe says:
Thanks for suggesting this memoir, which I hadn’t heard of before. It sounds interesting. I’ll check it out.
Kath says:
Tender Bar was one of my favorites.
Mary E says:
All of these books sound like such fascinating reads!! I’d love to win them!!
Mary G says:
The Tender Bar — a fabulous memoir.
Judy Langdale says:
Thank you Linda for this article and the question –
One of my favorite memoirs is
The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr.
The other is The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls.
Both are memoirs of living with odd/ dysfuntional/ alcoholic parents. You feel so much for the children and their siblings but also have sorrow and compassion for the parents, who just couldn’t hold it together. Sad but compelling stories.
Ann Altaher says:
Angela’s Ashes most definitly
Mary Ward says:
I think it would have to be Angela’s Ashes. It still makes me emotional just thinking about it.