Memoir Armoire

It’s hard for me to review Fury, because reading it was an...

Sat, 04 Dec 2010 10:50:06 -0500

It’s hard for me to review Fury, because reading it was an emotional and cathartic experience for me, and I may have identified a little too much… But I’ll try. In our society, especially as women, we’re often encouraged not to feel anger, or at least not to express it. Instead we’re encouraged to meditate on it, or think about something nice instead, or maybe hit a cushion really hard — anything but actually admit it to the person you’re feeling incandescent towards.

Koren Zailckas had struggled with her anger since childhood, so much so that as an adult she wasn’t even aware she was angry. (Ever, about anything.) But when her relationship broke down and she moved home with her parents for the summer, she was (literally) brought face to face with the source of much of her pain, and brought up short by the realisation of how much anger she had inside her, tightly wound and shoved deep down.

It’s hard for me to separate the braveness of Zailckas’s quest from the book she wrote about it but luckily I don’t have to try too hard, as both are poignant and moving and ultimately triumphant.

An utterly affecting read that will stay with me for a long time.

My interview with Koren Zailckas.

I absolutely adored Catherine Gildiner’s Too Close to the...

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 01:01:00 -0500

I absolutely adored Catherine Gildiner’s Too Close to the Falls, the memoir of her childhood as an unusual, hyper child (she had a job in her father’s pharmacy by the age of four and started smoking at nine…)

I couldn’t wait for that book’s sequel, After The Falls, about growing up in the sixties (and moving away from the small town close to Niagara where Gildiner’s father’s store was). I was looking forward to seeing how the bouncy, confident child of the first book transitioned to adulthood, and I wasn’t disappointed. She went through a lot of changes, from trying desperately to fit in to campaigning for civil rights.

Although much more poignant than the first book and featuring some really sad moments, this second memoir is just as well-written and I fell in love with Gildiner’s voice all over again. Her stories of the civil rights struggles of the sixties are especially interesting. In fact, it’s amazing what she managed to cram into her teen years (I mostly just read and watched TV…). I’d love to read more of Gildiner’s memories, so I was really happy to read on her blog that there will be a third memoir, The Long Way Home.

*Many thanks to Viking Books for the review copy.

I love the Queen. No, not that Queen. Queen Latifah. She’s...

Fri, 19 Nov 2010 09:28:00 -0500

I love the Queen. No, not that Queen. Queen Latifah. She’s so talented and self-confident, and she flies the self-esteem flag for all women in Hollywood (and elsewhere) who aren’t the stereotypical deal (which must be harder to do in Hollywood than elsewhere, let’s face it). So she seems like the perfect choice to write Put on your Crown, a guide to self-esteem for young women using examples from her own life. I’d still prefer to worship at her feet while she dispenses her wisdom, but I guess this is the next best thing.

Who knew that when Arabella Weir was saying “Does My Bum...

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 11:41:06 -0500

Who knew that when Arabella Weir was saying “Does My Bum Look Big in This?” every week as part of The Fast Show (not to mention giving her chick lit debut the same name) that she was actually reflecting her own life-long insecurity? From an early age, Weir’s parents made her feel paranoid about her weight (even when she wasn’t overweight), restricting her potato intake and humiliating her in front of others until she hated her body and ending up over-eating in response. She’s been stuck in a cycle of binging and low self-esteem (with occasional bouts of ego, she says) ever since.

The Real Me is Thin will sadly strike a chord with millions of women who have been taught or have picked up that their weight is the most important thing about them, and it’s a “what not to do” manual for raising children to feel good about themselves. Arabella comes off as well-adjusted, funny, and kind but her story of disordered eating doesn’t have a neatly resolved happy ending. At least, not yet.

The Winner of "My Fair Lazy"...

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 07:32:46 -0500

According to random.org, is Keris. Congrats, K! You will get my old copy soon. Ish.

Previously:

My Fair Lazy Giveaway

My Fair Lazy review

"When Crown Publishing inked a deal with George W. Bush for his memoirs, the publisher knew it..."

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 05:21:17 -0500

“When Crown Publishing inked a deal with George W. Bush for his memoirs, the publisher knew it wasn’t getting Faulkner. But the book, at least, promises “gripping, never-before-heard detail” about the former president’s key decisions, offering to bring readers “aboard Air Force One on 9/11, in the hours after America’s most devastating attack since Pearl Harbor; at the head of the table in the Situation Room in the moments before launching the war in Iraq,” and other undisclosed and weighty locations. Crown also got a mash-up of worn-out anecdotes from previously published memoirs written by his subordinates, from which Bush lifts quotes word for word, passing them off as his own recollections.”

- George Bush Book ‘Decision Points’ Lifted From Advisers’ Books

…And the press, and other books…

Lying worked for him in office, so I guess maybe he thought why stop now.

"The ghostwriter who stands to make a fortune out of penning the literary sensation of the moment –..."

Wed, 03 Nov 2010 21:31:12 -0400

“The ghostwriter who stands to make a fortune out of penning the literary sensation of the moment – the autobiography of a cravat-wearing Russian meerkat – can today be revealed as Val Hudson, a former publisher at various leading houses such as HarperCollins and Headline.”

- Unveiled: Author who ghostwrote a meerkat’s memoir

Well, thank goodness. I’d been on tenterhooks, hadn’t you?

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Catherine Ryan Howard

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 00:36:44 -0400

Catherine Ryan Howard is a Twitter success story. Not only did she use social media to promote her first book, Mousetrapped, a memoir about her 18 months working for Disney (which I reviewed here) but it’s how she met her agent. And (surely the most exciting thing) it’s how she met me.

Here Catherine (right) talks about all things memoir, and a couple of novel things…

We’re all about keeping things short and sweet here at Memoir Armoire, so could you describe your book in five words?

How about “Dreams really do come true?” Although if I was allowed six words, I’d add “sorta” on there at the end.

What are some of your favourite memoirs?

I was blown away by The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, but I also loved Eat, Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt (although I fear that borders on true crime!) and anything that involves Apollo astronauts or NASA, but especially Apollo 11’s Michael Collins’ memoir, Carrying the Fire.

What’s your top tip for aspiring memoir writers?

Make your peace with the fact that not every single little thing that happened can go in. You have to find the story within the events, and use it as a clothesline to hang your chapters off of. Or something…

What are you working on now and/or releasing next?

I’ve just started my second novel. My first hasn’t sold (yet?) and is still doing the rounds, which is distracting somewhat. Not so much the waiting itself, but the obsessive checking of voicemail, e-mail and postbox every 15 minutes that the waiting requires. I’m also toying with the idea of a dieting memoir, but that would require me to actually go on a diet first. So, we’ll see.

Please plug your website(s) and any other non-book projects we should know about:

I sure will, thank you. For occasional caffeinated musings, see my blog at www.catherineryanhoward.com. It’s all pink and stuff. [It also contains some fabulous advice and info on getting your writing noticed. You should visit! — Diane]

"The memoir of a former Boston prison librarian has revealed some of the literary preferences of..."

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 09:07:03 -0400

“The memoir of a former Boston prison librarian has revealed some of the literary preferences of American inmates. And according to Avi Steinberg, aka “Bookie” to the inmates of Suffolk County House of Correction, popular requests are The Diary of Anne Frank, Robert Greene’s Machiavellian self-help manual The 48 Laws of Power, and anything by Sylvia Plath.”

- Memoir reveals prisoners’ book preferences

This sounds like an interesting book. I haven’t read it, but Erwin James is quoted in the piece, and his first prison memoir, A Life Inside, is wonderful.

My Fair Lazy Giveaway!

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 08:24:00 -0400

I decided to give away my copy of Jen Lancaster’s My Fair Lazy to one of my lovely readers (I’m posting it myself, so I’m afraid it’s UK-only).

All you have to do is leave a comment or send me an email letting me know your favourite memoir, and I’ll pick a winner at random using one of those online random number-picker things (sorry to blow your mind with jargon, there).

Take a look at the book trailer to see why you should want to win (hint: ‘cos it’s funny).

*Comp closes 2 weeks from today, midnight British time. So hop to it!

I’d been looking forward to reading My Fair Lazy since Jen...

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 07:58:54 -0400

I’d been looking forward to reading My Fair Lazy since Jen Lancaster first announced it about 18 months ago. Her attempt to become more cultured and less reality TV-obsessed, it involves her “eating the world”, learning about wine, trying smelly cheese (and liking it!), falling in love with Edith Wharton and in hate with Eudora Welty, and learning to make polite conversation rather than getting drunk and talking about The Real Housewives of Wherever.

I have to admit to being a little disappointed that so much of Lancaster’s “Jenaissance” is reported to us after the fact, in conversations with her friends rather than a play-by-play of events themselves, and I would have loved it if she’d taken etiquette classes rather than just had lunch with a posh blogger, but she moved house, had pet problems, and was on a book tour during much of her research time, which all clearly put a crimp in her style.

Still, any book of Lancaster’s is always full of her trademark humour, and having read most of her previous memoirs, a glimpse into her world is like a visit from a very funny old friend (the Twitter transcript — the result of an Ambien + wine induced intoxication — is worth the cover price alone). Plus, it totally made me want to try some weird new food. What more do you want from a memoir?

*Thank you to Penguin/NAL for the review copy.

"If you’ve got time to spare, money to burn, and an desire to read Jay-Z‘s memoir Decoded before its..."

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 09:42:17 -0400

“If you’ve got time to spare, money to burn, and an desire to read Jay-Z‘s memoir Decoded before its release date, join the new Bing.com sponsored advertising campaign. Specific pages of Jay-Z’s memoir will be available at different locations. Fans can join the scavenger hunt and locate these pages using the Bing.com/Jay-Z site. There are prizes as well. Players who discover the pages first can win signed copies of Decoded. The grand prize is a trip to Las Vegas to see Jay-Z and Coldplay play a New Year’s Eve in concert.”

- GalleyCat

I guess the prize would be worth having for a big fan, and it’s definitely a different way to promote a memoir, but I certainly couldn’t be bothered to chase around town searching for Jay-Z’s words of wisdom. If it was Beyonce, that would be a different matter.

Today might be Wednesday to you, but to me, it’s...

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 06:45:55 -0400

Today might be Wednesday to you, but to me, it’s Apprentice day. Yay! The contestants may no longer call him “Surallen” (he’s a Lord now, you know) but Alan Sugar’s still showing up to teach those rapscallion wannabe business peeps a thing or two. (And boy do they need it, this series more than ever.) Anyhoo, inevitably, ol’ Alan has just released his autobiography about his rise from ‘umble cockney charmer (or something) to Viglen seller, TV star, and peer of the realm. According to the blurb, it’s “forthright, funny and sometimes controversial”.

"Salman Rushdie has revealed that he has already written 100 pages of the memoir that will tell the..."

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 01:20:00 -0400

“Salman Rushdie has revealed that he has already written 100 pages of the memoir that will tell the story of his decade in hiding under the threat of death.”

- Salman Rushdie at work on fatwa memoir

Now this sounds interesting.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Shauna Reid

Thu, 14 Oct 2010 08:21:52 -0400

The fact that I haven’t yet reviewed Shauna Reid’s The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl shouldn’t be taken to mean that I didn’t read and love it, because I did, and I do. While some weight loss stories never really touch on the important stuff — like the feelings underneath over-eating — Shauna faces the truth about herself and her (for want of a better word) issues whilst remaining humble, funny, and inspiring. Her book’s not just about a young woman losing weight, but a woman learning to live. (I know, this is a bit of a gushfest, but you should read it.)

I’m so pleased Shauna (left) agreed to answer my probing questions:

We’re all about keeping things short and sweet here at Memoir Armoire, so could you describe your book in five words?

Lard lost, fun found… hilarity! (Dude that’s really hard!)

What are some of your favourite memoirs (apart from your own)?

Bit of Blur by Alex James (it’s OTT but irresistable if you’re a fan), A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg, This is Paradise! by Hyok Kang

What’s your top tip for aspiring memoir writers?

Ransack your life with a sense of humour and a big machete — be ruthless about cutting scenes and people who may be lovely but not good for the story.

What are you working on now and/or releasing next?

Working on a novel that is so rubbish right now it may never see the light of day. Help!

Please plug your website(s) and any other non-book projects we should know about:

Dietgirl [the blog that begat the book].

My non-fat blog.

Podcast: Two Fit Chicks

"A new book is out from Fr. Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican’s chief exorcist. The title is Confessions..."

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:01:34 -0400

“A new book is out from Fr. Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican’s chief exorcist. The title is Confessions of an Exorcist. It’s in paperback, and … in French. This is a bummer; but I hope it’s only a temporary bummer. (Of course it’s in Italian as well, titled Memoirs of an Exorcist.)”

- Gabriele Amorth publishes his ‘Confessions’

So this sounds… Different.

Thanks to lovely Red Editor Sam Baker’s twitter feed, I...

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 03:20:42 -0400

Thanks to lovely Red Editor Sam Baker’s twitter feed, I now know not only that Nora Ephron has a new memoir, I Remember Nothing, out next month but that you can read an extract in US Vogue right now. I expect I’ll have already read some of these pieces in The New Yorker or on the Huffington Post, but recycled Nora is better than new almost-everyone-else, and there’s bound to be some new and exclusive stuff, too.

I can’t wait.

Memoirist of the Future: Lena Chen

Sat, 09 Oct 2010 20:41:00 -0400

Confession: when I hear the words “sex blogger”, I cringe a little. I’ve never bought into that whole “having loads of sex for the sake of it is super-feminist” myth.

But while Lena Chen became famous for her blog The Sex and the Ivy (about her sex life at Harvard) she doesn’t subscribe to the idea that having sex with a lot of people is in itself feminist. She’s more interested in challenging our expectations about sex, gender, and sexuality, like with her conference, Rethinking Virginity.

Now graduated, with an impressive list of publishing credits um, under her belt, she often mentions her desire to publish a memoir — and I’ve no doubt she will.

Until then, keep up with Lena’s freelance writing, globe-hopping, feminist-promoting adventures at The Ch!cktionary, her regularly-updated blog, or at GURL.com, where she’s the editor of the health, sex, and relationships channel.

[Photo credit: Patrick Hamm: via]

Previously: Memoirist of the Future: Jamie Varon.

It's Tina Fey's Book, "Bossypants"!

Sat, 09 Oct 2010 19:00:55 -0400

It's Tina Fey's Book, "Bossypants"!:

I’m not one of those Tina Fey fangirls who think everything she does is wonderful, but I do think she’s interesting, clever, and talented, and I’ll definitely want to read her new memoir/essay collection.

Which this may or may not be the cover for, creepy man hands and all.

Will you be buying?

I first heard of Julie Klam in Jancee Dunn’s book. Any...

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 22:52:05 -0400

I first heard of Julie Klam in Jancee Dunn’s book. Any writer friend of Jancee’s is someone I want to read, I thought, and Klam’s own memoir, Please Excuse My Daughter, didn’t disappoint. A memoir-in-essays which explores her childhood as a pampered only daughter (her mom would get her out of school to go shopping, hence the title) and her reluctance to grow up and take charge of her life, Klam is funny, self-deprecating and easy to relate to. Although the true story of her Mafia-linked ex-boyfriend is a little less so… (But still completely compelling.) Her next book, You Had Me At Woof, is out on October 28, and I can’t wait.

Here it is on Amazon.