Memoir Armoire

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.

I could hate Jancee Dunn for being lucky enough to shoot the breeze with Dolly Parton (not to mention many other legends of music) but I can’t, because I loved her diary of a music journalist so damn much (and because she seems like such a nice person) Just gossipy enough and really entertaining, her memoir provides an insight into what it’s like writing for Rolling Stone, as well as a personal look at Jancee’s life. Curtis Sittenfeld has called it “smart, poignant and incredibly funny”, and I think that about covers it. Read it or be sad.

Pick up a copy of your own here (and lament that awful new cover…).

At twenty-nine, Bridget Harrison had a great boyfriend everyone expected her to marry, her own home, a job as assistant features editor at The Times [UK] and a fabulous circle of friends. But if she was truly contented, then why was the opportunity to go on a work exchange to New York for four months so incredibly tempting? After a few sleepless nights, Bridget rented out her house and left for NYC and a job at super-tabloid The New York Post. But just when she felt she was getting the hang of things, it was time to leave. That’s when Bridget broke the news to her loved ones: she wasn’t coming back anytime soon. And that’s when things started to get really interesting… This is an evocative book that gives a fascinating insight into New York life and the difficulties of keeping your head above water in a hugely competitive industry. Sometimes I was completely jealous of Bridget (she scooped her own dating column), other times I was mortified on her behalf (the difficulties of making friends in the big apple). What I most admired about her story is that she took a risk in order to expand her horizon — and realised than being happy is about more important than ticking off career and relationship goals.

Get yours.