is it just me or reading memoirs feels like being stuck in a small talk with a random person who wont get the hint? or maybe because I haven’t stumbled on anything good idk. I would really love to hear your opinion on this, and if there’s any memoirs you could recommend that would change my mind?
by errasim
26 Comments
try scribbling the cat by Alexandra Fuller.
I suspect with memoirs it depends on how much you care already about the person behind it!
I loved *To the Edge of the Sky* by Anhua Gao.
They’re like everything else. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Sounds like memoirs aren’t your thing or at the very least you’re looking for something in particular and it’s going to be hard for anyone to make a suggestion for fear of being “wrong”.
I really liked the memoirs of a journalist, Deborah Feldman. Unorthodox and Exodus told of her life story; growing up in and escaping from an ultra conservative Orthodox Jewish community in New York. She is inspiring.
Her story was adapted and dramatized into a Netflix special.
What you need is a memoir built around something you’d still find interesting in any other format.
My favorite book is a memoir:
What You Have Heard Is True by Carolyn Forché
Wonderland Avenue by Danny Sugarman.
A terrible human being but an entertaining memoir
I really enjoyed Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth. It’s a collection of anecdotes from her time as a midwife in the east end of London in the 1950s.
Maybe you just don’t like memoirs (which would be fine!).
I think I understand what you mean. Like another commenter said, anecdotes from someone’s life are irrelevant if you don’t care about them or their milieu. But if you are interested in an aspect of their life, like their work environment or the circumstances under which they grew up, it will be interesting to hear them talk about it. Or you just like the way a particular person tells a story. For instance, I enjoyed Stephen Fry’s first two memoirs. These are NOT the ones I would recommend to change your mind! The second one in particular is all about anecdotes and quite a bit of name-dropping. It is exactly the kind of memoir that seems to annoy you. I enjoy the way Stephen Fry talks and I could listen to him telling anecdotes all day but I can totally understand if not everyone feels that way.
I think you may be most interested in a memoir by someone with a specific story to tell. A recent one I was very impressed with is **Finding Me** by Viola Davis. It may be more to your taste because is not at all about Hollywood name-dropping and has a pretty consistent story of overcoming hardships, forgiving yourself and others, and finding your own voice.
And of course, there are memoirs by exceptionally brilliant writers. **I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings** by Maya Angelou is quite simply one of the best works of literature of any genre I have ever come across.
Kitchen Confidential
try pablo nerudas autobiography! trust me, it’s prose but wow, it’s so poetic. every sentence feels like a piece of art. i recommend reading it in the summer!
I enjoyed “Greenlights” by Matthew McConaughey. I like him as an actor and as a motivational speaker so reading his experiences was a delight.
This is very much in line with what other commenters say, you need to be invested in that particular person/character to want to read their memoir.
Yep, they all suck. The Bear Grylls one in particular since that’s the only one I’ve read
West with the night by beryl markham, the only book earnest hemingway said he wished he’d written. An incredible story told without sentiment. I finished it and immediately wanted to read it again
The LA diaries by James Brown will change your mind.
Depends on the person it’s about. If you’re interested then it might not.
If you like the Harry Potter movies and the Princess Bride then I suggest Beyond the Want by Tom Felton and As You Wish by Cary Elwes.
I love having conversations with random people who tell me all about their lives. Learning about people is my main drive in life. I mean literally, when I’m at my most suicidal, I think about all the people whose lives I can’t even imagine, and how much I want to hear their stories.
Did you read memoirs of people that interest you?
I mainly focus on comedians I like. I really enjoyed American on Purpose by Craig Ferguson, Believe Me by Eddie Izzard and I’m Fine… And Other Lies by Whitney Cummings.
I also very much enjoyed No Room For Small Dreams by Shimon Peres even though he wasn’t a comedian.
ETA: You might enjoy them more as audiobooks since many are narrated by their author.
Every Tool’s a Hammer – Adam Savage
The Way I Heard It – Mike Rowe
Where the Deer and the Antelope Play – Nick Offerman
The Snow Leopard Project – Alex Dehgan
I’ve got more…
There are good ones- maybe try some of the less straightforward conventional memoir-y ones because there are also a lot of not-so-good ones.
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Muchado is probably one of the most experimental ones out there, it’s a memoir of domestic violence where every chapter is told in a different style.
Ella Risbridger’s Midnight Chicken is a memoir/cookbook.
There are some great memoirs in graphic novel format- Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is one of the most famous (and I learnt a lot from it!). Ducks by Kate Beaton is a memoir of her time working in the oil sands in Canada, it’s great but be warned it is very bleak. And Lucy Knisley writes a lot of autobiographical books too.
One of my faves however is a conventional memoir- Dodie Smith’s memoirs of her childhood and young adult life. Look Back with Love is the story of her childhood in Lancashire, and she is pretty frank and surprisingly detailed, and goes into her life in the theatre. It’s very evocative of a different time, but might not appeal if you don’t like memoirs.
Try some of the heavier ones. ORDEAL by Linda Lovelace is not small talk. Neither is TEARS OF RAGE by John Walsh or NOT LOST FOREVER by Carmina Salcido.
Pick up Esme Wang’s The Collected Schizophrenias – I think it will change (and blow) your mind.
Part of this may be that so many memoirs are ghostwritten you don’t connect with the author’s voice or perspective
My all time favorite memoir is [Benjamin Butler’s autobiography]([https://lintreader.com/book/butler-butlers-book-autobiography-a-0X6aeVVV](https://lintreader.com/book/butler-butlers-book-autobiography-a-0X6aeVVV))
This is Butler regaling you with his perspective on the Civil War and mid-19th century American politics. It’s a lot more interesting than you might expect.
But the memoir that would change your mind is most likely going to be related to somebody or something you’re interested in
That’s how I felt about Dave Grohl’s memoir. Which is really unfortunate because I love him, The Foo Fighters and Nirvana quite a bit.
A fun one is Bossypants by Tina Fey…