Magical Memoir Moments
Huston Smith's Tales of Wonder: Adventures Chasing the Divine–A Review
If you want to spring out of bed tomorrow morning, saying, “Good!” I suggest you read this book the night before. And if you want a role model for how to age with zest and enthusiasm, even to the extent of looking forward to death as the last great adventure, Huston Smith is your man….
Man on Wire: Enough Inspiration for Film, Memoir, Novel
Philippe Petit has blown me away. And so has this film about his life, focused on the day in August,1974, when he walked on a cable stretched between the South Tower and North Tower of the World Trade Center. I loved the music, graphics, and juxtapositions in this film. Petit is such a clown-like, dancer-like,…
Listmania!–Jerry Waxler's 70 Memoirs List with Annotation
If you are looking for the 100 best memoirs, you are coming to the right place. We are making progress building not only one list but many! Several of the posts in this blog include lists, and here is another blogger’s list with annotations. You surely will find something to your taste in this list…
Announcing the Winner(s) of the Six-Word Memoir Contest
The six-word memoir contest ended at 5 p.m. today. There were 28 entries, three of which were posted on Facebook and added into the comments section of the original post by me. Click here if you want to see all 28. I have selected the entry of Chin Pheng Oh “Watching her grow, I see…
Six-Word Memoir Contest
Have you tried to tell your life story in just six words? Smith magazine discovered a gold mine with this concept a few years ago and now has published several popular books listing these short narratives. The whole concept derives from a single story. Supposedly Ernest Hemingway was challenged to tell a story in six words and…
Want to Create Your Own Memoir Course? Here's a Syllabus to Get You Started
Melanie Springer Mock wrote a very insightful comment on my review of Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. I learned that she teaches memoir writing at George Fox University, which led me to request a copy of her syllabus. She was kind enough to share it. So I include it in its entirety below. A…
Top Ten Memoir List from Mary Karr
As you know, the goal of this blog is self-education in public. I am trying to learn about memoir by reading and reviewing great examples of the genre, books about the genre, and offering some mini-memoir on the way. When readers search for good memoir reading lists, I want them to find this blog. What…
Ben Yagoda's Memoir: A History on the Kindle–A Double Review
Ben Yagoda’s history of the memoir genre should make any other survey redundant. He’s performed a great service, not only to readers and writers but also to the new field of nonfiction/memoir studies. As promised previously, I will describe not only what I learned from reading the book but also from reading it on the Kindle. First,…
Ben Yagoda on NPR: Great Overview of Memoir History
Two days ago I posted an NPR story summary with my own slant on it. It got picked up on www.expectingrain.com and reached hundreds of viewers, instantly becoming my most viewed post. That was exciting. Thanks, Expectingrain.com! Come to think of it, NPR stories on the arts almost always fascinate me, and I can tell…