Magical Memoir Moments

Laura Bush Memoir Book Deal Illustrates Recession?

Today’s Daily Beast asserts that Laura Bush received less than Nancy Reagan and Betty Ford–and only one third the amount that the same publisher (Simon & Shuster) paid for Hillary Clinton’s memoir. They speculate that the recession may be to blame. Poor Laura.  She got a mere $1.6 million advance. Or could it be that in…

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The Amazon Kindle v. Barnes & Noble's Nook and iPhone App: Five Things the Kindle Gets Right and Five It Gets Wrong

Last August, The New Yorker published Nicholson Baker’s extensive, very mixed, review of my brand-new birthday present–an Amazon Kindle 2. The article mentions a YouTube of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos laughing freakishly hard. I thought it appropriate to find and share the freakish laughter video with you on Halloween, just after Barnes & Noble has announced their competing…

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The New Publishing Rules: Seth Godin's Fascinating Talk to Publishers

If you are an author or hoping to become one, you are entering a field in great flux. Maybe chaotic is not too strong a word to describe the world of publishing right now. In such a time, a good guide makes all the difference.  Seth Godin, who has written ten bestsellers, using totally new…

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Michael Moore's Own Life–Does it Undermine His Message?

Capitalism: A Love Story opened nationwide yesterday, and Stuart and I made the movie our Friday night date. If you have not seen this film yet, I encourage you to do so. Of course, I was watching and listening with a memoir lens. In this film we see pictures and home movies of little Michael…

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Five Days in Vancouver: A Mini-Memoir

Vancouver, BC, must be one of the ten most beautiful places on earth. Mountains, water, temperate climate year round, a meeting place for East and West. Such a meeting took place at the Vancouver Peace Summit September 25-29, 2009. For us at the Fetzer Institute, it was a time of celebration for our Fetzer Prize…

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Roger Ebert: His Drinking/Recovery Memoir

You know Roger Ebert as a film critic, one of the best in the business. But on August 25, Roger Ebert came out to the world as a recovering alcoholic in his blog in the Chicago Sun-Times called “Roger Ebert’s Journal.” After 30 years of sobriety and an operation that left him physically unable to…

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So How ’bout that Toast?: A Mini-Memoir

  Our son Anthony and our new daughter-in-law Chelsea were married September 12 at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in Manhattan. It’s time to share more of the story that has been unfolding here since they announced their engagement. I described the synchronicity in their meeting–their origin story involving Forrest Church and Match.com here.  And…

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Memoir Poems: A New Family Tradition

The wedding countdown is on! Anthony and Chelsea not only have their own website, like many couples these days, but both of them are bloggers. Anthony uses his blog mostly as a “digital home” for networking in social media, although he announced his engagement there, including the playlist of music and the menu.He also loves…

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Julie and Julia Aren't Enough: They Both Needed Judith!

Did you see the summer’s best memoir movie, Julie & Julia? If not, hurry to a theater near you and catch it before it leaves. If you missed the trailer, you can find it here: I read and relished My Life in France a few months ago and then gave the book to one of…

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The Harvest Time of Life: A Mini-Memoir

Last Sunday, Stuart and I celebrated the last day of August with one of our many bike rides in the hill/woods/lake country here in southwestern Michigan. We have enjoyed watching the grape vines become green, then produce fruit, and soon we will get to observe the harvest.  Next Tuesday another sign of the season arrives–all…

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