Magical Memoir Moments
Joe the Plumber Fulfills Prediction
As soon as Joe the Plumber erupted onto the political stage, it was inevitable the he, too, would become a memoirist. At least, he has signed a book deal, something I predicted on October 18 here. Of course, he is not really writing his own memoir. You can see what the BBC said here. And…
Coming Home to Roost
In a previous post called Blogging and the Memoir Community I promised to review DeWitt Henry’s memoir called Safe Suicide because he was the first published author who found me through this blog. Here goes, DeWitt. Hope you come back to read this little review. Safe Suicide has an internal subtitle which describes its structure…
Do You Know Your Own Geology?
Today one of my colleagues at the Fetzer Institute, Dr. Joel Elkes, celebrates his 95th birthday. No, that is not a typo. He was born in 1913, lived through two World Wars and a century of struggle. He was a student in England in the 30’s and 40’s and thus escaped the Holocaust, though many…
Laura Bush Will Bring Home the Memoir Bacon
Last week I felt sorry for George W. Bush, who, unlike his predecessor Bill Clinton, was not offered a $12 million advance for his memoirs. In fact, he was encouraged not to write them at all–yet. Today The Huffington Post carries the high contrast story that Laura Bush is receiving potential publishers for her own…
Resistible Memoirs
Poor George Bush. First his dog Barney bit a reporter. Then he choked up when he said goodbye to has staff. Things are so bad, in fact, that publishers are telling him to wait to write his memoirs. You can read all about it in the International Herald Tribune here.
A New Earth and the Quest for the Essential Self
Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose was a runaway bestseller earlier this year, due in large part to the enthusiastic embrace Oprah Winfrey gave it on her show and in the ten-week internet classes she conducted with Tolle beginning in March, 2008. The book sold 3.5 million copies in the first…
The Spiral Staircase: Spiritual Memoir the Second and Third Time Around
Karen Armstrong’s life story illustrates the hero’s journey described in my previous post. Her memoir’s title follows the traditional pattern of separation and hints at the initiation and return that happens within the pages of the book: The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness. Armstong builds her book on the scaffolding provided by T….
Blogging and the Memoir Community Online
By Shirley H. Showalter There are more than 150,000,000 bloggers. I joined the enormous online ocean less than six months ago, and I learn a new swim stroke every day. Authors are beginning to find this site, and I am beginning to locate memoir authors, teachers, and speakers. I thought I would point out three…