Magical Memoir Moments

George Bush's Memoir Book Deal: Decisions

Well folks, the deal is struck.  Our former president will in fact write a memoir to be published by Crown.  Apparently he wrote 30,000 words already!  That’s more than 500 words/day.  Pretty good productivity, wouldn’t you say? Read all about it in this blog from the Huffington Post.

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Six-Word Memoir Valentine's Day Special

If you have not yet discovered the joy of the six-word memoir, here’s a past post that will fill you in–a lecture at Google by the authors of this book: And if you missed this week’s long NPR segment on six-word memoirs on love and heartbreak, here’s the link that will take you there. Below…

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Memoir: "Bag Lady's" Antidote to Losing Her Madoff-Managed Fortune

It had to happen.  Someone who lost a fortune in the scandalous Madoff swindle would write about it and get a book contract.  What’s amazing to me is the speed at which this double transformation transpired.  Madoff was charged with massive fraud on Dec. 11, 2008. Six days later, one of his victims, Alexandra Penney,…

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Memoir Joke–From Bill Maher

“Couple of problems [for Bush] . He hasn’t been offered as much money as he thinks he deserves for his memoirs, and when they asked him to write an autobiography, he said, ‘I don’t really know that much about cars.’” -Bill Maher

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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…

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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…

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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.

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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…

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Is Memoir Becoming Mandatory for Politics?

Candidates rise or fall depending upon how voters feel about the stories they tell and the stories others tell about them.  That’s why in recent years political conventions often feature films with the candidate as the hero, and hastily-written biographies usually crop up on Amazon and in the bookstores.  John Kerry was savaged by a…

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Six-Word Memoir Google Video

Since my previous post about six-word memoirs elicited some response, here is a great video with examples at the beginning and a speech from Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser, who tell the story of how Smith Magazine created this special form.

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