Magical Memoir Moments

Rhoda Janzen's New Memoir: A Christian Century Review

If you have been following the bestselling author Rhoda Janzen since the publication of Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, and many people who read this blog, especially this post, have been doing so, you will want to buy her second memoir. I’m deeply grateful to Janzen for helping both Mennonites and others, both secular…

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Rhoda Janzen, First Lady and Hottest Chick of Mennonite Memoir

There’s news from Rhoda Janzen, author of Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. Her sequel memoir Does This Church Make Me Look Fat? is available for pre-order. Here’s a short blurb from USA Today to whet your appetite. Now is that a catchy title or what? The subtitle comes back to remind the reader of her…

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An Amish Memoir: Saloma Miller Furlong's Story of Why She Left

Saloma Miller Furlong has an amazing story. The little Amish girl on the cover of her memoir and the Smith College graduate on the back cover represent two worlds. These two photos illustrate a life journey that has covered, so far, a relatively short distance in time and space, but a huge one in world…

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The Festival of Faith and Writing: A Feast of Flowers and Words

The Dutch know how to grow tulips–and writers! Every two years the good folks at Calvin College put on a Festival of Faith and Writing that attracts thousands of readers and hundreds of writers. And what a good time we have! This year’s headliners included Wally Lamb, Richard Rodriguez, Parker Palmer, Eugene Peterson, and Mary…

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Laughing Out Loud: Mennonite in a Little Black Dress

If  you too made the bedposts shake while you read Rhoda Janzen’s Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, you might enjoy this guest post over at womensmemoirs.com. The book uses seven classical elements of comedy to great effect. Thanks, Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett, for the invitation.  While you are on their site, check out…

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The Reviewer's Role: Is A Touch of Memoir Appropriate, Honest, Intrusive, Something Else?

Reading and reviewing books side-by-side offers a way of increasing the number of perspectives and experiences one can weave together. The reading process itself is an interactive one. At a minimum it includes the author’s voice and values, reader’s values and experiences, and other texts both reader and writer have woven into their lives. Two books…

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Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: An "Old Mennonite" Review

When I read Rhoda Janzen’s Mennonite in a Little Black Dress late at night, the bed posts shook. I had to choke back gargantuan guffaws in order not to wake my Mennonite husband. The last time that happened, I was reading Bill Bryson’s The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. Before that, David Sedaris, Michael…

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