Short Takes:58 Fall Memoirs on Big Hair,Big Love & Big Losses
Stars for Hope Edelman, A.J. Jacobs, Kay Redfield Jamison & Rhoda Janzen
By Elizabeth Brinkley, Lauren Gilbert, Lynne Maxwell, & Jessica Roy -- Library Journal, 07/09/2009
It's all-too-easy to dismiss the memoir because of its ubiquity. An overabundance of people, the gripe goes, has put pen to paper and divulged unnecessary information about their cats or parents. On a bad day, I agree; on a good day (more often than not), I believe everyone has worthy stories; it's just a matter of having the chops to tell it in a way that mesmerizes.
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Our latest and largest memoir Short Takes to date tackles 58 fall 2009 titles and reflects publishers' continuing emphasis on the
Check out our Summer 2009 and Spring 2009 Memoir Short Takes, both with addendums.
"reality life" genre. Top-shelf talent like Kay Redfield Jamison, A.J. Jacobs, and Hope Edelman lend memoirs respectability, as do relative newcomers in the still-important recovery from addiction and illness category. Developing trends: joint memoirs by family members (the highest-profile example comes from Sue Monk Kidd).
Per our new book review format, our fearless reviewers Elizabeth Brinkley, Lauren Gilbert, and Lynne Maxwell strove to speak the language of reader's advisory and collection development, including numerous readalikes. Special thanks to Amelia Brunskill and Dora Wagner for their one-off contributions and LJ intern supreme Jessica Roy for her meaty addendum.—Heather McCormack
Armstrong, Stephanie Covington. Not All Black Girls Know How To Eat. Lawrence Hill: Chicago Review. Aug. 2009. c.272p. ISBN 978-1-55652-786-9. pap. $16.95. MEMOIR
Playwright and screenwriter Armstrong spent her twenties searching for the warmth, love, and nourishment that was lacking in her urban childhood—and found it in food. Bulimia nervosa became her coping mechanism for all manner of pains. When money was scarce, she borrowed, stole, and even dated a variety of unsuitable men for meals. When she reached rock bottom, she found that most outreach systems seemed oriented to middle- and upper-class white women, but she stuck it out in a 12-step program. Unlike other food addiction narratives, this one features characters who are finely wrought. Other African American women battling bulimia will appreciate the voice Armstrong has given to their struggle. Readalike: Marya Hornbacher's Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia.—E.B.
Canfield, Oran. Long Past Stopping: A Memoir. Morrow: HarperCollins. Sept. 2009. c.336p. ISBN 978-0-06-145075-4. $25.99. MEMOIR
The chapters in this debut about a dysfunctional hippie upbringing alternate between childhood and adulthood. Oran Canfield was raised by his mother in a way that managed to be both controlling and neglectful; his father, Jack, made a fortune writing the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series. Oran’s early nomadic years—colorful, action-packed, and sad—unfortunately give way to monotonous tales of drug relapse. This roller-coaster ride might seem familiar to readers of addiction memoirs, but Canfield's distinctive life and voice elevate it above the pack. Readalikes: Sean Willig’s Oh the Glory of It All, Augusten Burroughs’s Dry, and Said Sayrafiezadeh’s When Skateboards Will Be Free. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/09.]—L.G.
Edelman, Hope. The Possibility of Everything. Ballantine. Sept. 2009. c.333p. ISBN 978-0-345-50650-4. $25. MEMOIR
Author of the best-selling Motherless Daughters, Edelman proffers an illuminating perspective in this elegant, engaging memoir. A loving mother, Edelman was startled and appalled when her three-year-old daughter Maya suddenly attacked her for no apparent reason. When confronted, Maya maintained it wasn’t her doing but that her imaginary “friend,” Dodo. Dodo's intrusions led to Edelman panicking; her husband suggested a vacation to Belize, where they consulted a shaman. The miraculous wisdom and healing they discover there suggested “the possibility of everything.” For parents everywhere. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/09.]—L.M.
Evans, Danny. Rage Against the Meshugenah: Why It Takes Balls To Go Nuts. NAL: Putnam. Aug. 2009. c.352p. ISBN 978-0-451-22711-9. pap. $15. MEMOIR
Evans’s bright humor drives this narrative of life as a Jewish, sports-obsessed geek who is totally devoid of athletic talent. His parents pushed him to become a rabbi, but he pushed back, pursuing the secular delights of sex and all-American hedonism. As an adult, though, he suffered a severe setback when, responsible for supporting his wife and child, he lost his job unexpectedly and sunk into depression. His experiences in enduring, and emerging from, depression constitute the book’s crux. Readalike: David Sedaris’s Me Talk Pretty One Day.—L.M.
Gideon, Melanie. The Slippery Year: A Meditation on Happily Ever After. Knopf. Aug. 2009. c.224p. ISBN 978-0-30-727067-2. $24.95. MEMOIR
First-time memoirist Gideon opens with what appears to be a midlife, marital crisis, recounting her vague malaise with her comfortable but banal existence as an upper-middle-class wife and mother. However, the titular “slippery year” turns out to be simply a contrived way to link 12 essays, which are all essentially meditations on the author’s various fears and neuroses and the absurdities of modern life. Gideon is a good writer, and her essays are filled with striking and often amusing observations, but they never coalesce into a coherent whole. Read her insightful takes on modern life in bites. Readalike: Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love.—L.G.
Fiennes, William. The Music Room. Norton. Sept. 2009. c.256p. ISBN 978-0-393-07258-7. $24.95. MEMOIR
This lushly detailed and haunting follow-up to Fiennes's award-winning first memoir, Snow Geese, is at once a paean to a much-beloved sibling and to their often magical life at the family's castle, where moats and gloomy rooms filled with portraits are mostly enchanted playspaces. Darker forces were at work, though, on Fiennes’s brother, Richard, and as Rich’s epileptic seizures increased in frequency and severity, he became violent, at one point even striking his mother in the face with a hot cast-iron pan. For readers who enjoy meditations on sibling bonds and coming-of-age with English country settings. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 5/1/09.] Readalike: Christopher Lukas's Blue Genes: A Memoir of Loss and Survival.—E.B.
Ferris, Amy. Marrying George Clooney: Confessions from a Midlife Crisis. Seal, dist. by Publishers Group West. Sept. 2009. c.224p. ISBN 978-1-58005-297-9. pap. $16.95. MEMOIR
Editor Ferris offers a series of vignettes, each short chapter covering a topic she has laid awake contemplating during an insomniac trip through menopause. She obsesses about George Clooney, her husband’s “junk drawer” of a basement, her Jewish mother’s crush on Jesus Christ, and all manner of other topics that may or may not be pertinent to enduring a midlife crisis. The effect is less humorous and more schizophrenic, as the chapters are laid out in a scattershot manner. Not recommended. Readalike: Nancy Bachrach's The Center of the Universe: A Memoir.—E.B
Gilbert-Lurie, Leslie & Rita Lurie. Bending Toward the Sun: A Mother and Daughter Memoir. Harper: HarperCollins. Sept. 2009. c.368p. photogs. ISBN 978-0-06-173476-2. $25.99. MEMOIR
As a young Jewish girl in wartime Poland, Rita Lurie hid in a dark attic for two years along with several members of her extended family. Her harrowing tale makes up this mother-daughter memoir’s first half, taking readers through her immigration to America. The second half is told by Leslie Gilbert-Lurie, who bears the emotional scars of her mother’s past despite her own secure and comfortable childhood in California. Though Rita’s wartime experience is ghastly and unforgettable, this joint narrative feels like an unfinished psychological exploration of the lingering effects of the Holocaust. Readalike: Fern Schumer Chapman’s Motherland: Beyond the Holocaust.—L.G.
Hart, Melissa. Gringa: A Contradictory Girlhood. Seal, dist. by Publishers Group West. Oct. 2009. c.280p. ISBN 978-1-58-005294-8. pap. $16.95. MEMOIR
When the author’s parents divorced in 1970s Southern California, primary custody was awarded to her sexist, overbearing father even though she longed to live with her newly bohemian mother and mom’s lesbian lover in their “authentic” urban Latino neighborhood. Debut memoirist Hart’s narration of these events is unappealing, with her repeatedly whining about feeling “oppressed” and inferior as a white girl lacking any “culture.” The recipes tacked on the end of each chapter also strike a note of phony lyricism. Not recommended.—L.G.
Holland, Julie. Weekends at Bellevue. Bantam. Oct. 2009. c.308p. ISBN 978-0-553-80766-0. $25. MEMOIR
For nine years, first-time author Holland worked the night shift at the psychiatric emergency room of Bellevue Hospital. A newly minted psychiatrist at the time, she portrays the innumerable challenges doctors face in New York City’s most notorious psychiatric institution. Not only does Holland describe medical matters, but she also explores her interior life. A brave, honest window into the heart and soul of a young doctor. Readalikes: Atul Gawande’s works. See also Gabriel Weston’s Direct Red, below. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/09.]—L.M.
Jacobs, A.J. The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment. S. & S. Sept. 2009. c.256p. ISBN 978-1-4165-9906-7. $25. MEMOIR
Jacobs is a cultural icon with an eye for the absurd. In The Know-It-All, he read the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica, providing hilarious commentary along the way. For this equally entertaining follow-up to his wonderful The Year of Living Biblically, he embarked on a series of month-long “experiments” in which he immersed himself in various roles. For instance, he “becomes” George Washington, going so far as to exercise Washington’s bizarre personal credo dictating proper ethics and etiquette. Calling all pop culture junkies. Readers may recognize some of Jacobs’s experiments from Esquire, for which he is editor-at-large. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/09.]—L.M.
Jamison, Kay Redfield. Nothing Was the Same. Knopf. Sept. 2009. c.224p. ISBN 978-0-307-26537-1. $25. MEMOIR
Jamison (psychiatry, Johns Hopkins Univ. Sch. of Medicine) is the preeminent expert on bipolar disorder. While her elegant Night Falls Fast explored her own struggles managing the disease, this book conjures Joan Didion’s Year of Magical Thinking with its testaments of love to a beloved husband who died of cancer (Richard Wyatt, former chief of neuropsychiatry, National Inst. of Mental Health). A superb read guaranteed to appeal to those who have survived the loss of a spouse, with insights into differentiating depression from grief. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 5/1/09.]—L.M.
Janzen, Rhoda. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home. Holt. Oct. 2009. c.256p. ISBN 978-0-8050-8925-7. $22. MEMOIR
Forty was not fabulous to poet and professor Janzen (Babel's Stair). In the same week, she was dumped by her husband for Bob, the guy from Gay.com, and suffered an injury in a car accident. Our devastated author did the logical thing and headed back home to her parent's house and the conservative Mennonite community in which she was raised. This soulful, affecting first memoir renders a potentially off-putting subject—the Mennonite community in America—engrossing and will enchant anyone who has ever gone back home after suffering a setback. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/09.] Readalike: Sarah Thyre's Dark at the Roots.—E.B.
Jones, Kaylie. Lies My Mother Never Told Me. HarperCollins. Sept. 2009. c.384p. ISBN 978-0-06-177870-4. $25.99. MEMOIR
The daughter of From Here to Eternity author James Jones, Kaylie Jones rubbed shoulders as a child with Truman Capote and Norman Mailer. Here, she narrates her privileged childhood in Paris and the Hamptons, NY. A love of writing was passed down from her father and a love of alcohol from her charming but emotionally abusive mother. Kaylie's adult battle to hide her drinking from bosses, friends, and family will especially move readers with hauntingly dramatic details. Her neutraility regarding her parents' flaws makes this book stand out among child-of-celebrity memoirs. Readalike: Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking.—E.B.
Kenison, Katrina. The Gift of an Ordinary Day: A Mother's Memoir. Springboard: Grand Central. Sept. 2009. c.304p. ISBN 978-0-446-40948-3. $23.99. MEMOIR
In this uplifting narrative of midlife and mothering, former Best American Short Stories editor Kenison inspires those going through their own midlife upheavals to savor each moment of family life, the ordinary moments that can be so fulfilling if we are wholly present. In the wake of lost jobs, put-off dreams, changing relationships with her mate, and the trials of mothering teenage boys, Kenison manages to stay sane by doing just that. A lovely memoir, of special interest to women struggling with midlife issues. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/09.] Readalike: Catherine Goldhammer's Winging It: Dispatches from an (Almost) Empty Nest.—E.B.
Kidd, Sue Monk & Ann Kidd Taylor. Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story. Viking. Sept. 2009. c.304p. ISBN 978-0-67-002120-8. $25.95. MEMOIR
In alternating chapters, novelist Sue Monk Kidd (The Secret Life of Bees) and daughter Ann Kidd Taylor narrate their literal and spiritual journeys over a two-year period, traveling to Greece and Paris and back while Sue copes with impending menopause and Ann seeks her life calling. The New Agey tone, imbuing every event with “meaning,” will remind readers of Kidd’s earlier novels. Fans of The Secret Life of Bees will enjoy learning about the origins of the characters and symbols. Others will be put off by the overly ponderous writing style and the authors’ self-importance. Readalikes: Michael Quinn Patton’s Grand Canyon Celebration: A Father-Son Journey of Discovery and Jean Shinoda Bolen’s Crossing to Avalon: A Woman’s Midlife Pilgrimage. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/09.]—L.G.
King, Sorrel. Josie’s Story: A Mother’s Inspiring Crusade To Make Medical Care Safe. Atlantic Monthly. Sept. 2009. c.272p. ISBN 978-0-8021-1920-9. $24. MEMOIR
Debut writer King offers a heartbreaking tribute to her daughter whose life was cut short by an avoidable medical error. Josie, only 18 months old, was recovering from severe burns resulting from a freak accident when she was given a fatal overdose of morphine. King’s cautionary tale springs from her work as an ardent campaigner to eliminate medical malpractice; readers in the health-care field will recognize her from the Josie King Foundation. Readalike: Natalie Robins’s The Girl Who Died Twice: Every Patient’s Nightmare: The Libby Zion Case. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/09.]—L.M.
Koterba, Jeffrey. Inklings: A Memoir. Houghton. Nov. 2009. c.288p. illus. ISBN 978-0-15-101492-7. $25. MEMOIR
As a boy, debut memoirist Koterba yearned for order and peace in his childhood home that was cluttered with his father’s unfinished projects and hoarded keepsakes. Like his dad, the author suffered from “nervous habits,” as they referred to their Tourette’s syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder, not properly diagnosed until adulthood. Though Koterba was misunderstood and often mistreated as a child and young man, there are no cartoon villains in this sensitively rendered memoir, which recounts his long and difficult route to a successful career as a political cartoonist. Readalike: Mark Phillips’s My Father’s Cabin.—L.G.
McCullagh, Constance. Funny Peculiar. Brandon. Aug. 2009. c.239p. ISBN 978-0-86322-372-3. $22.95. MEMOIR
While numerous memoirs resurrect the devastation wrought by child sexual abuse, few are as life-affirming as this one by first-time writer McCullagh. Using Ireland during the Troubles of the 1970s as backdrop, the author tells the moving story of her father’s sexual abuse and her ability to rise above trauma to fashion a happy, satisfying life as a journalist and feminist activist. Such resilience is miraculous and rare. This story speaks for itself, with courage and love. Readalike: Ellen Bass’s I Never Told Anyone: Writings by Women Survivors of Sexual Abuse.—L.M.
Myerson, Julie. The Lost Child: A Mother's Story. Bloomsbury, dist. by Macmillan. Sept. 2009. c.336p. ISBN 978-1-59691-700-2. $26. MEMOIR
Novelist Myerson (Something Might Happen) made headlines in the UK with this memoir about two tragic young adults. The first is Mary Yelloly, whose 19th-century album of watercolors enchants Myerson, partly because the artist died at 21. Simultaneously, and more interestingly, Myerson recounts her son's addiction to skunk, a particularly potent version of marijuana, seesawing between tough love and familial embrace. At times, Mary's history is a welcome relief from the addiction thread, but these passages often feel jarringly quaint and irrelevant. The final scene reads like an ill-advised attempt to bring a tidy end to an untidy situation. A mixed bag that might appeal to literary-minded parents navigating a child's drug problems.—Amelia Brunskill, Liaison Librarian for the Sciences, Dickinson Coll., Carlisle, PA
Niven, Jennifer. The Aqua Net Diaries: Big Hair, Big Dreams, Small Town. Simon Spotlight Entertainment: S. & S. Sept. 2009. c.256p. ISBN 978-1-4169-5429-3. $24. MEMOIR
Richmond, IN, was a small town in America’s heartland where people went to church on Sundays, Main Street was closed for the Pork Festival, and most of the girls attended cheerleading camp every summer. It was here in the 1980s that first-time memoirist Niven, known for The Ice Master, went to high school. Here, she shares in glorious detail awkward moments from driver's ed and of bringing dates home to meet her father. The result evokes a touching blend of humor, pain, and joy. Highly recommended for survivors of small-town angst and those who remember the early days of MTV. Readalike: Chuck Klosterman's Fargo Rock City.—E.B.
Parker, Charlotte & Virginia Parker. Return to Joy: A Family’s Initiation into the Mysteries of Dementia. S. & S. Sept. 2009. c.256p. ISBN 978-1-4165-9906-7. $25. MEMOIR
While this short memoir deals with the significant and timely subject of dementia, it reads like a vanity publication. In alternating chapters, the Parker sisters provide their respective views on their mother’s precipitous decline into dementia. With loving detail, they relate the particulars of caring for their dependent mother. The book takes on a schizoid quality when it moves from memoir to manual on the phases of dementia. Return to Joy doesn’t know what it wants to be, and the authors’ amateur speculation into the causes of dementia lacks credibility. Not recommended.—L.M.
Plante, David. The Pure Lover: A Memoir of Grief. Beacon, dist. by Houghton. Sept. 2009. c.128p. ISBN 978-0-8070-7298-1. $23. MEMOIR
Novelist Plante (The Family) offers an elegant biography of his late, longtime partner, Nikos Stangos, spanning Stangos's childhood in Nazi-occupied Greece to the clinic where he received the news he had brain cancer. The intimate tone and details clearly indicate a loving relationship, but the prose alternates between leaving readers a bit cold and put upon by the excess of emotion expressed. The somewhat disconnected nature of the anecdotes also lead to confusion of the "where and when are we now?" variety. Still, a moving ode to a lost lover, which will certainly echo with people who've suffered the same loss. Readalike: Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking.—E.B.
Rubenstein, Carolyn. Perseverance: True Voices of Cancer Survivors. Forge: Tor. Aug. 2009. c.384p. ISBN 978-0-7653-1778-0. $24.95. MEMOIR
Founder of Carolyn’s Compassionate Children, Rubenstein is a tireless advocate for juvenile cancer survivors. Her first book features the inspiring stories of 20 college-aged cancer survivors. The book’s subtitle says it all—these are young people who transformed fear into hope, and they want to help others achieve as much. Their stories fill an important niche, reminding readers that life beyond cancer offers its own set of challenges—and triumphs. Readalike: Nancy Keene and others’ Childhood Cancer Survivors: A Practical Guide to Your Future.—L.M.
Ryan, Joan. The Water Giver: The Story of a Mother, a Son, and Their Second Chance. S. & S. Sept. 2009. c.256p. ISBN 978-1-4165-7652-5. $24. MEMOIR
An acclaimed sports columnist for the San Francisco Examiner and San Francisco Chronicle, Ryan led a peaceful life that was shattered when her 16-year-old son fell off a skateboard. This medical ordeal put the author in unknown emotional territory but also gave her a second chance to be the mother she wanted to be the first time around. The wrenching impact of the story owes everything to her journalist’s eye for detail and her fierce love for her child. Parents who have seen their child through a serious illness or injury will appreciate.—E.B.
Sher, Abby. Amen, Amen, Amen: Memoir of a Girl Who Couldn't Stop Praying (Among Other Things). Scribner. Oct. 2009. c.320p. ISBN 978-1-4165-8945-7. $25. MEMOIR
The deaths of a beloved aunt and her adored father drove first-time memoirist Sher to search for safety and control through obsessive-compulsive prayer. Avoiding self-pity and shame, she reflects with humor on her struggles to control her OCD as it worsened through the years. Readers will not only come to trust the author but even identify with her fear, insecurities, and self-destructive relationships. Sher's honest, well-crafted reflections will fascinate memoir readers and those who gravitate toward literary fiction. To boot, there's a happy ending. Readalikes: Susanna Kasen's Girl, Interrupted and Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar.—Dora Wagner, Northwestern Coll. Lib., Roseville, MN
Taylor, Mark C. Field Notes from Elsewhere: Reflections on Dying and Living. Columbia Univ. Oct. 2009. c.288p. photogs. ISBN 978-0-231-14780-4. $26.95. MEMOIR
When controversial public intellectual Taylor experienced two life-threatening medical crises one after the other, he decided to write this memoir, which combines metaphysical and philosophical treatise with a more secular narrative of his recovery. The 52 chapters describe a day of physical convalescence combined with the thoughts he had at the same time. Taylor recounts very well the helplessness of being a patient; the degree to which the patient is so utterly dependent on a medical world he has such a limited understanding of. Nevertheless, Taylor is never able to connect fluently the more otherworldly sections to the very real and very human processes of suffering and recovery. A valiant effort for fans of the author.—E.B.
Tucker, Michael. Family Meals: Coming Together to Care for an Aging Parent. Atlantic Monthly. Nov. 2009. c.256p. ISBN 978-0-8021-1921-6. $24. MEMOIR
Veteran actor Michael Tucker and wife Jill Eikenberry (both veterans of L.A. Law) had been living a romantic Year in Provence–like retirement in the Italian countryside when Jill’s mother’s husband, Ralph, passed away, which required them to travel to California to console Jill’s mother, Lora. After Ralph’s death. Lora suffered from dementia, and Jill and Michael had to make numerous sacrifices to ensure she had a stable life. This lovely, often humorous memoir is about caring for an aging parent, the joys and challenges of family, and coming together as a unit to help one another. Readalike: Kathy J. Phillips's The Moon in the Water: Reflections on An Aging Parent.—E.B.
Vilar, Irene. Impossible Motherhood: Testimony of an Abortion Addict. Other. Oct. 2009. c.256p. ISBN 978-1-59051-320-0. pap. $15.95. MEMOIR
Vilar moved from Puerto Rico to the United States to attend Syracuse University, where she met a Latin American studies professor several decades her senior who soon became the most important romantic entanglement of her life. Her latest memoir expands on her earlier A Message from God in the Atomic Age, chronicling a series of suicide attempts, botched pregnancies, and a crippling addiction to a toxic relationship. Vilar’s elegant prose is honest and vulnerable, allowing readers a detailed glimpse into the psyche of someone whose body was ravaged and colonized much like her beloved Puerto Rico. With a foreword by noted feminist Robin Morgan, this book is sure to provoke polarizing responses. Readalike: Susan Wicklund's This Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor.—Jessica Roy, Library Journal
Welch, Liz & others. The Kids Are All Right: A Memoir. Harmony: Crown. Oct. 2009. c.352p. ISBN 978-0-307-39604-4. $24.99. MEMOIR
When the loss of their charming, take-charge father in 1983 plunged the Welch family into debt, their flighty actress mom had trouble coping, and the four children—Amanda, Liz, Dan, and Diana—were separated after she died from breast cancer without making clear provisions for their care. In this collaborative memoir, the orphaned siblings take turns describing the dissolution of their once-happy family in clear, matter-of-fact prose; these shifting viewpoints illustrate the vagaries of memory. That the Welches are ultimately triumphant is a testament to the strong bonds of love and family. An exhilarating and uplifting, but never sappy, family saga. Readalike: Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein’s Identical Strangers.—L.G.
Weston, Gabriel. Direct Red: A Surgeon’s View of Her Life or Death Profession. Collins: HarperCollins. Aug. 2009. c.224p. ISBN 978-0-06-172540-1. $22.95. MEMOIR
Readers curious about the training and professional development of surgeons will revel in this intriguing memoir. A member of Britain’s Royal College of Surgeons, first-time writer Weston candidly reveals her early missteps and the lessons she extracted from them. This former literature student writes beautifully, displaying an Annie Dillard–like talent for observing details and unraveling their larger implications. Readalike: Atul Gawande’s Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance and Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science. See also Julie Holland’s Weekends at Bellevue, above.—L.M.
Fall 2009 Memoir Addendum by Jessica Roy
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Anthony, Michael SPC. Mass Casualties: A Young Medic’s True Story of Death, Deception, and Dishonor in Iraq. Adams Media. Oct. 2009. 256p. ISBN 978-1-4405-0183-8. $22.95. MEMOIR
Born into a family with military history, Anthony wrangled his parents’ approval to enlist at just 17. Mass Casualties tells the story of Anthony’s experiences in a medic unit and the atrocities of war—and government—he witnessed in Iraq.
Bing, Leon. Swans and Pistols: Modeling, Motherhood, and Making It in the Me Generation. Bloomsbury. Nov. 2009. 256p. ISBN 978-1-59691-481-0. $25. MEMOIR
From the mind of a fashionista and author of Do or Die, a portrait of life with gangs, comes a memoir chronicling the fierce and fascinating life of former model Bing Leon.
Boyle, Brian & Bill Katovsky. Iron Heart: The True Story of How I Came Back from the Dead. Skyhorse. Oct. 2009. 256p. ISBN 978-1-60239-771-2. $24.95. MEMOIR
At 18, swimmer Boyle was the victim of a car crash that left him comatose for two months. This memoir depicts his struggle to relearn everything from walking to swimming to living again after such a tragedy.
Carr, Simon. The Boys Are Back. Vintage: Random. Sept. 2009. 240p. pap. ISBN 978-0-307-47627-2. pap. $13. MEMOIR
A writer and columnist for the Independent, Carr tells the story of attempting to raise his two sons alone after his first wife divorced him and his second passed away.
Connelly, Kevin Michael. Double Take. HaperStudio. Oct. 2009. 224p. ISBN 978-0-06-179153-6. $24.99. MEMOIR
Born without legs, Connelly triumphed to become a competitive skier at the X Games. This memoir explores his life and what it means to see yourself and those around you truly.
Cook, Lisa Fineberg. Japan Took the J.A.P. Out of Me: The True Story of a Domesticated Princess. Downtown Pr. Oct. 2009. 304p. pap. ISBN 978-1-4391-1003-4 . pap. $15. MEMOIR
After her new husband lands a job in Japan, Cook must leave behind her pampered L.A. life and adjust to the culture shock of a foreign country.
Crimmins, Cathy. A Mother’s Nightmare. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin’s. Aug. 2009. 192p. ISBN 978-0-312-35781-8. $23.95. MEMOIR
Here, the titular "nightmare" refers to Cathy’s daughter Kelly, who is suddenly diagnosed with a potentially fatal autoimmune disease that keeps the two in and out of hospitals, struggling to stave off fear and maintain hope for Kelly’s recovery.
Dickerson, David Ellis. House of Cards: Love, Faith, and Other Social Expressions. Riverhead. Oct. 2009. 384p. ISBN 978-1-59448-881-8. $24.95. MEMOIR
Writer and This American Life contributor Dickerson found himself an engaged fundamentalist Christian at age 26 with a highly coveted position as a greeting card writer at Hallmark. But when his beliefs begin to crumble beneath him, he must learn what it is he truly wants from life.
Forman, Vicki. This Lonely Life: A Memoir of Premature Motherhood. Mariner: Houghton. 2009. 272p. pap. ISBN 978-0-547-23275-1. pap. $13.95. MEMOIR
After giving birth to twins at just 23 weeks, Forman must face the harrowing journey of a mother struggling with the death of one child and the rearing of a son with multiple disabilities.
Franklin, Karen and Lauren King. Addicted Like Me: A Mother-Daughter Story of Substance Abuse and Recovery. Seal Pr. Sept. 2009. 280p. pap. ISBN 978-1-58005-286-3. pap. $16.95. MEMOIR
Franklin and her daughter King detail their struggles with alcohol and drug addiction. In addition, there is insight based on personal experience concerning how to cope with substance abuse.
Ferguson, Craig. American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot. HarperCollins. Sept. 2009. 288p. ISBN 978-0-06-171954-7. $25.99. MEMOIR
The Late Late Show host Ferguson’s memoir details his journey from the streets of Glasgow to American comedy royalty.
Hall, Freeman. Retail Hell: How I Sold My Soul to the Store. Adams Media. Sept. 2009. 272p. ISBN 978-1-60550-102-4. $22.95. MEMOIR
A side-splitting account of the behind-the-counter adventures of a man working the handbag department at a fancy retailer.
Himmel, Sheila & Lisa Himmel. Hungry: A Mother and Daughter Fight Anorexia. Berkley. Aug. 2009. 304p. pap. ISBN 978-0-425-22790-9. pap. $15. MEMOIR
While Sheila Himmel rejoiced in her love of the culinary by becoming a food critic, her daughter Lisa began to develop a harrowing and obsessive relationship with food that eventually led to anorexia. This memoir recounts the story of the mother-daughter journey of healing.
Hoffman, Regan. I Have Something To Tell You. Atria: S. & S. Sept. 2009. 224p. ISBN 978-1-4165-9859-6. $23. MEMOIR
Straight, affluent, and Ivy League–educated Hoffman contracted HIV and kept the secret from her friends and family for ten years. Here, she depicts this struggle and shows how she went from silent patient to prominent AIDS activist.
Howard-Taylor, Lucy. Biting Anorexia: A Firsthand Account of an Internal War. New Harbinger. Sept. 2009. 208p. pap. ISBN 978-1-57224-702-4. pap. $16.95. MEMOIR
Stripped from the pages of Howard-Taylor's personal diary, this offers a glimpse into the brain of someone struggling to go from the depths of an eating disorder to recovery.
Kogan, Deborah Copaken. Hell Is Other Parents: And Other Tales of Maternal Combustion. Voice: Hyperion. Aug. 2009. 224p. ISBN 978-1-4013-4081-0. $23.99. MEMOIR
Ex-photojournalist Kogan (Shutterbabe) examines the difficulties of rearing children in the intense and hypercompetitive bubble of Manhattan. These essays will speak to any parent attempting to raise children in the new millennium.
Lahutsky, John & Alan Philps. The Boy from Baby House 10: From the Nightmare of a Russian Orphanage to a New Life in America. St. Martin’s. Oct. 2009. 320p. ISBN 978-0-312-57697-4. $24.99. MEMOIR
Born with cerebral palsy to an alcoholic mother who abandoned him at just 18 months old, Lahutsky tells the redemptive narrative of his formative years in an orphanage and how he adjusted to being adopted to an American mother at age nine.
Maloney, Beth Alison. Saving Sammy: Curing the Boy Who Caught OCD. Crown. Sept. 2009. 272p. ISBN 978-0-307-46183-4. $23.99. MEMOIR
This moving memoir begins with a question: Can you catch mental illness? After her son is diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette's syndrome, Maloney must struggle with doctors and her community to find the true source of her son’s ailments.
Page, Tim. Parallel Play: Life as an Outsider. Doubleday. Sept. 2009. 208p. ISBN 978-0-385-52562-6. $27. MEMOIR
Former Washington Post classical music critic tells the story of his struggles with Asperger’s syndrome and how he tackled it to become a well-adjusted adult.
Pitts, Byron. Step Out on Nothing: How Family and Faith Helped Me Conquer Life’s Challenges. St. Martin’s. Oct. 2009. 320p. ISBN 978-0-312-57766-7. $24.99. MEMOIR
CBS News correspondent Pitts battled learning disabilities before becoming an award-winning broadcast journalist and writing this inspirational memoir detailing his journey.
Pogrebin, Abigail. One and the Same: My Life as an Identical Twin and What I've Learned About Everyone's Struggle To Be Singular. Doubleday. Oct. 2009. 288p. ISBN 978-0-385-52156-7. $26. MEMOIR
In this part scientific investigation and part personal rumination, Pogrebin examines the intimate connection of twinship and what it means to be and individual.
Rappaport, Nancy. In Her Wake. Basic Bks. Sept. 2009. 272p. ISBN 978-0-465-01450-7. $25.95. MEMOIR
As a child, Rappaport’s mother committed suicide, leaving her to cope with intense loss. Years later, Rappaport becomes a child psychiatrist and revisits the nature of her mother’s death in this memoir of family tragedy and doctor-patient relationships.
Renn, Crystal & Marjorie Ingall. Hungry: A Young Model's Story of Appetite, Ambition and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves. S. & S. Sept. 2009. 256p. ISBN 978-1-4391-0123-0. $25. MEMOIR
After complying with the wishes of her modeling agency to drop to a size 00, Renn realizes how miserable she is and instead opts to eat whatever she wants. Now a size 14, Renn tells the story of how she became the world's leading plus-size model.
Townsend, Catherine. Sleeping Around: True Sexploits of an American Girl in London. Sourcebooks. Sept. 2009. 288p. pap. ISBN 978-1-4022-2282-5. pap. $14.99. MEMOIR
Townsend details her adventures as an expat in London searching for her soul mate through a slew of one night stands.
Trenka, Jane Jeong. Fugitive Visions. Graywolf Pr. 2009. 192p. pap. ISBN 978-1-55597-529-6. pap. $16. MEMOIR
In a memoir capturing the painful quest for personal identity, Trenka explores the difficulties of returning to her native home of Korea after being adopted and raised in rural Minnesota.
Wallace, Douglas. Everything Will Be Alright. Greenleaf. Oct. 2009. 264p. ISBN 978-1-60832-004-2. $21.95. MEMOIR
Wallace has written a half social science study, half painful rehashing of childhood memories. His story touches on class wars and socioeconomic divisions through the lens of his tragic, impoverished upbringing.
Young, Audrey. The House of Hope and Fear: Life in a Big City Hospital. Sasquatch Bks. Aug. 2009. 256p. ISBN 978-1-57061-511-5. $23.95. MEMOIR
Chronicling Young’s experience as a doctor at the busiest public hospital in Seattle, this poignant memoir explores the difficulties of the medical profession and the troubles that ensue when the hospital is forced to turn down many new patients.
