Short Takes: Winter and Spring 2010 Memoirs

Featuring Books by Elizabeth Gilbert, Roger Rosenblatt, & Vesna Maric

By Lynne Maxwell, Elizabeth Brinkley, & Lauren Gilbert -- Library Journal, 11/5/2009 6:10:00 AM

Just when you thought there was a memoir drought, along comes another installment in our Short Takes series by Lynne Maxwell, Elizabeth Brinkley, and Lauren Gilbert. This crop of 14 features the usual themes—especially recovery from drugs and alcohol—but also fresh takes on the family unit (Roger Rosenblatt's Making Toast) and marriage (Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love follow-up, Committed).

Note, librarians, that publishers are putting a fair amount of push behind memoirs for winter and spring 2010. At the Librarians' Spring 2010 Sneak Preview held recently by the Association of American Publishers Trade Libraries Committee in New York (search on Twitter via #aapbuzz), Nick Flynn's The Ticking Is the Bomb (January, Norton), Robyn Okrant's Living Oprah (January, Center Street), and Angela Miller's Hay Fever (Wiley, April) got touted along with literary and genre fiction.

And without further ado, the reviews. Don't miss the addendum.—Heather McCormack

Broderick, Colin. Orangutan: A Memoir. Three Rivers: Crown. Dec. 2009. c.352p. ISBN 978-0-307-45340-2. pap. $14. MEMOIR
Broderick, an op-ed contributor to the New York Times and a writer for the Irish Voice, offers a first memoir about addiction and redemption, but, oddly, it’s not unduly depressing. As a young Irish immigrant in America, he had a way with drink and language. It takes a harrowing passage through addiction, however, for him to discover and practice his true talent—writing. Readers who appreciate the gritty style of Charles Bukowski or are fans of Augusten Burroughs’s Dry will find this work enveloping.—L.M.

Febos, Melissa. Whip Smart: A Memoir. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin's. Mar. 2010. c.256p. ISBN 978-0-312-56102-4. $24.99. MEMOIR
Writing teacher Febos (SUNY Purchase) recounts in excruciating detail her student years working to support herself as a dominatrix in a New York City sex club. Perhaps a better editor might have made this tale more readable, excising cringe-inducing attempts at poetic description of mood and setting, as well as verbatim accounts of sessions with her therapist. On the plus side, readers will be rewarded with fascinating details about the hidden world of the dominatrix, including possibly more than they ever wanted to know about administering enemas to men in diapers.—L.G.

Gilbert, Elizabeth. Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage. Viking. Jan. 2010. c.304p. ISBN 978-0-670-02165-9. $26.95. MEMOIR
After her Brazilian boyfriend is denied re-entry at a border crossing, Gilbert must marry him if they want to continue living together in the United States. Despite her insistence in Eat, Pray, Love never to remarry, Gilbert comes to terms with the institution after several months of enforced exile abroad with her boyfriend. This well-researched, thought-provoking investigation into marriage in the Western world, interspersed with her own personal journey to the altar, is highly recommended for anyone considering tying the knot. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/09.]—L.G.

Haslam, Nicholas. Redeeming Features: A Memoir. Knopf. Nov. 2009. c.352p. photogs. ISBN 978-0-307-27167-9. $30. MEMOIR
Interior designer and international playboy Haslam is an excessive name-dropper, and it seems that he has known anybody who was anybody in society, fashion, music, art, theater, and Hollywood over a long life well lived. Beginning with his childhood on an English estate, followed by boarding school and then adventures in London, New York, Los Angeles, and beyond, this fey, chatty memoir consists almost entirely of detailed descriptions of appearances—what they wore, how they looked, how the rooms were furnished. This style may have worked in Haslam’s gossip columns but is unsustainable for 300 pages.—L.G.

Klausner, Julie. I Don't Care About Your Band: Lessons Learned from Romantic Disappointments. Gotham: Penguin Group (USA). Jan. 2010. c.256p. ISBN 978-1-592-40524-4. $25. MEMOIR
Growing up pampered in an upscale New York suburb while emulating her idol, Miss Piggy, Klausner engages in frequent phone sex with strangers by the age of 14 and describes the experience of giving her first blow job with the words "I. Was. Home." The bulk of this memoir is made up of occasionally repetitive accounts of the various ill-fated romantic entanglements of her teens and twenties. Comedienne Klausner can be hilarious at times, and her rants (against vegans, for one) and her skewering of commitment-phobic child-men are merciless.—L.G.

Maric, Vesna. Bluebird: A Memoir. Soft Skull. Nov. 2009. c.224p. ISBN 978-1-59376-258-2. pap. $14.95. MEMOIR
A native of Bosnia, Maric was 16 when the Bosnian civil war broke out and she immigrated to England. Her particular gift is in letting readers know without self-pity or palpable fear how it feels to have one's way of life and very existence threatened in precise, straightforward prose. The gradual loss of her Bosnian roots as she moves farther away from her hometown occurs as she acquires more and more of the English language. This makes the success of Maric's intensely moving memoir a costly one, and all the more appreciated by readers for its price. Highly recommended for anyone interested in immigration literature or the Bosnian civil war.—E.B.

O'Connor, Rebecca K. Lift: A Memoir. Red Hen. Nov. 2009. ISBN 978-1-59709-460-3. $18.95. MEMOIR
O'Connor worked her way up the ranks from apprentice to master falconer by being both an avid learner and a passionate birder. Nothing prepared her, however, for Anakin, her peregrine falcon, considered the prize hunting animal of the sport. Dismissive of many of the older, crueler ways falconers have used to tame their raptors for centuries, she approaches hers as an equal. Recommended for anyone interested in bird hunting or wildlife, this fascinating memoir makes the occasional misstep when it strays too far from the subject of falconry, but O'Connor's love of the hawks infuses the story with an addictive, violent intensity.—E.B.

Peterson, Brenda. I Want To Be Left Behind: Finding Rapture Here on Earth. Merloyd Lawrence: Da Capo. Feb. 2010. c.288p. ISBN 978-0-306-81804-2. $25. MEMOIR
Unlike other escape-from-fundamentalism memoirists, Peterson expresses genuine love for her family and gratitude for their gifts. This tender, lyrical account of turning away from her religious roots starts with the painful realization that there is no place in a fundamentalist heaven for her beloved animals and the growing sense that her love of the natural world is antithetical to those eagerly anticipating the Rapture. Charting her evolution into an environmental writer of fiction and nonfiction, Peterson always seeks common ground, eschewing fundamentalism of all kinds, whether religious or environmental.—L.G.

Putnam, Ann. Full Moon and Noontide: A Daughter's Last Goodbye. Southern Methodist Univ. (Medical Humanities). Nov. 2009. c.288p. ISBN 978-0-87074-555-3. $22.50. MEMOIR
Hemingway scholar Putnam (creative writing & gender studies, Univ. of Puget Sound) offers a poignant, elegant account of the decline and demise of her parents and uncle. Putnam confronts brutal reality as her parents, particularly her beloved father, fail rapidly, and there is no remedy, save for placing them in a reputable retirement community. Painful as this is, however, she also contrives to celebrate their lives by recounting anecdotes from happier times. Readers who were moved by Joan Didion’s Year of Magical Thinking will find this memoir equally touching.—L.M.

Rosenblatt, Roger. Making Toast: A Family Story. Ecco: HarperCollins. Feb. 2010. c.176p. ISBN 978-0-06-182593-4. $21.99. MEMOIR
When Roger and Ginny Rosenblatt's daughter, Amy, dies suddenly from a rare heart condition, the grandparents move in with their son-in-law to help take care of Jessica, Sammy, and James. Rosenblatt records the everyday details of this newly formed family and starts a new tradition called "Word of the Morning." Indeed, words in this world of "after" are a key theme: those that are spoken and unspoken, those that shouldn't have been uttered, and those that need to be all help the family through their grief. Without it ever needing to be mentioned, readers understand how fiercely Rosenblatt loved Amy. A moving tribute and an original, important contribution to grief literature. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/09.]—E.B.

Tracy, Lisa. Objects of Our Affection: Uncovering My Family's Past, One Chair, Pistol, and Pickle Fork at a Time. Bantam. Apr. 2010. c.250p. photogs. ISBN 978-0-553-80726-4. $25. MEMOIR
After their parents are gone, Tracy, an editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer, and her sister, Jeanne, inherit a slew of historically and personally significant antiques, china, and bric-a-brac. These beautiful pieces have been collecting nicks, dust, and mouse nibbles as they've traveled over the years from one expensive storage unit to an even more expensive storage unit. The solution leaves the sisters both pained and unburdened, rich in new knowledge about the history of the family. A delectable memoir that will appeal to the estimated one in ten of us who rent storage units in America—and to the many more who simply hang on too long to too many things.—E.B.

Walker, Jerald. Street Shadows: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion, and Redemption. Bantam. Feb. 2010. c.256p. ISBN 978-0-553-80755-4. $25. MEMOIR
Like Broderick (see above), English professor Walker (Bridgewater State Coll.) defeated addiction and despair, exchanging them for literary prowess and the writer’s life. The child of a rough Chicago African American neighborhood rife with pressures to go astray, he succumbed to drugs and drink before taking a community college English class. His teacher immediately recognized and promoted his talent, getting him into the University of Iowa's prestigious Writers’ Workshop. Excellent for fans of John Edgar Wideman's work.—L.M.

Weiland, Mary Forsberg with Larkin Warren. Fall to Pieces: A Memoir of Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll, and Mental Illness. Morrow. Dec. 2009. c.304p. photogs. ISBN 978-0-06-171915-8. $25.99. MEMOIR
First-time memoirist Weiland survived a turbulent, impoverished childhood to become an internationally successful model. Drugs and rock ’n’ roll took over her life when she fell in love with Scott Weiland, lead singer of the band Stone Temple Pilots (and a notorious heroin junkie himself at one time). As Mary succumbs to addiction, her bipolarity flares, compelling her to seek treatment. Fortunately, her story has a happy, inspiring ending. For readers of life-in-the-fast-lane memoirs like Carrie Fisher’s Wishful Drinking.—L.M.

Zulu, Princess Kasune with Belinda Collins. Warrior Princess: Fighting for Life with Courage and Hope. InterVarsity. Jan. 2010. c.240p. ISBN 978-0-8308-3725-0. $22. MEMOIR
In 1998, Zulu was diagnosed as HIV-positive and told she would die in six months. (She had already been orphaned by AIDS when her mother and father succumbed to the then-mysterious illness sweeping Africa while she was in her teens.) In her debut memoir, she recounts how on the day of her diagnosis she decided to become an AIDS advocate and educator, a position that took her to the United Nations and the White House. An important story well told, Zulu's memoir depicts an optimistic woman who triumphs over nearly impossible odds to improve her own life and the lives of others.—E.B.

Addendum

• Braestrup, Kate. Marriage and Other Acts of Charity. Regan Arthur: Little, Brown. Jan. 2010. c.224p. ISBN 978-0-316-03191-2. $24.99.
• Burden, Wendy. Dead End Gene Pool. Gotham: Penguin Group (USA). Apr. 2010. c.272p. ISBN 978-1-592-40526-8. $26.
• Caldwell, Gail. Let's Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship. Random. Feb. 2010. c.208p. ISBN 978-1-4000-6738-1. $24.
• Davenport, Randi. The Boy Who Loved Tornadoes: A Mother's Story. Algonquin. Mar. 2010. c.384p. ISBN 978-1-56512-611-4. $23.95.
• David, Matthew. When Things Get Dark: A Mongolian Winter's Tale. St. Martin's. Feb. 2010. c.288p. ISBN 978-0-312-60773-9. $25.99.
• Finn, Maria. Hold Me Tight and Tango Me Home. Algonquin. Feb. 2010. c.240p. ISBN 978-1-56512-517-9. pap. $13.95.
• Flynn, Nick. The Ticking Is the Bomb. Norton. Jan. 2010. c.240p. ISBN 978-0-393-06816-0. $24.95.
• Gurwitch, Annabelle & Jeff Kahn. You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up: A Love Story. Crown. Feb. 2010. c.288p. ISBN 978-0-307-46377-7. $24.
• Hustvedt, Siri. The Shaking Woman: Or, a History of My Nerves. Holt. Mar. 2010. c.224p. ISBN 978-0-8050-9169-4. $23.
• Jones, Malcolm. Little Boy Blues. Pantheon: Random. Jan. 2010. c.240p. ISBN 978-0-307-37772-2. $24.
• Millet, Catherine. Jealousy: The Other Life of Catherine M. Grove. Feb. 2010. c.192p. ISBN 978-0-8021-1915-5. $23.
• Mulgrew, Jason. Everything Is Wrong with Me: A Memoir of an American Childhood Gone, Well, Wrong. HarperPerennial: HarperCollins. Mar. 2010. c.240p. ISBN 978-0-06-176665-7. pap. $13.99.
• O'Hara, Kevin. A Lucky Irish Lad. Forge. Feb. 2010. c.384p. ISBN 978-0-7653-1803-9. $24.99.
• Okrant, Robyn. Living Oprah: My One-Year Experiment To Walk the Walk of the Queen of Talk. Center St: Hachette. Jan. 2010. c.288p. ISBN 978-1-59995-239-0. $24.99.
• Rubin, Gretchen. The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun. Harper: HarperCollins. Jan. 2010. c.320p. ISBN 978-0-06-158325-4. $25.99.
• Scottoline, Lisa. Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog. St. Martin's. Dec. 2009. c.304p. ISBN 978-0-312-58748-2. $21.99.
• White, Emily. Lonely. Harper: HarperCollins. Mar. 2010. c.352p. ISBN 978-0-06-176509-4. $25.99.