Memoir Short Takes: Lost Sense, Self-Destruction, and the College Admissions Process

This month brought another selection of intriguing reads to my couch, but if pressed for a take-this-on-your-upcoming-jaunt-with-limited-luggage recommendation, I'd have to choose Birnbaum's memoir on anosmia. It's packed with information and is a great read to boot—I was smitten, and I've blathered on to lots of people about this book. People who haven't asked. I think that about sums it up.

Birnbaum, Molly. Season To Taste: How I Lost My Sense of Smell and Found My Way. Ecco. Jul 2011. 320p. ISBN 9780061915314. $24.99. MEMOIR
Birnbaum took a position in the kitchen of a Boston bistro to train under a well-known chef, working all hours to learn as much as she could about the scents, textures, colors, and flavors of food. Then a car accident fractured her skull, erasing her sense of smell. Her quest for information about anosmia and journey toward recuperation make for a bumpy road; returning to her cooking career seems hopeless, since taste and smell are so inextricably linked. Birnbaum's fascinating exploration delves deep into the causes and treatments of anosmia.
What I'm Telling My Friends: Before the second chapter, I was already blabbing excitedly about this, fretting, "What is she going to do?" Birnbaum's descriptions of cooking are so vivid, her passion for flavors so evident, that her loss is compounded dramatically.

Brown, James. This River: A Memoir. Counterpoint. 2011. 224p. ISBN 9781582437217. $14.95. MEMOIR
This follow-up to his first memoir, The Los Angeles Diaries, highlights Brown's literary prowess even in the midst of anguish and addiction. While the ground of sobriety constantly threatens to shift beneath him, he details his inner life: the daily reminders of two siblings' suicides, his father's death, his ex-wife's recent death and his memories of their turbulent relationship, and his difficulty navigating his newer relationship with his second wife. Brown struggles to become a better father and husband, to make it, with his family's help, to a place of hopeful determination.
What I'm Telling My Friends: This is dark, but also loving and literary. It reads like a series of short stories that can be studied and mulled over at length, and packs a wallop.

Ferguson, Andrew. Crazy U: One Dad's Crash Course in Getting His Kid into College. S&S. 2011. 240p. ISBN 9781439101216. $25. MEMOIR
Ferguson, senior editor of the Weekly Standard and columnist for Bloomberg News, tackles the college admissions process, and his revelations about changes in the business of admissions are at once humorous and appalling (e.g., "independent college admissions counselors" are charging staggering fees to act as coaches). Hyperbole, hysteria, and hypocrisy run rampant, and there is no shortage of conflicting information (test scores mean everything; test scores aren't important, it's the essays that are crucial; the essays aren't that critical-GPA and extracurricular activities highlight the true person). Ferguson handles the adventure as best he can, both as a father and a journalist. A delightfully distressing read.
What I'm Telling My Friends: This stuff is insane, absolutely insane.* Ferguson deftly illustrates the evolution of American higher education in our increasingly consumer-driven culture.
*Disclosure: I work at a private liberal arts college.

Forrest, Emma. Your Voice in My Head. Other. May 2011. 240p. ISBN 9781590514467. $22.95. MEMOIR
At 22, Emma Forrest had moved to New York from London, was writing for the Guardian, was on the verge of publishing her first novel, and began mentally coming apart. She found a savior in her longtime psychiatrist Dr. R., returning to his care following a failed suicide attempt. Readers follow Forrest through heartache and triumph, through the ravages of mania and self-destruction. The witty and self-aware Forrest has assembled a story with a touchingly flawed, human voice.
What I'm Telling My Friends: I will be highly annoyed if this is marketed as "the Colin Farrell story." Yes, the movie star's break-up with Forrest is an element of the story. But his is not the Voice of the title. The woman can write, and this is the story of her pain.

This article originally appeared in the newsletter BookSmack! Click here to subscribe.