Why people recommend it
Giving Up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel is a poignant memoir that reflects on the author's childhood, health struggles, and the formative experiences that shaped her literary imagination. On The Book Review podcast, John Williams discussed reading the memoir, noting that the acclaimed novelist wrote her life story with the same literary flair found in her fiction. In a separate episode of The Book Review, Parl Seelig mentioned the book to illustrate a specific structural approach to life writing, pointing out that unlike traditional autobiographies that cover a life from birth to the present, this memoir focuses narrowly on specific themes rather than offering a soup-to-nuts account. A guest on another segment of The Book Review echoed this observation, using the same memoir as a prime example of a focused life narrative. Across these discussions on The Book Review, the contributors highlighted the distinctive voice and artistic integrity that the author brought to the genre of life writing, praising the book for its elegant prose and unconventional narrative framework.
Who recommended it
- John Williams Discussed
- Parl Seelig Discussed
John Williams — 1 mention
“and now I'm about 50 or 60 pages into a memoir called giving up the ghost by the novelist Hillary mantel which is unsurprisingly written a lot like a novel”
Parl Seelig — 1 mention
“like hillary manel's giving up the ghost for example is not a Soup To Nuts all about me”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker — 1
“like Hillary mantel's giving up the ghost for example is not a Soup To Nuts”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“while I was there I read Hillary manal's Memoir giving up the ghost”