Episode · The Book Review · 2019-07-05
Books mentioned on Picking the Best Memoirs Since 1969
Parul Sehgal discussed Giving Up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel, A Childhood by Harry Crews and others, Dancing with Cuba by Alma Guillermoprieto, and Fierce attachments by Vivian Gornick. Dwight Garner discussed Stop-time by Frank Conroy, With the Old Breed by E. B. Sledge, Hold still by Sally Mann, Travels with Lizbeth by Lars Eighner, Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala, Growing up by Russell Baker, Open by Andre Agassi, The Tender Bar by J. R. Moehringer, Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood, Minor characters by Joyce Johnson, Self-consciousness by John Updike, On Fire by Larry Brown, and Experience by Martin Amis. John Williams discussed The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, The Liars' Club by Mary Karr, The Kiss by Kathryn Harrison, Negroland by Margo Jefferson, Unreliable memoirs by Clive James, and Hitch-22 by Christopher Hitchens. Jennifer Szalai discussed Lives Other Than My Own by Emmanuel Carrère and Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan. Pamela Paul recommended The Guarded Gate by Daniel Okrent, and discussed Persepolis 1-4 by Marjane Satrapi and Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy. Gilbert Cruz discussed Just Kids by Patti Smith. Also mentioned: Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward, Fun, Patrimony by Philip Roth, and Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Giving Up the Ghost
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.
Discussed“like hillary manel's giving up the ghost for example is not a Soup To Nuts all about me”
Where to get it
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A Childhood
Discussed“yeah one of my favorite books on here which is a childhood by Harry Cruz I think only covers maybe the first five or six years of his life”
Where to get it
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Dancing with Cuba
Dancing with Cuba is an evocative memoir by Alma Guillermoprieto that recounts her transformative experiences living and teaching dance in revolutionary Cuba.
Discussed“I'm all gto's Memoir I hope I pronounce her name correctly dancing with Cuba it's about a short time she spent in Cuba”
Where to get it
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Stop-time
Stop-Time by Frank Conroy is a classic, beautifully rendered memoir that recounts the author's turbulent and eccentric childhood growing up in America.
Discussed“for me I missed were uh stop time which is Frank Conroy's Memoir which is beautiful”
Where to get it
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With the Old Breed
With the Old Breed is a harrowing and widely acclaimed military memoir by E.
Discussed“and the other one is is a military Memoir called with the old Breed by a man named EB Sledge it's one of my favorite books and I think it came out as well in the early 60s”
Where to get it
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The Glass Castle
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is a powerful memoir detailing the author's unconventional, nomadic upbringing by eccentric and profoundly dysfunctional parents.
Discussed“and some of them you mentioned I think The Glass Castle and the Liars club and there was Katherine Harrison's the kiss Memoirs that Were Somehow pivotal points”
Where to get it
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The Liars' Club
The Liars' Club by Mary Karr is a celebrated memoir that recounts the author's turbulent, vivid childhood in a Texas refinery town marked by eccentric family dynamics and dark secrets.
Discussed“and some of them you mentioned I think The Glass Castle and the Liars club and there was Katherine Harrison's the kiss Memoirs that Were Somehow pivotal points”
Where to get it
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The Kiss
The Kiss is a controversial and boundary-pushing memoir by American author Kathryn Harrison that details her harrowing experiences with familial trauma.
Discussed“and some of them you mentioned I think The Glass Castle and the Liars club and there was Katherine Harrison's the kiss Memoirs that Were Somehow pivotal points”
Where to get it
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Hold still
Hold Still by Sally Mann is a 2015 memoir by the acclaimed photographer that looks back at her life, family history, and the evolution of the medium of photography.
Discussed“the best parts of I think hold still which is Sally man the photographer Sally man's m a lot of the best parts of that book are her teenage years”
Where to get it
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Fierce attachments
Vivian Gornick's 1987 memoir Fierce Attachments offers a searing, electric exploration of a complex relationship between a mother and her daughter in New York City.
Discussed“but like you talk about something like Fierce attachments and the way that it's just it's electric those pages those especially those early first few paragraphs you know she's trying to create a grammar for this world”
Where to get it
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Travels with Lizbeth
Travels with Lizbeth by Lars Eighner is a powerful memoir documenting the author's experience of homelessness on the streets of Austin, Texas, and elsewhere during the late 1980s.
Discussed“you look at someone like Lars eer who wrote this Memoir called travels with lisabeth about a period of time when he was homeless on the streets of Austin Texas and elsewhere”
Where to get it
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Negroland
Margo Jefferson's Negroland is a powerful memoir exploring race, class, and the expectations placed upon the African American elite in mid-century America.
Discussed“Margo Jefferson's book negrand Anor brard Kafka was the rage”
Where to get it
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Unreliable memoirs
Clive James's Unreliable Memoirs is the celebrated first installment of the author's autobiographical writings, capturing his early life with wit and sharp observation.
Discussed“Clive James unreliable memo I guess he's not just a book critic”
Where to get it
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Hitch-22
Hitch-22 is a candid and intellectually robust memoir by the late British-American essayist and critic Christopher Hitchens, reflecting on his political evolution, literary friendships, and eventual battle with cancer.
Discussed“Christopher Hitchens was right Christ I think that's almost it”
Where to get it
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Wave
Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala is a harrowing and deeply moving memoir documenting the author's survival of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which tragically claimed the lives of her entire family, including her husband, two children, and parents.
Discussed“sonali dagala she was an economist Economist wave yeah her Memoir wave is about this horrific tragedy where she essentially lost her entire family in the in the tsunami”
Where to get it
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Growing up
Growing up is a Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir by American journalist, humorist, and columnist Russell Baker.
Discussed“and then Russell Baker comes to mind growing up he he wasn't a Serial memoirist he columnist and humorist and and journalist but he was someone who drew on his own life a lot”
Where to get it
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Open
Open by Andre Agassi is a candid and acclaimed memoir detailing the tennis legend's turbulent athletic career, complex relationship with his father, and internal psychological battles.
Discussed“well um Andre agy's Memoir open which is a pretty terrific book ghost written I mean by terrific writer JM minger who whose Memoir some people think should have been on this list as well the tender bar”
Where to get it
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The Tender Bar
The Tender Bar by J.
Discussed“the tender bar which is was quite a good Memoir he's a very good writer”
Where to get it
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Lives Other Than My Own
Lives Other Than My Own by Emmanuel Carrère is a deeply reflective non-fiction work that explores profound themes of grief, human connection, mortality, and resilience in the wake of tragedy.
Discussed“we have a book by Emanuel carrer which will be zero surprise to longtime listeners of the podcast um but is called lives other than my own”
Where to get it
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Men We Reaped
Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward is a powerful and poignant memoir that examines the tragic deaths of the author's brother and four other young Black men in her rural Mississippi community, exploring systemic poverty, racism, and grief.
Discussed“that came up with jesmine Wards The Men We reaped as well right”
Where to get it
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Fun
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel is a celebrated graphic memoir exploring family dynamics, sexuality, and the complex relationship between a daughter and her closeted father.
Discussed“what are some of the grief for parents ones patrimony by Philip Roth fun home by Allison beell”
Where to get it
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Patrimony
Patrimony by Philip Roth is a moving memoir detailing the author's relationship with his aging father and the harrowing experience of watching an 86-year-old parent face declining health.
Discussed“what are some of the grief for parents ones patrimony by Philip Roth fun home by Allison beell”
Where to get it
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Priestdaddy
Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood is a sharply witty and unconventional memoir recounting the author's eccentric upbringing in the Midwest as the daughter of a married Catholic priest.
Discussed“I mean Patricia Lockwood's priest daddy which is one of my favorite books on this list is um just the portrait of her father in that book is Central to it and hysterically funny”
Where to get it
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Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life
Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life is a memoir by William Finnegan that chronicles a lifelong passion for surfing alongside his distinguished career as a New Yorker staff writer and war reporter.
Discussed“and we have the surfing Memoir Barbarian Days by William fennan”
Where to get it
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Minor characters
Joyce Johnson's memoir Minor Characters provides a compelling look into the lives of women orbiting the Beat generation and sheds light on the heavily masculine atmosphere of that literary movement.
Discussed“include Joyce Johnson's minor characters which is down in the in the second half of the list I revered that book”
Where to get it
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Self-consciousness
Self-consciousness is an introspective memoir by American novelist and writer John Updike.
Discussed“I think John Up's Memoirs self-consciousness it's a book that I I really admire and was hard for us to choose”
Where to get it
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On Fire
On Fire by Larry Brown is a compelling memoir written by a Mississippi fireman who transitioned into a celebrated novelist, chronicling his rugged life experiences.
Discussed“and there's a smaller book which I just it's just one of my favorite books called on fire by a Mississippi fireman named Larry Brown who became a novelist”
Where to get it
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Persepolis 1-4
Marjane Satrapi's graphic memoir Persepolis 1-4 depicts the author's childhood and youth in Iran before and after the Islamic Revolution.
Discussed“also a lot of humor in ppis by Maran crappy which is one of my favorite books”
Where to get it
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Autobiography of a Face
Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy is a poignant memoir recounting the author's battle with Ewing sarcoma during childhood, the subsequent extensive facial reconstructive surgeries she endured, and her painful journey toward self-acceptance amidst relentless scrutiny of her physical appearance.
Discussed“and then another one I was happy see on here was autobiography of a face by Lucy gy and Lucy gy is a a poet also”
Where to get it
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Truth & Beauty
Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett is a deeply moving memoir published in 2004 that chronicles the complex, enduring friendship between the author and the late poet Lucy Grealy.
Discussed“that's cool that she's also the subject of another Memoir that we we considered and that people really love Anne patchett's truth and Beauty which is about her friendship with gy”
Where to get it
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Experience
Experience by Martin Amis is a deeply reflective and acclaimed memoir by the celebrated British author, exploring his literary upbringing, his complex relationship with his father Kingsley Amis, and his broader observations on life and aging.
Discussed“so I have okay and so does experience by Martin Amos yes the book I love is it's it's an untidy book but I love that book”
Where to get it
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Just Kids
Just Kids by Patti Smith is a celebrated memoir chronicling the author's profound artistic relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe during their youth in New York City and the Chelsea Hotel.
Discussed“and maybe in particular Patty Smith's just kids which some people on social media have already griped about”
Where to get it
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The Guarded Gate
The Guarded Gate is a historical non-fiction book by Daniel Okrent that examines the rise of the American eugenics movement and the restrictive legislation that kept generations of European immigrants, including Jews and Italians, out of the United States.
Recommended“and his new book is called the guarded gate bigotry Eugenics and the law that kept two generations of Jews Italians and other European immigrants out of America”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (2) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“he is the author of several books including great Fortune the Epic of Rockefeller Center and last call the rise and the fall of prohibition”
“he is the author of several books including great Fortune the Epic of Rockefeller Center and last call the rise and the fall of prohibition”