Memoirs

[Deleted]

There is another memoir thread here but it is about whether they are true or not.

I would just like to discuss good memoirs that anyone has read and would recommend.

Lately, I have been having a lot of trouble getting into any novel. I even tried the crack that is Twilight and no such luck.

The only things that I seem to be able to read are non-fiction, true to life articles and books. I guess I just like the intimacy and immediacy that they seem to provide.

Does anyone else like this genre? Is there a memoir that you can't forget and would like to recommend? Please share.

[Smilla]

Ooh, good thread idea.

I'll recommend Margaret Salinger's Dream Catcher, if you didn't get to it when it was all the rage. My other favorite memoir is Bruce Campbell's If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor.

[gran4]

Is Bruce Campell's book funny? Gramps4 needs a good hospital read and he loves Bruce.

[Smilla]

Bruce Campbell's book is hysterical. It even has pictures.

[Deleted]

I'll recommend Margaret Salinger's Dream Catcher, if you didn't get to it when it was all the rage. My other favorite memoir is Bruce Campbell's If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor.

Thanks for the recommendations! I actually haven't read that many memoirs so the more the merrier.

[Charlene]

I just love a good memoir, so I hope this thread will yield some good titles. I have a few:

Rainbow's End by Lauren St. John - a story about growing up white in Rhodesia on a farm during the bush war that gave birth to Zimbabwe. Another good book along these lines is Mukiwa by Peter Godwin

The Flamboya Tree by Clara Olink Kelly - a Dutch family living in Java during WWII is interred in a prison camp along with other Europeans when the island is occupied by the Japanese.

Jesus Land by Julia Sheeres - a girl and her brother are sent to a crazy religious boot camp in the Caribbean. I have to thank a fellow Greecie (Peggy Lane) for helping me remember the name of this one.

River Town by Peter Hessler - a memoir of the author's two years spent in China teaching English. I may have enjoyed this more than the average person because I read it while on a Yangtze River cruise.

The Nazi Officer's Wife by Edith Beer - the story of a Jewish woman that hid in plain sight during WWII by marrying a Nazi officer.

[Deleted]

The Nazi Officer's Wife sounds fascinating! I'll have to look for that one at my library.

I'll recommend The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. It's about growing up with her wildly irresponsible parents. It's a great story and her writing is remarkably clear-eyed and evenhanded.

[koshergrit]

Dec 18, 2008 16:54:30 GMT -4 Charlene said:

I just love a good memoir, so I hope this thread will yield some good titles. I have a few:

Rainbow's End by Lauren St. John - a story about growing up white in Rhodesia on a farm during the bush war that gave birth to Zimbabwe. Another good book along these lines is Mukiwa by Peter Godwin

The Flamboya Tree by Clara Olink Kelly - a Dutch family living in Java during WWII is interred in a prison camp along with other Europeans when the island is occupied by the Japanese.

Jesus Land by Julia Sheeres - a girl and her brother are sent to a crazy religious boot camp in the Caribbean. I have to thank a fellow Greecie (Peggy Lane) for helping me remember the name of this one.

River Town by Peter Hessler - a memoir of the author's two years spent in China teaching English. I may have enjoyed this more than the average person because I read it while on a Yangtze River cruise.

The Nazi Officer's Wife by Edith Beer - the story of a Jewish woman that hid in plain sight during WWII by marrying a Nazi officer.

I recommend Don't Let's Go the Dogs Tonight, by Alexandra Fuller, another book by a white girl who grew up in Southern Africa (Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Zambia) during the Bush War and its aftermath. I have read Rainbow's End as well, and loved it, but I believe Fuller's book is better.

[may2]

As celebrity memoirs go Robert Wagner's and Tony Curtis's are both pretty good.

[ikmccall]

I agree on the Bruce Campbell book and would add the first Shelley Winters book.