We were in the throes of change: selling a house, moving in with my parents, buying a house, fixing up a house, moving into that house, giving up on fixing up the house, deciding to tear the whole thing down instead, moving back in with my parents, building a house. In the midst of these prolonged real estate dramas, we suffered the strain of pulling up roots in a place that we loved and trying to sink roots down into another that we barely knew. I lost my job. My husband started a business. Meanwhile, we were also trying to parent two wildly different boys, one of whom thought we had ruined his life forever by leaving our “perfect” neighborhood, while the other yearned for a chance to shed his old reputation as the shyest kid in school and start fresh in a new place.
“You should write about this,” friends would suggest, as they watched me flail and struggle and try to make some sense of it all.
“No way,” I’d say. In fact, I was trying to research a book about the pressures of the college application process on today’s over-scheduled, over-burdened teenagers. The problem was, the only teenagers I knew well enough to write about were the two I happened to live with — and I’d already begun to suspect that neither of them would follow a straightforward, predictable path to higher education. When I tried to make broad statements about anything outside of my own experience, I felt like a fraud. I noticed that bits of my own everyday life kept creeping into the manuscript. Pretty soon, as my notes gathered dust, I found myself writing about what I was thinking about: how I wanted to live, what mattered, what made me cry, what I loved about being a mother of growing boys, what I already missed about the days that were over, what I was trying to cherish in the here and now.
Frustrated, discouraged, fearing defeat, I sent a batch of pages off to my editor. “I’m not too excited about all the facts and figures and academic stuff,” she wrote back, “but I love reading about your family.”
I threw away a hundred numbing, belabored pages and finally admitted to myself that, like it or not, I seemed to be writing a memoir.
How I wish I’d had Marion Roach Smith’s brilliant book, The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life, to tell me how to do it. And by “it” I mean both the writing and the living. For what makes Marion such a remarkable guide and teacher is the fact that she knows full well that the writing and the living are inextricably bound together, that the “big stuff” scares us all, both in life and on the page, and that it always comes down to a choice, as she says, “to either flee the room or shove the fear aside and fill the space with something better.”
There was barely an hour that passed as I slogged away on my book that I wasn’t sorely tempted to flee the room. But the thing was, there was barely a day during those years that I didn’t also wish to flee my life. Both the writing and the living felt so hard!
Marion, in her wisdom, reminds us that just because it’s hard, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t bother. In fact, as her own vividly told personal stories and examples make clear, only by staying put, only by hanging in there through the tough stuff, do we find out what we really need to know and what we really have to say. “You have to be present to win,” she says.
Could this disarming, compellingly readable little book possibly be a manual for how to live your life, disguised as a manual telling you how to write about it? I’m not sure, but I do know that you needn’t be a writer to find useful instruction in these pages. For aren’t we all tempted, every single day of our lives, to flee the room? And isn’t it true that only by staying put and doing the work — whether it’s feeling our feelings or speaking our truth or writing our story — do we begin to grow in faith and strength and wisdom?
Marion Roach Smith not only shows us how to “replace the fear with something better” and get our stuff out of our heads and down onto the page, she also reminds us that our stories matter—whether we’re writing an anecdote for the school newsletter, a eulogy for a friend’s funeral, or a memoir to share with the world. In fact, our stories, all of them, matter enough to be worth crafting well. “Learn to write with intent,” she predicts, “and you might learn something about your life.”
I wasn’t able to avail myself of Marion’s expertise as I was trying to figure out what my last book was about, but she has already helped me ask the right questions as I embark on the next. And I am delighted to have become online friends with Marion through her sister Margaret, whose memoir And I Shall Have Some Peace There remains an all-time favorite. When anyone asks me for writerly advice these days, I simply say, “Go buy The Memoir Project, make a pot of tea, and then treat yourself to the most cogent 96-page lesson in writing what you know that you will ever read.” So it is a great pleasure to be able to combine forces with Marion and Margaret to celebrate the publication of this essential book by giving away two copies here.
How to Win 1 of 6 Copies of The Memoir Project
MARION, MARGARET, AND I are each giving away two copies of Marion’s new book “The Memoir Project,” and all you have to do to win is comment, answering the question:
What memoir made a difference to you, and why?
Copy and paste your comment onto all three of our blogs to triple your chances of winning—again, each of us has two copies to share, and we’ll all draw winners at random (using the tool at random dot org) after entries close at midnight Saturday, June 18.
Comment here.
On Marion’s site
And on Margaret Roach’s, whose lovely book “And I Shall Have Some Peace There,” has been hailed as, “A moving, eloquent and joyously idiosyncratic memoir.” (Kirkus Reviews)Now we are pretty flexible, we three, so even if you don’t want to name a favorite memoir, or you have a title but not a reason why, that’s OK. Simply say, “I want to win,” or “Count me in” or some such, and your entry will be official. But remember: copy and paste it on all three blogs. Good luck! (And we can’t wait to see the booklist you help generate with your replies.)
My maternal Grandmother wrote about her life and her Norwegian ancestry. I ended up moving from the beaches of Santa Barbara, California to the prairies
of North Central Iowa (where I had been born) and have a daily connection with my grandmother, great grandmother and other ancestors who came here to make a new life and future for their families.
I grew up making road trips from California to spend time at “Grandma’s Farm”…..Never in a million years did I think that I would someday marry and raise 3 children of my own on this little piece of farmland that is most precious to all of us and many who were shocked that we made the move 27 years ago and stuck with it.
My Grandmother’s weekly letters (sermons;) to our family who left Iowa for California in the 50′s and the stacks of notes, cards, photos, stories, ledgers…..albums chronicling her 98+ years and all of the old “stuff” that we live with ~ inside and out…are a big part of what shapes our lives in this remote corner of the Midwest…now commonly referred to by guests, young and old, as ~
“Mark’s Pond”….that’s another story.
This year I have read: Gift of an Ordinary Day, Poser, enLIGHTened, And I Shall Have Some Peace There, and Devotion. I enjoyed all of them! Count me in the contest. I would love to win the book.
I just love the gift of an ordinary day and would love to read the memoir project.
One of my favorite memoirs is Jill Ker Conway’s “The Road to Coorain.” It depicts the beautiful landscape of the Australian desert and farm life and a unemotional portrait of a strong woman in the making. Dr. Conway, who as a child faced often cruel, powerful nature on her homestead and the tragedy in her family, showed how she prevailed in the harsh reality of her childhood, and then ending with her encounter with sexism during 50s. I love this theme and this lady!!
And I would love to win a book! Thanks for the offer. Please post a list of favorites when you are done.
What a nice giveaway! I would absolutely love to read this book. My favorite memoir-ish book is Natalie Goldberg’s ‘Writing Down the Bones’ that I discovered in a used book shop 20 years ago. I read it straight through in one night and no book has ever resonated with me as much as this book. In a similar vein, it was about writing and living and how each is necessary to the other.
I would love to win a copy!
My most recent memoir was Jennifer Lauck’s Found…loved it.
Am writing my own memoirs and pressing for healing through this process on a daily basis.
Thank you for this opportunity to win…(-:
I loved Nuala O’Faolain’s memoir Are You Somebody? for its scorching honesty. And I would love to win a copy of this book. Honestly.
The first memoir I remember having an enormous impression on me is Marya Hornbacher’s “Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia.” Unlike the many badly-written eating disorder memoirs I’ve read, Marya’s writing made me ache.
In this season of my life, I have found immense comfort in your memoirs, Katrina. I’m a natural perfectionist, and can be very rigid about my plans: everything from household chores to my life goals. Having a 2-year-old has taught me to be more spontaneous and revel in all of those ordinary days. One of your passages in Mitten Strings for God, about how your son Jack has been your most demanding teacher, has stuck with me since my daughter was small.
I loved Madeleine L’Engle’s A Circle of Quiet. I read it when was 20 or so. It helped me imagine that adult/family life could be full of joy. It expanded my image of what to hope for in my own life.
Gift from the Sea remains my go to memoir book. I have re-read the chapter Moonshell at least once a year for the last 20 years. I love the idea of writing my own stories for my children and perhaps one day, grandchildren.
“Saddled,” by Susan Richards spoke to me loudly when I read it over this past winter. Her story combines recovery from alcohol and a love of horses. It gave me courage that the world will listen when you have a painful story to tell, and that animals always have lessons and love to give — if you are willing to listen and humble enough to hear. Beautiful, simple prose that keeps you reading her story of redemption. Inspiring.
About 15 years ago, I read ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ by Maya Angelou and it really made an impact on my life. Her honesty in sharing the gritty parts of her life, in concert with knowing, as I was reading, what an amazing life she had created for herself, and the gifts she gives so many, really turned my life around. I refused, from then on, to live as a victim of my past.
What a wonderful giveaway!
The most recent memoir which I have read,is yours Katrina– The Gift of an Ordinary Day. Reading this made me laugh, cry and say oh my gosh someone else is doing these crazy things too!! my life recently has in many ways mirrored yours. I’m still quite in the middle of my version and after reading yours it gave me the first glimpse that however this turns out it will be okay–thank you for that!
Your memoir, The Gift of an Ordinary Day, and Dani Shapiro’s, Devotion, together changed my life. I hope you know this already, Katrina, but reading those two books back to back had an impact whose reverberations are still being felt. In the best possible way. I look forward to reading Marion’s book! (incidentally: two of my four great-grandmothers were called Marion, both of my mother’s grandmothers, and it has always been a name I adore).
xox
Without a doubt, I can say that The Gift of an Ordinary Day has been life changing for me. Last year, I decided to uproot my family and move for the sake of a better education for my three kids. We have been living in a rental for far longer than I ever expected while we build a new house. Although this isn’t the first house we’ve built, I intend it to be the last, and that brings a whole new level of stress to every step of the process. I’m also at an age and a time in my life where I’m trying to decide what I want to do next. My oldest child is in middle school and I’m contemplating what life looks like as my three kids don’t need me in quite the same was as they did as small children. I stepped off the career track when my youngest child was born 6 years ago and I’ve decided that I won’t go back into that field (law) because it’s not my passion, but I’m not sure what to do next. This past year has been agonizing to the say the least. This spring, a friend recommended your book and it was, quite simply, a revelation. I felt like you must be living inside my head. Your book and your wise words helped me hold onto my last shred of my sanity. So thank you for letting your readers walk with you on part of your journey! It has meant so much to me personally. Yours is a book I plan to pick up and read again very soon!
The memoir that made a difference to me: “Brother, I’m Dying” by Edwidge Danticat because it showed me how to write a memoir involving big history, and family history, and how that history resonates in the present generation.
When I was pregnant with my oldest daughter (who is now 11) and hyperaware of the 50% chance she would inherit my significant physical disability (she did), my pastor’s wife gave me Martha Beck’s “Expecting Adam.” Beck has since become an Oprah regular and written a highly controversial other memoir about sexual abuse that all of her siblings say is patently false…I haven’t read that memoir, nor do I watch much Oprah. But “Expecting Adam” changed my life and dictated my own path as a writer. In it, Beck wrote about her pregnancy with her son Adam, who was prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome. It was about learning to value all lives, even those deemed imperfect by both medical providers and Beck’s colleagues and friends, who kept asking her when she would schedule her abortion. I have gone on to build a writing career centered on the questions raised by rapidly developing genetic and reproductive technologies that allow people to choose how and when they have babies, and to some extent control what sort of babies they get. I write about how these technologies are changing our conceptions (literally and otherwise) of human beings, God, fate, destiny, health, disability, choice, human value, and the giftedness of every life. My own book, partly a memoir, will be out next January. Beck’s memoir was the first to raise these vital questions for me, and to show me that it’s possible to write about those questions in a way that changes other people’s lives and perceptions.
I think I would have to say Eat, Pray, Love. My Mother had just died suddenly, and I was floundering…
I would love to win.
I almost only read memoirs. Each one impacts me in a different way.
Joan Didion’s A Year of Magical Thinking was so beautifully and honestly written.
I have written a rough draft of a memoir of my own and there it sits. I hope that having a copy of Marions book will push me to the next step!!
It’s Margaret’s memoir that most recently helped me choose my next path. My youngest child graduated high school yesterday and is leaving the nest in seven days. Margaret’s story nudged me into believing that I can, once again, shake my life up and make major changes. It’s not as easy at 47 as it was when I was 26.
Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” made such a difference to my mother that she named her daughters (and our later goldfish) after the girls in the book. That book always meant something to me because I loved the fact that each of the girls in the story were loved so much by their sisters, even though each one of them was human and flawed. Their love for their far-away father and their imagination together made we want to read the book again and again. When my mom died of cancer when I was 20 reading “Little Women” made me feel close to her and I tried to imagine what parts of the book she identified so much with that she chose to call her daughters Beth and Amy and use those names everyday for the rest of her life.
Lee Woodruff’s “Perfectly Imperfect” was a wonderfully inspiring and entertaining read.
Kelly Corrigan’s The Middle Place, is a beautiful memoir, reflections of being an adult child of her parents and the mother of her children. Breast cancer weaved its way into her life and her honest and poignant writing about her family love is tender, funny and uplifting. Her Transcending Women video, excert from the book speaks to the beautiful power of women friends.
One of my all time favorite memoirs was Growing Up on the Chocolate Diet by Lora Brody. Brody has a wicked sense of humor, is impossibly passionate about two of my favorite subjects (chocolate and cooking), and showed me that you can tell a story with food. She wasn’t the first person to write a memoir with recipes, but she was the first person that I read who had done so.
Brody’s bête noire is so amazingly full of chocolate that if I eat a sliver too late in the evening I won’t be able to sleep that night. Every so often I judge it worth a sleepless night just to nibble some a sliver of her bête noire…
A Gift of an Ordinary Day, Devotion and A Gift from the Sea are my favorites so far.
Thanks for the opportunity to read ths as well.
I would love to win! The Rocket Boys by Hyrum Hickam had a great impact for me because I could identify with the 50’s and 60’s and having the opportunity to “grow up” in the space age and understand the personal struggles the boys experienced to change our world.
As I am trying to start writing myself, and not “flee the room”, one of the most recent memoirs I read made the most impact on me. It is called Beautiful Boy by David Sheff. This memoir had such an impact because it is not only about a topic I was afraid to read (the story of parenting and loving a child who is addicted to drugs), but because it was written with such unflinching honesty and raw painful reality, that I glimpsed the possibility of maybe being able to look at my own fear of putting truthful and honest stuff “out there” and maybe living through it. I hope I will at least give it a try….
Three dog life. By Abigail Thomas
A Gift From the Sea-Anne Morrow Lindberg always my fav!
A Family Place: A Hudson Valley Farm, Three Centuries, Five Wars, One Family
by Leila Philip
Sounds like just the book that I need.
The two memoirs I read most recently are yours, Katrina: The Gift of an Ordinary Day and Mitten Strings for God. I thoroughly enjoyed both of them and look forward to reading your next book when it is available. My daughter is the same age as your son, Henry, and my son is close in age to your son, Jack, so I can relate to so many of the trials and tribulations you wrote about, especially the whole college application process!
I would love to win The Memoir Project. Please count me in!
Sincerely,
Diane Bascom
The Gift of an Ordinary Day touched my life in so many ways. Also, years ago I loved reading Gifts from the Sea, by Ann Morrow Lindbergh. I may re-read it now that I am older. My grandmother wrote a two page memoir of her life just a few years before she passed away at age 93! Pretty awesome for an immigrant from Europe who never went to school part 5th grade. She had a simple life, and a hard life,but had it not been for her sacrifices, I would not have had the opportunities that I did in my life.
Nuala O’Faolain’s ‘Are you Somebody?’ and Jeanette Walls’ ‘The Glass Castle’ are two of my favorite memoirs. As I thought about your question, I realized that there were some strong threads that bound these stories in my mind.
Both O’Faolain and Walls, very different women with very different backgrounds, lived through unconventional and painful childhoods that, if followed to their natural conclusions, might have made them into angry women living small, stunted lives. Instead, each used her past to empower her future.
The evolution came at a cost, and how they unravel the damages, overcoming some of them, accepting others, is as compelling to read about as the story of their coming of age.
The honesty, openess, and generosity of these writers is equalled only by their powerful, poetic writing. I’ve recommended these books again and again. They stand in stark contrast to the many self-indulgent “tell-all” memoirs that in fact tell us very little about the human condition.
Thanks for reminding of how much these books have meant to me.
Boy, where to start? 60 years ago Miss Ulysses of Puka Puka by Johnnie Frisbie was the beginning of my love of the Pacific islands. Then maybe 50 years ago Dale Evans’ Angel Unawares. Anne Lindberg’s A Gift From the Sea and Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings were hugely important and this month I finally got to read and enjoy And I Shall Have Some Peace There. Now I’ve ordered The Memoir Project from our library and can’t wait to read it.
The Gift of an Ordinary Day has definitely made an impact on my life. Having 2 children near the same age as Katrina’s, I was having many of the same feelings that she did. It was very touching. You find comfort in the fact that others have the same feelings you do.
“Gift from the Sea”, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, is memorable to me. When I read this several years ago I was struck by the timelessness of where the focus of our minds lie and the wishes we have.
Count me in. Me, too, me, too. All of that.
All my favorites have been listed, so I don’t have to choose a favorite. My daughter just turned eighteen, though, so Mitten Strings came along just when I needed it.
I may have said it before, but I will always be grateful.
Thank you.
The memoir that had the most impact on me was “The Year of Magical Thinking” by Joan Didion (sp?).
It was while in the midst of a difficult year, my brothers unexpected death, moving across country, leaving a job that I loved and I felt like I was going crazy. Her writing calmed my heart, it helped me find some peace and the reminder that this too shall pass, and in the meantime it helped me map my own path through grief.
I have just finished Paul Auster’s memoir, The Invention of Solitude, and I found it profound. Initially, it addresses dealing with material possessions after his father’s death, but that leads to other matters and family history, before unknown. Eventually, Auster writes of what it is to be a translator and a writer. His exploration of solitude is fascinating. I know I need to sort things out and writing is the way to do it. I am reluctant to start. Discovering my truth may require drastic changes.
I am reading memoirs about falling in love with and marrying someone from another country. “The Natural Laws of Good Luck” and “The Butterfly Mosque”—I am also writing a memoir of falling in love with and marrying a doctor in Cuba and our 8 year plus journey to be together. These memoirs have been guides to writing and living through the perils and joys of cross-cultural marriages.
Mary Karr’s The Liars Club is one of the most powerful memoirs I have ever read – it shows how fragile and tender the web of childhood really is.
Thanks for entering me.
Dorit Sasson
http://www.DoritSasson.com
The Teacher’s Diversity Coach
I recently read Devotion by Dani Shapiro which moved me profoundly. As I tread lightly upon the road between atheism and agnosticism, I felt that Shapiro’s book explored faith and spirituality with greater courage and self-inspection than I am yet to muster.
the book that I read almost 20 years ago changed my life forever!
Thr Struggle for Animal rights by Tom Regan
I have it right on my desk today and refer to it often.
The Gift of an Ordinary Day and Eat, Pray, Love are two of my favorites!
Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s, Gifts from the Sea, is my go-to book for life lessons, a moment for the gift of breath, and to know I am not alone. It has been my internal conversation for my and on my life.
I would love to add to my precious collection with such extraordinary books!
My triple great-grandfather wrote an autobiography translated from Yiddish to English. His memories start with his life as a child in Ukraine/Crimea and were written from Palestine in his 80s and 90s. A fine story with memorable lessons about continuity, faith and resilience.
I’ve read several memoirs, each wonderful, causing reflection and change in my life. Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s, The Gift from the Sea, was the first memoir I read and I read it over and over, ever wanting more from other women. Joan Anderson’s, A Year by the Sea, was the second, and it left me yearning to get away and go on a retreat. Katrina Kennison’s, The Gift of an Ordinary Day, has become such a friend to me. I’ve read it so many times and find such comfort in it that I simply pick it up, open to any page, and read when I need peace. The one that caused me to reach the most though was Karen Ely’s, Daring to Dream. Since reading it, I have worked with Karen with several of her personal mentoring programs and through these, I have woken a part of myself that had been buried for so very long. I will never let my soul sleep again…
Blue Suburbia by Laurie Lico Albanese was stunning — tiny little pieces that pack an emotional wallop, seemingly disparate stories that together form a life.
Thank you for this opportunity to win The Memoir Project!
Man’s Search for Meaning by Elie Wiesel helped me understand the essence of the human spirit in the face of struggle but Rick Bragg is my favorite memoirist with his beautiful prose. Now I am pitching my own memoir and praying an agent will consent to pick it up. It is as follows:
Fifteen years ago, our fourth child, Noah, was born and our ark was complete—two girls, two boys. Our Peace Corps romance rocked along, blending my Mayflower Society heritage with my husband Andy’s west-coast logging roots. And we were snug in the belly of a loving, extended family—living across the street from Andy’s sister and her family of four girls.
Fourteen years ago, Noah was run over by one of those girls—his sixteen-year-old cousin.
Thirteen years ago, our fifth child, Jonah, died before birth.
Nine years ago, my doctor was put on trial for the death of Jonah. My sister-in-law voluntarily testified against us.
Nine days later the jury found my doctor guilty and we were granted absolution from Jonah’s death.
The Light of the Son (92,000 words) is my memoir about every parent’s worst nightmare—the death of their children. But more so, it an expose’ on human nature in the face of a crisis and the extent a mother will go to protect her kids. This is my story about surviving unbearable loss by realizing what sacrifices needed to be made and the strength I found to keep my family from sinking.
There are so many compelling memoirs; it is impossible for me to pick one favorite. However, two (not mutually exclusive) categories stand out: life stories of unconventional childhoods and chronicles of personal transformation. When all the World Was Young: A Memoir by Barbara Holland and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls both tell of highly unusual childhoods. Men write great memoirs too! I have just finished reading Homer Hickam’s three-book memoir, Rocket Boys, The Coalwood Way, and Sky of Stone. Not only does he have a remarkable childhood/coming of age experience, he is a gifted writer. A mystery novel cannot surpass the suspense and drama of Sky of Stone. As for personal transformation, no one writes better than Martha Beck. To see what I mean, read Expecting Adam and Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith.
“So many books, so little time.”
Currently reading, The Gift of an Ordinary Day, and really enjoying it! I cry, I laugh, I keep reading. Thanks for the insights! Would love to read The Memoir Project!
One of my favorite quotes is from Czeslaw Milosz: “When a writer is born into a family, the family is finished.” Has that been true for your family as a result of your books? It seems so harsh a price to pay for writing the truth as you remember it. Alice Koller’s Stations of Solitude showed up in my life at exactly the right time- my marriage had failed and my children were leaving home. I needed to learn how to be alone after many many years of never having enough time to myself.
I recently read, and loved, Goat Songs by Brad Kessler. What profound lessons are to be found in facing daily challenges and savoring simple pleasures with honesty and thankfulness.
thank you for this exquisite offering. books: as a teenager, gelsey kirkland’s dancing on my grave (because she had the courage to tell the truth, and that floored me)…and most recently, claire dederer’s poser (because she told the truth about striving to be good/perfect and learning to live in the real/now) and katrina kenison’s the gift of an ordinary day (because you/she bravely told the truth about motherhood, and i felt seen). my life has been expanded by these women’s life stories, and my gratitude to you/them is profound.
I would love to be entered in the gift giveaway. At some point, I would love to write a memoir as this is my favorite genre. I absolutely loved your book Katrina. I have reread it and have given it to countless moms. I am currently reading Blood, Bones and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton –highly recommend.
I would love to win, but am delighted just to share in this opportunity to sing praises with other lovers of memoir for this, one of my absolute favorite forms of writing to read (and I hope, to write).
My favorites are too many to name, but include most recently “And I Shall Have Some Peace There”, Margaret Roach; and “One Hundred Names For Love”, Diane Ackerman. I have devoured and enjoyed anything & everything by Anne Lamott, Maya Angelou, Barbara Kingsolver… and one of my earliest and most favorite memoirs which I have read and reread is “Northern Farm” by Henry Beston.
I love them for their humanity, their poetic descriptiveness, their reminding me how connected we all are even by our feelings of disconnectedness. They have given me images of beauty and sorrow and pain shared and joy and wonder… they have taken me out of and more importantly maybe, helped me back to myself.
I have always written; to and for myself & to others… I have dreamed of writing more, of reaching wider/farther with my writing. I have been told many times by dear friends that I must write! So here’s hoping I am on the path to more writing and that perhaps I may touch the hearts & minds of a larger audience.
Many thanks to you all for what you have written and shared. And for encouraging others to do so too. Blessings…. Sarah
On Writing by Stephen King because he’s practical and funny.
Yours made a difference to me. No question about it. Not only did it enrich my life in the reading, but it gave me the final little bit of courage I needed to tackle a memoir of my own – which is exactly why I must read this book.
xo
I have shelves full of memoirs that I love (including yours) but one that touched me deeply was “Here If You Need Me” by Kate Braestrup. Her journey amazed me and her peace with the circumstances inspired me.
Judy
justonefoot.blogspot.com
Pat Montandon’s “Oh The Hell Of It All”, because that”s what I am reading now! Marion, the book looks interesting, would make a perfect summer project for me!
My favorite memoirs are ‘Where’s my Wand” by Eric Poole, “Madame Secretary” by Madeline Albright, ‘Look Me in My Eye” by John Robison, ‘On Writing” by Stephen King,’The Diary of Anne Frank’ by Anne Frank, ‘The Glass Castle” by Jeanette Walls’.,
“Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt.
Of the above, “Diary of Ann Frank” mattered to me the most because I was the same age as Anne Frank went she wrote it. I felt so close to her because even though she was hiding in an attic and I had freedom to go anywhere that I wanted, we were going through some of the same pains of growing up.
CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com
Hopefully I won’t look too sycophantic but Margaret’s book had a huge impact on me this year. Here’s what I wrote on Amazon…
“I love words. Language and alliteration are the stuff of play in my world, but nothing prepared me for diving into the “soundtrack” of Margaret’s dropout memoir.
Yes, the book does have a literal soundtrack – yet another brilliant use of layering media in this multi-platform, digital, non-linear age. I confess: I haven’t listened to the actual play list, I tend toward the silent. But I loved the brief snippets of lyrics and references throughout the book evoking song – my favorites were those of Johnny Cash.
No, the soundtrack I talking about it that of Margaret herself. Her language is syncopated; it riffs with a personal syntax and love of punctuation that must surely be a response to her years of heavy editing and style strictures. Love it.
What do you do when you discover someone else has beaten you to writing your own (wished for) autobiography ala Gertrude Stein’s “Autobiography of Alice B Toklas”? You read it in one sitting… and then you start over and read it again. Wouldn’t you want to know how the story ends?”
A memoir-type book that was really important to me is “Reading Between the Lines” by Betty Jane Wylie. She’s actually looking at the diaries of women and how they evolved over the centuries. It’s fascinating to see history through these intimate moments.
My favorite memoirs: Operating Instructions: A Journal of my Son’s First Year by Anne Lamott and Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. Lamott’s was given to me when my first child was born, and I appreciated her honesty and non-Mary-Poppins approach to childrearing. And Glass Castle haunted me for weeks after I read it. I wanted to jump in the book and call Child Protective Services or wisk those children away (when I read this one I had 3 kids and out of the baby stages).
My mother and I wrote a fictionalized memoir together about growing up. We didn’t quite have the guts to do a full-out memoir.
Thanks for hosting a book giveaway. I love your blog and will be coming back!
Definitely want to win! 🙂
As far as which memoir I read which impacted me- it was Cheaper by the Dozen. The reason it mattered to me? Imagine a 12 year old reading this wonderfully fascinating tale of a family so full and so humorous. When I turned the final page, I was determined to get my hands on as many REAL life stories as I could find. Although I’ve read many memoirs over the years- this one mattered the most since it whet my appetite for all memoirs.
My favorite memoir in recent years is Amy Grant’s _Mosaic._ She really gets honest, sharing pictures of her life in different stages of her growing up years and her adulthood, the breakdown of a marriage and the struggles and joys of a second marriage, loss of loved ones to cancer, etc., and even just simple yet breathtaking experiences in life. I cried in some very unexpected places.
I enjoy reading the memoir genre, and as I’ve gone through the comments, realized that my, I read a lot of memoirs! As a parent of young children (years ago), I loved Mitten Strings for God and gave it as a gift to many of my friends. Gift From the Sea will always be a favorite and again, gifted to others often.
The Glass Castle hit me. I too came from a difficult background and rose to success, basically raising myself. I felt for the first time that it’s okay to admit my background, to “own” it and not to fear it.
And Joan Didion’s Year of Magical Thinking has stayed with me. Wonderful writing and a true story of life, in all its movements.
I would love to win Margaret’s book. And even if I don’t, I’ll definitely be buying it!
Thank you!
ah, I’d love to win Marion’s book. I’m off to buy Margaret’s book right now. I’ll buy Marion’s if I don’t win. Too many M’s. 🙂
Anything by David Sedaris because his books make me laugh until my gut aches. (And I sure would like to win one of these here (dem dere?) books because clearly–and here I contemplate my vast and extraordinarily limp readership– I’m writing up the wrong tree).
The first memoir that came to mind was “The Story of My Life” by Helen Keller. She was my childhood hero. It’s a bit odd because she had just graduated college when she wrote it–but she’d already had such an unusual life. She describes what it’s like to be blind and deaf so well.
(Margaret, I haven’t read your memoir yet, but it’s in my TBR pile!)
I want to read this book because I’m a writer flailing about for something to write, having become disillusioned (if that’s the right word) with writing sf/fantasy. Thank you!
Oh, how I would love to win the book. I want so badly to write my own story…..I have a lot to share.
I liked Corrie Ten Boom’s memoir, because it is moving.
“The Liar’s Club” by Mary Karr, “The Glass Castle” by Jeanette Walls and “Autobiography of a Face” by Lucy Grealy – three very different women with very unusual lives who struggled with their circumstances but never let their imaginations and creativity die.
In one of those crystal clear moments of hindsight, I realized I attributed the wrong author to my memoir recommendation. It should be Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. My apologies…
Half Empty by David Rakoff… Simply amazing use of language – totally absorbing.
Out of Africa… because I found a kindred spirit there.
I would love to win Marion’s book. Since I began writing a blog, I’ve become more fascinated with writing and have found it is a new love that I wish to nuture. I am such a novice that a great map (e.g. Marion’s book) would be just what I need. My husband encourages me to write a memoir as do friends. At times I think that I don’t have anything interesting to say but that is just my self doubt until I jump into the act. “Madame Secretary” by Madeline Albright, was a very meaningful memoir because she is a hero to me. She accomplished so much from her personal drive, ambition and desire to have a meaningful life yet she started out with many disadvantages especially for a female of her time. She gives me hope and I admire her all around. I loved your book, Margaret, and recommended to friends. You picked me up and took me right into your life from the first chapter. I found it compelling and delightful. Reading has always been a beloved part of my life and I appreciate that you share books that you enjoy. Since I am a devoted gardener and reader, you’re my kind of gal. Keep up the great work.
Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is an amazing account of one family’s attempts to walk softly on the planet and to eat locally.
A Three Dog Life, by Abigail Thomas is a memoir of loss and of incredible courage.
Is anyone but me scribbling down lots of memoir titles so they can check them out??
Memoir is my favorite genre, so this is a tough question to answer. But one of my newfound favorites is Claire Dederer’s “Poser,” which speaks directly to my current phase of life. Dederer weaves a beautiful story about the early days of motherhood, which happened to coincide with her journey into yoga. Inspired by this book, one of my goals in the next year is to begin a serious practice!
The memoir that matters most to me is the one my husband, Charlie, is writing, tentatively titled “How Did I Ever Do All This?” He’s been participating for 3 “semesters” in a class here in our [new] home town and just yesterday, the 9 students participated in a public reading at our local library.
His piece was about his relationship with his father and how he transformed it from the abused son who grew big enough to stop it, the years & years of wary tolerance of each other that followed, to loving and acknowledging each other and being affectionate and comfortable together for the ten years after that remained of his dad’s life. He misses him from love, rather than anger and righteousness. It took my husband 2 years to write it.
I learn so much from his courage, his openness, and his totally present voice. His stories are shared with honest wonder, and I look newly at my life from there.
This is my first ever “post” and I decided to do it because I’ve been so moved by all the words you share Katrina especially Gift of an Ordinary Day. Maya Angelou’s I know Why the Caged Bird Sings is also a very important book to me…..I hope it’s a memoir.
My favorite memoirs? I’ll go with an Anne theme – books by Anne Lamott, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, and Annie Dillard.
What a treat to win Marion’s book so I will take my chances and give it a try. What comes to mind as a favorite memoir is of course The Gift Of An Ordinary Day by Katrina Kenison but there are so many and each one is unique a special to me. I love all of Ruth Reichl’s books but first got hooked with Tender At The Bone. A very inspirational memoir written with the help of Kitty Crenshaw is The Hidden Life. The Glass Castle,The Gift Of The Sea, and let’s not forget At Home In The World by Joyce Maynard, and anything by Anne LaMottt So many lovely stories of courageous women who have paved the way and continue to inspire us yet to make our mark.
Count me in, I would love to win. Two of my recent favorites are Lucette Lagnado’s The Man the White Sharkskin Suit: A jewish family’s exodus from old Cairo to the new world – evoking Egypt in the 40’s and 50’s, especially interesting in light of the recent political changes in that country; and Mildred Armstrong Kalish’s Little Heathens: Hard times and high spirits on an Iowa farm during the great depression.
Memoirs are one of my favorite forms of reading enjoyment. I have read Margaret’s of course, but another one that really hit the spot this spring was The Chicken Chronicles, by the great Alice Walker. I felt right at home with her praise to her chickens! Another one I just finished is Reading Women: How the Great Books in Feminism Changed my Life by Stephanie Staal which takes me back to my wonderful Feminist Roots (I am a Second Wave Feminist – note the caps please!) I also adored Agatha Christie’s Autobiography. Like many who have posted here, I could go on and on! I like memoirs that challenge me, feed my curiosity, and leave me feeling better educated with a deeper understanding than when I started. OH, another one, lesser known, Betty Auchard’s Home for the Friendless, which follows her dynamic memoir of widowhood, Dancing in my Nightgown…
Dani Shapiro’s Devotion was heaven to me. Loved how she blended her story and her questioning spirituality. Gorgeous.
Oh so tough to name a favorite… I guess Linda Ellerbee’s Take Big Bites. Life, travel and a recipe for each chapter. Love it.
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky is a novel set in Paris in 1940 describing the lives, the human drama, the chaos caused by Nazi invasion, the flight from Paris, then German occupation. (I know you are thinking a novel? I’m asking for a memoir!) The novel was published 64 years after the author died in Auschwitz. It is a miracle that the book was ever published. The book has two Appendices. The first appendix includes the authors notes as she developed and wrote the book, notes on the situation in France. In the second appendix are letters written between 1936 – 1945; letters to her publishers, letters to people who help her avoid arrest, letters written by her husband after her arrest, letters concerning her two daughters welfare. The book ends with the Preface to the French Edition published by Editions Denoel in 2004. After her husband was arrested, her daughters were hidden and survived. Her oldest daughter, Denise, had put her mothers’ notebook in a suitcase as she and her sister fled Issy. That suitcase wasn’t opened for many, many years until the sisters agreed to entrust it to a French organization dedicated to documenting memories of the war. Denise decided to type what she thought were her mother’s notes or a diary, instead finding a novel describing this dark period of French history. This books cuts to the very core, one that I will never forget. I am so thankful that my grandparents immigrated to America from Germany in the late 1890’s and that none of us knew first hand either side of the horror that was Nazi Germany.
Count me in! 🙂 Thanks for all of the memoirs in one neat little comment section. I’ll be off to the library soon with my list.
“It’s a gift to be simple” (Shaker song, eighteenth century)… and I believe that you and your sister to it well! Simple but important things. I hope my children grow up with abundance in the simple – and learn – gardening, caring for animals, keeping track of memories, supporting family. Smiles – Sarah
One of my favorites is “The Hiding Place” by Corrie Ten Boom. Thanks for the chance to win.
-Sydney
I have never been drawn to memoirs exactly. I am sure I have read some but not on purpose. I’d have to say the book that has had the greatest impact in my life has been, The Moses of Rovno.
It was written by a rabbi about a German man who risked his own to save other’s lives. I did however, on a recent trip to the mountains and my favorite book shop, pick up Margarets book. I was drawn by the title. If I had to pick a word to define my life it would have to be peace. So I am in the middle of her book now and have been enjoying it very much.
the memoir that affected me the most was a million little pieces. i found it a mesmerizing read and then was stunned as millions of other readers were to find out that it was fiction. the feeling of being duped, the anger and then eventually the being ok with it all hung with me for a long time. i often think about writing a memoir but i want (need?) to get thru the midlife catharsis i’m experiencing right now first. what an exciting journey i’m on!!
I’m not sure if it’s a memoir but when my mother was dying I went through so many different feelings sitting there well she slept day after day thinking what do I do I need to make so many decisions and not sure where to begain. When ever that would happen before I would just call my mother now who do I call, so I sat and watched her breath it was so quiet and when I was told it’s anytime now all I could do is sit. One day when I went to take a walk and came back and sat some more I noticed a book on her table that read “Hey , God, what should I do now?” by Jess Lair, Ph.D and Jacqueline Carey Lair I just couldn’t believe it but started to read, read and read till I was done and felt such a relief that when it was that time to say good bye I felt happy to see she would not suffer anymore and knew I could handle what needed to be handled. A year later when I see that book in my closet it reasures me that life really goes on. Thanks
I’ve read thousands of books, but never found a memoir that I truly loved. HOWEVER… I did see (and LOVE) Elizabeth’s Eat, Pray Love (the movie).
One of the memoirs I have read that really mattered to me was Lillian Hellman’s “Julia” because it is about strength, personal bravery and standing up for what you believe in. It is also a love story between two women. A love story that is not about sexual, physical love but love, respect and admiration between two friends. This story has inspired me through the years to strive to be a better person.
Memoirs are wonderful, even when they crush you with their honesty. I’ve read many and loved them all for different reasons. Sorry, but I can’t pick one. Here are two that made quite an impact: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott and A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel.
I loved Bird for reminding me that writing is a way to honor yourself, bumps and all. Anne’s candor feels like she’s putting her arm around your shoulder and giving it a little squeeze. She’s reassuring, funny, wise and I wish we were related so I could call her to chat.
Zippy was hilarious. I laughed until I cried. I loved it because Haven confirmed that we all come from weird families. Her ability to see the absurd in the ordinary was delightful and affirming. I’ve read it three times.
I am currently reading Twyla Tharp’s “The Creative Habit” which is equal parts motivation and memory. I liken memoirs to taking a new path up your favorite mountain…the terrain is recognizable, but the path is new and unpredictable. Most memoirs give me the stabilizing calm of a well-guided hike, but the truly wonderful will focus my mind with stunning vistas and brilliant, sparkling, pure air.
Gives me room to breathe.
My maternal Grandmothers diaries. They bring her to life, written the way she spoke. I would love to expand on the concept and journal for my children.
I have long been fascinated by all things Japanese; probably in reflection of the “Opposites Attract” dictum. Our 24 year old Cotton-Arbo retum is not at all Japanese in stye, but has hundreds of Japanese plants genuses, including countless conifers, woodland plants, herbaceous and tree peonies and 70 Japanese maples.
I recently devoured, and then devoured again, Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan by Lafcadio Hearn, a book written in 1894 by an early U.S. visitor to Japan who was immediately entranced, and proceeded to settle, marry and live there his remaining days.Hearn was a very remarkable self-made man and his reflections on his travels revealed him to be as fascinating as the country he so thoroughly explored. Because I have a large visual mental library to draw upon ( historic photos, films, artwork) I could, with Hearn’s narration, see Japan living and breathing, acting and interacting, a hundred years ago, before it had achieved the complete Westernization that it sought after coming out of its previous 230 year period of isolation. I was mesmerized by Hearn’s memoir of his first encounter with Japan, and I have continued reading other memoirs about late 19th c. Japan and the Americans who explored it.
I’m in—I want to read this book (and my b-day is closing day). My choice of notable memoir is “For Those I Loved” (I have a weakness for holocaust survivor memoirs, also favoring “Night” by Elie Weisel). Martin Gray’s book (http://amzn.to/lKzKi3) was very powerful in terms of losing everything… twice, and going on to write about it, continue to find courage, love and meaning out of bleakness. Add in Victor Frankl and me and Kafka could stay up all night laughing.
I enjoyed both Bill Clinton’s and Barack Obama’s memoirs on audio, especially since they also narrated them.
I fell in love with the life writing of Gladys Tahor when I was just a child. She wrote a column in my mother’s monthly copy of McCall’s magazine. I loved to cut out the Betsy McCall paper doll in each issue and somewhere along the way I began to absorb Gladys writing about the life she and her partner Jill lived on a small farm called Still Meadow. She had run away from the fast track in NY city too and found her peace in the country life. She opened my eyes to the wonders of nature with the passing seasons and gave me a love of amimals from reading about the show quality Cocker Spanials and Irish Setters she raised and trained. I credit her with my life long interest in amimal rescue but even more important was that I learned to see the beauty of nature in my every day life on my parent’s farm. As I look back on the kind of woman I have become I’m surprised at the influence she had on me. I still love to reread her books that I’ve collected over the years and how much I enjoy the things that she did. We are truely kindred spirits and I’ve learned to like my self almost as much as I like her.
When I was a high school junior in the early ’70’s and having self-esteem issues and a father who didn’t think much of girls/women, I read Blackberry Winter by Margaret Mead (among other great authors like Maya Angelou). She helped me envision other ways of living, to see the things that women can achieve, and gave me some of the courage I needed to leave.
My earliest memoir was the Diary of Anne Frank. This first real exposure to the horrors of the holocaust was shocking to me. Since then, I have enjoyed short trips into other people’s lives, including Black Like Me, and Night. I am interested in learning how to write about the significant events in my life, to learn to tell my story.
I would love to write a memoir of my life and all the struggles I went through to become the better person I am today. I must say it would be a very interesting story.
The Diary of Anne Frank — read countless times as a child.
Ms. Roach ~ I can’t help but be impressed by your courage to walk away from a secure job and look for your life – your real life – out in the country. Something I’ve ached to do for years but don’t have the hutzpah to do. At least not yet.
I began reading memoirs a couple of years ago because I want to write one about my father and his experiences in Nazi-occupied Poland. Not sure that actually qualifies as a memoir, since they aren’t my memories…
Hands down my favorite memoir is “Not Even My Name: A True Story” by Thea Halo ~ an account of her mother’s experience of the Turkish genocide of the Pontic Greeks and Armenians in 1914. I had never heard of this atrocity until I began doing research on war memoirs. It’s gut-wrenching and well-written.
Would love to win “The Memoir Project” because I need to get my father’s story written down before he leaves us…and he’s already 87…and I’ve never attempted to write a memoir before.
Peace,
~ Mikaela
—my last read was “Spoken From The Heart” –a very insightful memoir by Laura Bush.
I want to win so I May finally stop struggling daily to write anything!
Latest memoir that inspired me was -Homeless To Harvard
A mentor suggested that I trying listening to books on tape to help me with my anxiety. I went to the bookstore and purchased “It Happens Everday” by Isabel Gillies. There was no reasoning behind the purchase, other than I enjoy reading memoirs and that one looked interesting. I found myself spending more time in my car to keep listening to her. Her life literally changed in a moment and everything she once believed to be true was no longer. The ideas in her book have stayed with me and I’m realizing that I have to do what is best for me and my child and not necessarily what I believe to be good for everyone else around me!
I’ve read “mitten strings for god” once a year the last ten years of my mothering. It grounds me every time I read it, reminds me to breathe, to simplify, to enjoy the here and now. It’s helped shape my mothering choices more than any other book. Love u Katrina, thanks for the sweat and tears you put into your writings, they are so dear to us!
Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamotte. And the rest of her non-fiction. Insightful, true, leavened with humor.
Well, definitely Mitten Strings For God… the first time I read it I wanted to crawl inside of it and be in that home for a while so that I could experience it first hand and then take it home and duplicate it! Such peace!
I usually am impressed by whatever I’m reading at the moment, which at this time is Margaret’s memoir. From troll dolls to Buddah and everything inbetween, I envy her garden life.
After taking a memoir writing workshop with Natalie Goldberg last summer, I started a memoir writing group at my local library. It has rewarded me with the joy that cones from expressing myself creatively and giving my life a voice. My recent memoir favs are Without a Map and The Memory Palace. Am reading now The Anthropology of Turquoise by Ellen Meloy
The memoir I would like to read hasn’t been written yet. My mother claims to have gotten started, but she is 82 and who knows how much time she has left? If I won a copy of Marion’s book I would give it to my mother as a gentle prod.
Several memoirs have spoken to me, moved me in some way emotionally and stayed with me for months after having read them. Only two, however, have changed my life: The Gift of an Ordinary Day was one of them, Fifty Acres and a Poodle written by Jeanne Marie Laskas is the other. After having read Ms. Laskas’ memoir, I decided no dream was too big, too ridiculous or too expensive to realize. I insisted that my husband (whom up to that point had only ever read nonfiction engineering textbooks for fun) read her book as well. He also fell in love with the idea of chasing something we hardly knew was there: a burn for green pastures, noisy animals, hard work, a tired calm at the end of the day, and a place where children can really play. We found the farm only three months after reading her book and took a leap that most of our friends and family found insanely crazy. Really?!? they kept asking. Almost two years later, we are even more in love with this place we now call home. When we found this home, we found ourselves. I found Katrina’s book a short time after our move here and realized my new home had a perfect little corner to write in. I too wanted to start noticing the ordinary and seeing the beauty in it. I have. I continue to. What a blessing that I found these two books. They have changed my direction in life and pointed me to my happy place.
The Road From Coorain is one of my favorite memoirs, I’ve read it 3 times (so far). Ker Conway described her early life in the Australian outback so vividly and it’s inspiring to know how far she came. Having a mother with mental illness, Ker Conway’s experiences of her father’s depression and her mother’s mood swings really struck a chord with me. Am taking time off from paid work and would love some inspiration & guidance in writing my stories.
While I have read a number of memoirs, they have all inspired me to write my own. A few Christmases ago my lovely, and very thoughtful, daughter gave me a beautiful leather-bound book, entitled “The Story of a Lifetime – A Keepsake of Personal Memoirs”. In the Fall and especially the Winter, during those quiet times when I find myself inside and with a comfy pillow to support my back and a steamy cup of tea I truly become a welcomed witness to those long-ago personal memories. In my best catholic-school hand, my pen flows across the pages all that I remembered, felt, believed, wished. What a journey to go back in time! This gift from my daughter will be my treasured gift back to her, only completed, and I pray it will pass to my descendants so they will know who I was. Love to win a copy of The Memoir Project, it could only enhance my “memoir”.
Blood, Bones, and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton is the most recent memoir I’ve read. I found it to be exquisitely written and very moving,especially where she writes about her marriage. It is rare that I read something that so profoundly resonates with what I myself have experienced.
I thoroughly enjoyed And I Shall Have Some Peace There (and should have written to tell you so months ago). What an original voice you have, and what a brave willingness to reveal potentially embarrassing personal stuff — a necessary attribute of any successful memoirist, I guess. I especially enjoyed the italic asides of you talking to yourself. Thanks, Margaret, for the many chuckles. A year or two back, I went on an infidelity memoir jag. First I read Happens Every Day by the talented Isabel Gillies, and loved it — the story of a woman who uproots her life to trek halfway across the country with her professor husband, only to have the bastard take up with a colleague in his department. It’s riveting and raw. Then I read Julie Metz’s Perfection, about a woman who discovers posthumously that her husband had been a serial cheater. I found that one annoying, in a Park Slope kind of way. Moved on to Cleaving by Julie (Julie and Julia) Powell, a tell-all (tell too much, if you ask me) about an affair she had, which made her apparently still ongoing marriage look pretty publicly pathetic, and by the time I got to Mary Karr’s Lit, I must have had it, because I couldn’t make it through. However, I later returned to the genre, reading and relating to Meghan Daum’s very amusing Life Would be Perfect if Only I Lived in That House. I’d very much like to read Marion’s book, though I have no desire to write a memoir myself. I’m too busy reading them.
Among many others, Learning to Fall: The Blessings of An Imperfect Life, by Philip Simmons, and There is A Season by Patrick Lane.
Many of the memoirs I’ve loved have already been mentioned. But one of my absolute favorites is “Homesick: My Own Story” by Jean Fritz. It is the story of her childhood as an expat in China. Such a wonderful book.
Would love to win the giveaway!
Count me in!
I thoroughly enjoyed “Eat, Pray, Love.”
My birthday is a few weeks away and I’d love to win “The Memoir Project” because I would like to capture my mother’s story in writing and I’ve never attempted to write a memoir before.
Unfortunately, I could not choose just one…
Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert. My dream adventure! One of my all time favorites. How amazing to have the ability to take such a trip! Raw, real life…. Elizabeth definitely describes issues I can identify with in spite of the privilege factor.
Gardening at the Dragon’s Gate, Wendy Johnson. Written by both a Zen and Gardening Master, this is a real treasure, packed full of gardening and life wisdom. This book can be read over and over again for new insights this very dense volume reveals each time.
Stolen Lives, Malika Oufkir. A life that could not be more different than mine. The princess describes heartbreaking circumstances and unimaginable horrors born of a foreign culture. The story is told with a certain grace that is admirable. This book makes me feel grateful for being born in this country, and for my life here.
Up Tunket Road, Philip Ackerman-Leist. I am currently reading this book. Philip was a philosophy major and is currently a professor at Green Mountain College in Vermont. He challenges the idea of the homesteading philosophy, that of being self sufficient and instead shows how interdependent we all are. A fabulous personal account of the Vermont culture, homesteading successes and failures, with unassuming, heartfelt descriptions of relationships and tales of personal growth. More proof (as if I need any?) that living close to the land gives life meaning.
True Compass, Edward Kennedy. My Grandfather was a policeman in West Roxbury, MA and knew Ted’s father Joseph. The Kennedy family has so much publicity and hoopla surrounding it I could not help myself… the last of the Kennedy brothers and the end of an era.
Wish my grandma who rode motorcycles and farmed while wearing sparkling earrings would have written a memoir. We kept telling her to but her claim was “no one would believe it!”
I love memoirs and one that I made my students read was “Zlata’s Diary”. She was a girl growing up in Sarajevo during the war in 1992.
Thanks for the give away!
And the title of my memoir for my children is Fragments. I would love to read the book to make my writing more colorful.
Lost in Translation by Eva Hoffman, brought me into the life of a girl, uprooted by war from Cracow to Vancouver, and into her struggle to learn a new language and discover an identity. Hoffman is an insightful and elegant writer, literary and intimate in her spiritual and intellectual journey. Her story brought me closer to my half-sister, who also left a war-torn country as a girl and came to America with our mother who had married an American soldier. Because of Hoffman’s book, I have a deeper understanding of what it must have been like for my sister to leave everything she knew and loved—people and places and things, and what it means to always carry that nostalgia while striving to create “ a translation of one’s self.”
I would love to read this book it sounds very interesting.
Robin Lane Fox’s ‘Thoughtful Gardening’. The guy has written a screenplay and then played a part in his movie, written a beloved garden column for 40 years, is a respected professor at Oxford (and maintains the gardens) and he has gardened with some of the most renowned gardeners of our time. Yet, he feels a trip to the nursery to thoughtfully select a plant, return home and watch it grow is all that is needed for a life well lived. I can do that.
I just can’t get enough of memoir. I love finding out what makes people tick. At the same time I learn about history, lifestyle, fortune and misfortune. It’s a big world out there. I have been writing my own memoir. I think there is a story there… I am excited to see this book come along just as I could use some help with my “project.”
One of the first memoirs I read was, “All Over but the Shoutin'” by Rick Bragg. I grew up in a verbally abusive home triggered by alcoholism so reading Rick’s memoir made me realize that I wasn’t alone. I went on to read, “Ava’s Man.” Rick has a lyrical way of writing that seems to capture the true South and makes it impossible to close the covers.
What does Waiting Moderation refer to?
Not to worry — It just means that I actually read every comment before it appears!
“Beautiful Boy” by David Sheff. The story of a devoted father’s desperate attempt to get his young, Meth addicted son, Nic, off drugs was raw & real. David’s writing placed me right there in the fight with them. I could feel David’s gut wrenching pain & despair as he watched his son’s life & health deteriorate rapidly over & over again. There’s nothing a parent wouldn’t do for their child & I related to David’s endless attempts to rescue his son, only to learn it time, that he couldn’t. That has to be the cruelest lesson for a parent to learn.
I can’t wait to read all of the favorite memoirs!!
Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeleine L’Engle. I haven’t thought about about this book in years, but it was the first title that popped into my head. I read and reread it until it fell apart.
“My Life in France” by Julia Child — it was not only a fascinating story about a warm and generous woman, but a good reminder that you’re never too old to learn new things or have your “Grandma Moses moment.”
I am always looking to see how others are overcoming, striving, and living their lives in the best way they know how. The books that have truly imprinted upon me and challenged me are memoirs.
“Shutterbabe” by: Deborah Copaken Kogan inspired me to study print and photojournalism in college.
“Under the Tuscan Sun” by: Frances Mayes inspired me to travel to Italy.
“Garlic and Sapphires” by: Ruth Reichl inspired me to go back to culinary school and become a pastry chef.
“Trail of Crumbs” by: Kim Sunee and “Eat, Pray, Love” by: Elizabeth Gilbert inspired me to love my life where it is and to appreciate that it’s ever changing.
“Infidel” by: Ayaan Hirsi Ali inspired me to be grateful for the amazing opportunities I’ve had as a woman born in the United States in this day and age. Her spirit and strength is incredible.
“Committed” by: Elizabeth Gilbert challenged me to really think about marriage and if I really desire it and why.
I’m currently reading “and I shall have some peace there.”
I read a memoir about Corrie ten Boom and I found it wonderfully inspirational!
Love memoirs! I’ve read lots of those listed above and now have a list of new ones to search out. I can’t name a favorite so I’ll list a new one I really enjoyed. Maine writer Susan Conley’s “Foremost Good Fortune” is about moving to China w/2 young boys, getting breast cancer, and learning to appreciate life wherever one may be. My brother and sister-in-law have been in Beijing for almost 10 years so her take on that city was interesting to me but I think anyone would enjoy her writing.
Thanks!
Submitted by: June Millette Fisher
June 18th, 2011
Hi Margaret,
Thanks for the opportunity to share these thoughts.
My best,
June
What memoir that you have read mattered to you, and why?
Reading May Sarton’s, Plant Dreaming Deep, changed my life. During the 1970’s when I was in my 30’s, I was faced with a huge challenge. A woman I’d admired since childhood recommended a novel by Sarton. After reading it I found my way to her journals. I recognized a way of living that felt right, was validated and though not easy, has been a quest since then. The lessons learned – the losses and gains have made me who I am today: an HR executive who walked away from prestige, stress and salary to become a seeker, reader, writer, decorative gardener and a much happier and content woman. Sarton’s respect for and need of solitude has supported me all of the years since then and helped me understand that telling our stories may be the most important writing anyone can ever do.
“Remember only this one thing,” said Badger. “The stories people tell have a way of taking care of them. If stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away when they are needed. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive. That is why we put these stories in each other’s memory. This is how people care for themselves.” — Barry Lopez, Crow and Weasel
From: Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life by Gregg Michael Levoy
REFUGE by Terry Tempest Williams. Hands down.
After my grandfather died, my grandma began writing memories of growing up on the farm in a little notebook. I am one of the few that can read her handwriting. I wish she would write more. She’s 86. Two of my favorite stories involve wolves and an out-of-control horse sleigh. She is a living treasure.
I have yet to find a memoir that has had a profound effect on me. I would love to write my own, while not entirely interesting to many others, I have so much to share with my kids. Thanks for the opportunity!
My favorite memoir is “The Land Remembers” by Ben Logan. Not only because it’s a book about growing up in rural Wisconsin, as I did, but because of the bittersweet way in which he writes about his life. Also, because his love of living with nature is a main theme throughout the book.
I’d like to add how cool this idea is! All these posts give us wonderful memoir suggestions for future reading.
Eat, Love, Pray – Walking away from the life you have with the intention to get some perspective was just what I needed to read at that time of my life. I’d recently done that, and then I purposely walked towards a life I consciously, and unconsciously, created. I took a huge leap of faith, and landed on my feet surrounded by love and happiness. Reading about someone else’s leap was ‘comforting’.
I read memoirs a lot and, probably because I don’t have much reading time and must choose carefully, I usually find something in each that really speaks to me; makes it “matter.” I really enjoyed “and I shall have some peace there” because I recently moved out of the city to a wooded area in the lower Hudson valley where I am struggling to start a garden — the obstacles faced by Margaret are all familiar to me. But I am, also, dealing with some similar existential questions about my direction in life. Other standouts include Roger Rosenblatt’s bittersweet “Making Toast,” and two of Michael Pollan’s pre-food-focused books: “Second Nature” and “A Place of One’s Own.”
The Mercy Papers: A Memoir of Three Weeks by Robin Romm. It was as though finally someone had witnessed me and all I had felt in losing my Mom to cancer as a young girl. That I wasn’t alone in my inner child’s (and my adult) thoughts that it wasn’t OK for her to leave. Robin’s book speaks to the child in all of us that is never too old to lose their mother. It was the turning point for me to be able to begin to celebrate my mother in life, not grieve her in death. This book began as Robin’s personal journal and I am profoundly grateful for the gift she gave in choosing to share it.
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
Great book about a wonderful writer and marathon runner. The story of how he started doing both. I read this when I decided to run my first marathon.
I really liked “The gift of an ordinary day”. The author echoed my sentiments in so many aspects throughout the book. Her remarkable insight and elegant writing style made it perfect.
I know we were asked to comment on one memoir, but being a rule breaker by nature, there have been two books in my life that weight equally as life changing.
“When the heart waits” by Sue Monk Kidd, afforded me the lesson in just being still and present to your life and was the inspiration for my first foot forward in my personal journey.
“The Gift of an Ordinary Day” by Katrina Kenison came into my life just when I was wanting to flee. The book reassured me that feeling, good and bad, is the key to the life you really want to live.
I love the book The gift of an ordinary day. Would love to win and learn how to write a memoir. Thx 🙂
My favorite memoir has been ‘A Year by the Sea’ by Joan Anderson. So much wisdom on how to create the life you want.
I am a mother of 2 young boys and my husband and I are planning to take the boys on the road, traveling, for a year. I would love to capture our journey – both the physical and mental journeys. Your quote of Marion, on ‘just because it’s hard, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t bother.’ rings true as I’m sure we’ll encounter many difficulties (who doesn’t with a 2.5 and 5 yr olds) but that does not mean it will not be worth it in the end and for all the memories and bonds which will be created. THANK YOU!!
Count me in
I have already purchased this wonderful book.
And it’s in my Kindle Line (I can’t wait to get there).
But I simply wanted to post that The Gift of an Ordinary Day continues to inspire me. In fact, I just gave a speech at my father’s Memorial and the words and message guided me, directly and indirectly (www.RobertUrband.info). Thanks!
Anne Lamott’s Operating Instructions made a huge difference to me. Nothing could have better prepared me for becoming a parent.