AltWeeklies Wire
Stephen Elliott's Lacerating, All-Over-the-Place Memoir Pulls No Punchesnew
Whenever I read or hear "meta" or "postmodern" or "fiercely honest," I usually head for a lowbrow potboiler. But I'm not sure how else to describe The Adderall Diaries, a fiercely honest, postmodern work that's also more compulsively readable than the most pulpish thrillers.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Steve Friedman |
11-13-2009 |
Nonfiction
The Clinician and the Poet in Kay Redfield Jamison Harmonize in 'Nothing Was the Same'new
This is a slim yet profound book, unadorned by fatuous spirituality, by a writer eager neither to conceal nor exaggerate her feelings. It gives grieving its complete due, and at the same time there's nothing at all depressing about it.
Metro Silicon Valley |
Richard von Busack |
10-15-2009 |
Nonfiction
Master Class Dismissed: Tad Friend Recounts the Fall of the American WASPnew
In reading Cheerful Money, part family memoir and part sociological inquiry, I understand that Wasps are an endangered species of American society. It seems fair to say that most people won't feel a sense of empathy for those who've done most of the excluding in U.S. history. Yet there is a tragic note to Friend's portrait.
New Haven Advocate |
John Stoehr |
10-06-2009 |
Nonfiction
Kennedy Memoir 'True Compass' Recaps the Life of a Dynasty's Last Lionnew
We've heard the word "epic" summoned so often to describe Ted Kennedy’s life, it's no surprise he starts his autobiography with a device out of Homer.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Chuck Twardy |
10-02-2009 |
Nonfiction
In 'The Big Rewind,' Nathan Rabin Uses His Pop-Saturated Memory as a Window into His Lifenew
Did I mention that most of this book is extremely funny? Rabin is aware that there are plenty of hard-luck stories out there, and he's just as hard on himself as he is on such targets as a video store boss, several girlfriends from hell and a Movie Club co-commentator married to the guy who wrote Soul Plane.
INDY Week |
Zack Smith |
08-28-2009 |
Nonfiction
'Crazy for the Storm' is a Wild-Hearted Story of Risk and Survivalnew
How to capture the spirit of a father and son’s relationship? Norman Ollestad, the son in this equation, does it grippingly and gorgeously in Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival.
The Georgia Straight |
Patty Jones |
07-27-2009 |
Nonfiction
'Tattoo Machine' Explores the Secret World of Inknew
More gossip rag than technical primer, Tattoo Machine owes as much of its existence to the author's skill with a needle as it does to his storytelling chops. While Johnson's penchant for philosophical diatribe grates, the man has both great stories and the writerly candor to tell them.
Willamette Week |
Caitlin McCarthy |
07-22-2009 |
Nonfiction
'Milk Teeth' Couldn't Be More Different Than 'Marley and Me'new
By title alone, Milk Teeth: A Memoir of a Woman and Her Dog would seem to fall into the same cutesy genre as John Grogan's bestselling 2005 memoir. Though it does feature a deviantly behaved Lab and a plethora of lessons on life and love, Robbie Pfeufer Kahn's meditative, soul-searching book couldn’t be more different.
Seven Days |
Amy Lilly |
06-19-2009 |
Nonfiction
Joe Queenan's 'Closing Time' is Self-Servingnew
Queenan's memoir turns out to be another bit of his trademark mean-spirited vengeance on his old man's battered ghost.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Jaime O'Neill |
06-16-2009 |
Nonfiction
'If I Could Choose Yesterday'new
In his memoir, Bill Miles provides an astute life-long observer's view of pivotal historic events in the Magnolia State and the politics that make up Mississippi.
Jackson Free Press |
Jere Nash |
04-24-2009 |
Nonfiction
Robin Romm Goes Raw With Loss in 'The Mercy Papers'new
Robin Romm faces her mother's death with such clear-eyed ferocity that it cheapens her stunning, small book to try to say whether it’s good, or whether it might give solace to a grieving reader.
Eugene Weekly |
Molly Templeton |
02-06-2009 |
Nonfiction
Robin Romm's 'The Mercy Papers'new
In The Mercy Papers: A Memoir of Three Weeks, author Robin Romm has opened herself to the world in a courageous little book that chronicles the three weeks before her mother’s death.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Charlotte Jusinski |
01-29-2009 |
Nonfiction
'My Private War': The Things They Carrynew
Norman Bussel's beautifully constructed, emotionally devastating account of being a prisoner of war in Germany during WWII is a tale too rarely told, one whose import should have immediate and direct consequences on current U.S. policy.
Eugene Weekly |
Suzi Steffen |
01-22-2009 |
Nonfiction
David Lovelace Didn't Pick His Disease but He Writes About it Wellnew
Diagnosed with bipolar disorder in his late teens, Lovelace initially resisted prescription drugs, wary as he was of the vicious side-effects that plagued his father. In lieu of legally sanctioned treatment, the author embarked on a roller-coaster of self-medication, ingesting large quantities of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and various hallucinogens.
Charleston City Paper |
Eric Liebetrau |
09-17-2008 |
Nonfiction
Haruki Murakami on Runningnew
Murakami's new book, What I Talk about When I Talk about Running, is such a memoir: Murakami here treats long-distance running as both a routine that has physically sustained him for more than 20 years, and a metaphor for his workhorse approach to writing.
The Portland Mercury |
Marjorie Skinner |
07-31-2008 |
Nonfiction
