Posts filed under 'Memoir & Biography'
Dave Egger’s 1999 memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius chronicled his life while taking care of his younger brother Christopher “Toph” Eggers following the cancer-related deaths of his parents. Eggers has since gone far beyond the personal narrative and into the chaotic world outside himself. In his 2006 book What Is The What (reviewed here by Lisa), Eggers tells the painful true-life account of a Sudanese war refugee who was a member of the Lost Boys of Sudan. He then went on to use the book’s profits to organize a human rights organization named after the book’s main character. Now, in his most recent book, Zeitoun, Eggers tells the story of Hurricane Katrina through the intimate lens of the Zeitoun family who are long time residents. As with his last book, all proceeds from the book go the Zeitoun Foundation, a human rights organization that aids in the rebuilding of New Orleans.
In Zeitoun, Eggers introduces Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a middle-aged Syrian-American and the owner of a successful painting and contracting firm in New Orleans. His wife and business partner, Kathy, comes from a Southern Baptist family who later coverted to Islam after her first failed marriage. The Zeitouns have four children and live in the Uptown neighborhood of New Orleans. The story starts out two days before the storm arrives when the city is full of mounting tensions and residents are madly fleeing their homes. Kathy decides to leave with the children and go to Baton Rouge and later Phoenix while Zeitoun, as usual, decides to stay in the city to watch over their own home and other properties.
After a relatively standard post-storm Day 1, by Day 2 it is ominously clear to Zeitoun that the city’s levees have failed and the city is completely overrun with water. After saving what he could of his own family’s valuables, Zeitoun then takes to his 16-foot aluminum canoe and paddles around New Orleans witnessing the spectacle and saving elderly and dehydrated residents trapped in rotting, destroyed houses. Filled with an increasing sense of purpose, Zeitoun’s determination to save lives and help those less fortunate becomes more intense as the waters become more polluted and as the violence and chaos of the city deepens.
The book takes a turn when six armed officers show up at one of Zeitoun’s properties and take he and two others into custody for unclear reasons except possibly accused armed robbery. This then proceeds into a harrowing account of the government mistaking Zeitoun for a terrorist and subjecting him to a series of humiliations including full body searches, forced entrapment in a wire cage at makeshift Camp Greyhound, and finally being transferred to a real prison outside of New Orleans. And all the while, he is kept from making a call to his wife.
In telling this true account, Eggers’ style (much like in What Is The What) is amazingly simple and unadorned. There are no political soapboxes or rants whatsoever, just strictly a show-not-tell style of narrative that almost makes the reader believe he was simply transcribing word for word what the Zeitouns told him about their nightmarish experiences post- Hurricane Katrina. The results are poignant and disturbing and unabashedly clear.
November 20th, 2009
Kathleen - Monroe Street
Judging from David Small’s award-winning children’s books illustrations, it’s hard to imagine that the same man is behind the dark tale recounted in the graphic novel memoir Stitches. Best known for his work with wife Sarah Stewart and his Caldecott Award-winning artwork in So You Want to be President?, Stitches reveals a painful past, yet one that Small somehow weaves a sense of hopefulness through with his art.
It’s no easy feat. Small grew up in postwar Detroit, the son of an oft-absent radiologist and an emotionally cold mother. A sickly boy with sinus problems, his father treated him with repeated doses of x-ray radiation. By the time he was in his early teens, Small had a lump on his throat that had developed into full-blown cancer, although his parents made a point of never telling him the true nature, or cause, of his condition. Waking up after an operation, Small discovers that not only does he have an ugly row of stitches down his neck, but one of his vocal chords was entirely removed. He was almost completely mute.
Small always found solace in drawing as a child, and his ink-washed artwork captures an extraordinary range of emotions, especially in capturing the subtleties of facial expressions. His use of lighting to strategically shade features and the inclusion of nightmare sequences lends a quasi-Hitchcockian cast to the story. It’s apt for this very internal story, filled with the effects of repression and silence.
Stitches was recently nominated for the National Book Award in the Young People’s Category, a choice that has generated some controversy given the dark subject matter, and the fact that graphic novels rarely get recognition by major awards. It is a haunting story, but there’s nothing that would be objectionable in Small’s story compared to many other modern-day young adult novels. In fact, anyone who hasn’t picked up a graphic novel may find Stitches to be the perfect way to get into the genre. Along with recent graphic memoirs such as Fun Home and Blankets, Stitches demonstrates brilliantly how image and text can blend into a powerful, captivating experience.
(Publisher’s Weekly article via Powell’s)
November 17th, 2009
Katie H.
When I first picked up The Art of Making Money I thought, “Great. Probably one of those Suze Orman books and I’ll be chastised for buying another latte.” (According to Suze Buzzkill, my coffee purchases may be impeding my retirement plans). But, reading further, I note the second part of the title–The Story of a Master Counterfeiter. Hmmm. Now they got my attention.
Part memoir, part true crime and written by Jason Kersten, it’s about Art Williams, a maverick counterfeiter from Chicago. The story begins with Art’s childhood in a dysfunctional (natch) family. Art’s father, a small-time crook, abandoned the family when Williams was 11. His mother, diagnosed with bipolar schizophrenia, is unable to look after their three kids. The family ends up on welfare in Bridgeport, on Chicago’s south side, amidst guns, drugs and gangs. Williams begins breaking into parking meters and is soon supporting the family by stealing cars. He then graduates to robbing local drug dealers. At this point, the fun has really just begun and Williams is 13 and we’re only on chapter 3.
Art’s mother’s boyfriend (a.k.a. Da Vinci) takes Art under his wing, introducing him to a future in counterfeiting. After Da Vinci disappears (presumably at the hands of a disgruntled client) Art is left to fine tune his talent on his own. He does so, taking his career onto a new level by using the newest technology available, coming up with a c-note, (I like to throw the lingo around) a hundred dollar bill so perfect, even law enforcement have trouble telling it from the real thing.
Art’s inevitable downfall stems from his inability to follow Da Vinci’s simple instructions–first, do not spend the notes yourself, and secondly, never spend them close to home. Art’s final undoing, however, is a result of visiting his father in Alaska. In a moment of weakness and, one can only think, an effort to finally win dear old dad’s approval, Art lets his dad in on the business. Art Senior wants a piece of the free money action but can’t follow the rules either.
If I was casting the movie, which is currently in the works, I’d put Johnny Depp in the lead role and Ray Liotta as the deadbeat dad. While you wait for the film, however, slap down some legal tender, get yourself a big old latte and enjoy this page turner. Sure, it may not expedite your retirement or improve your investment portfolio, but take solace in the fact that the feds aren’t chasing you. And then there’s all that money you’re saving by getting your stuff from the library.
November 13th, 2009
Terry - Central
Sometimes you really do need to give a book a little more time. The prologue of Confections of a Closet Master Baker: One Woman’s Sweet Journey from Unhappy Hollywood Executive to Contented Country Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado really lost me. I understand that the author was trying to set up her lifelong love of sweets, but this chapter was kinda weird. She remembers back to a Christmas spent in Austria and how the holiday stockings were delivered by a raggedy St. Nikolaus and his demon sidekick, Krampus. I may, in fact, have nightmares about this. I thought I was getting into chocolate chip cookies and some Hollywood style hissy fits. I wasn’t prepared at all for the Krampus.
But continuing on to chapter one I get exactly what I want: a memoir of why a successful Hollywood executive (and sister of famous actress Sandra Bullock) would want to pack it all up and leave for Vermont to open a bakery. We also get some kick ass recipes. I am committing the recipe for Golden Eggs to memory. It is that good. Vanilla cake with a sugar and cinnamon coating that makes it taste like a donut. Mmmmm.
Each chapter is set up with a title and time, the time corresponding to what time of day certain events happen in the life of a baker. Example, 3:00 a.m. wake up. 4:00 a.m. arrival at the bakery and convection oven preheating. 5:00 a.m. tart filling. You get the idea. Each chapter also contains memories, insight and recipes. I love, love, love this. Gesine’s mother is German and a lot of the recipes and memories are inspired by the treats Gesine ate growing up in Germany as well as family traditions carried on after moving to the U.S., which is fascinating stuff. Having grown up eating apfelkuchen myself, this was very enjoyable reading. But I will not lie to you, I almost hung it up after the Krampus chapter. I’m still a little freaked out.
So it’s a good thing I have a new carrot cake recipe to test that calls for nine pounds of butter! Well, not quite, but all of the recipes included in this book have full-fat, real ingredients. Totally worth it! That’s what baking is all about! I was this close to planning a trip to Montpelier, VT, to visit Gesine Confectionary & Gourmet Market, but it looks like they closed up shop and Gesine is preparing to open a new bakery in Austin, TX. I will keep my eye out for that one. And in case you’re wondering, it’s Geh-see-neh.
October 26th, 2009
Molly - Central
“Another memoir?” my husband responded when he asked me what I was reading and I answered the same way I often do . Yes, it’s true. I can’t seem to get enough of these true stories of coming of age, falling in love, heartbreak, despair, addiction, and every other wonderful or horrible thing that happens every day to regular people. Happens Every Day: An All-Too-True story is no great departure from the tried-and-true formula for memoirs of heartbreak: seemingly perfect life, perhaps a few cracks in the relationship or signs of trouble, followed by a shocking discovery/confession.
Author Isabel Gillies does lead a seemingly perfect life. She and her family have recently moved into a beautiful, old house in Oberlin, Ohio where her husband is a poetry professor. Gillies starts a part-time teaching job in the theatre department, oversees renovations on her old home, and is a full-time mother of two young boys. Her perfect life is turned upside-down when her husband abruptly announces that he no longer wants to be married to her. Gillies is not only shocked and heartbroken but also completely unwilling and certainly not ready to end her marriage. She attempts to work things out with her husband, but it’s clear very early on that he doesn’t want to be married… at least, not to her.
Like Split: A Memoir of Divorce and I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti, two other engaging memoirs that deal with breakups and heartbreak, Happens Every Day is an enjoyable read first and foremost because Gillies knows how to get to the point. She may not be the greatest writer (in fact she was an actress first) but she manages to charmingly and succinctly describe her family, her marriage, her job, and her town in such a way that I truly was drawn to her story. Additionally she comletely manages to avoid self-pity and extreme negativity, a huge feat in itself. Finally, for those of you who prefer not to read a completely depressing memoir, this is the one for you!
October 9th, 2009
Mary - Lakeview
Jeffrey Zaslow is a columnist for the Wall Street Journal. One of his columns was about lifelong friendships that seem to exist primarily among women. The Girls From Ames: A Story of Women and a Forty-Year Friendship evolved from the responses he received, including one from the Ames group. The 10 women who were friends in high school (there were 11, but one died) and graduated in 1981 are now scattered throughout the country They have a reunion every year. Zaslow was invited to attend, and uses this time to update us on their current and past live. They have had tragedies, challenges and successes.
It is hard to describe exactly why this was a disappointing read. The 10 “girls”, now in their forties, seem personable enough and are very successful in their adult lives. And author Jeffrey Zalow (co-author of The Last Lecture), has a lot of facts about them, their childhoods in Ames and their lives since graduation. Perhaps the fact that Zaslow has all the details of their lives might be part of the problem. He is good at reporting but not as good at conveying feeling and emotions. Also for the most part these are ordinary middle class lives, and even though they are often eventful and rewarding, they are not that interesting to read about. A more general book about women’s friendships and how rewarding long term, life-long friendships can be would have been more interesting. Anyone else have a different response to the book?
September 26th, 2009
Mary K. - Central
It seems like Carol Tyler has been kicking around the comics scene since it was referred to as the underground comics scene. In the last few years, she’s turned her attention to the full-length graphic novel. Her latest, You’ll Never Know: A Graphic Memoir begins to tell the story of her father, Chuck Tyler, in words and pictures, with an effort to tell about his time in the army during World War II, as well as her life growing up with him and later with her own family.
Growing up it seems neither Chuck– nor most of the men of his generation who had served– spent much time talking about the war or their experiences. Even the photographs and souvenirs they kept were seldom spoken of, although they were kept and preserved with something like reverence. Carol had tried at various times to get her father to answer questions about the war, only to have him forcefully reject the overtures. Then, one night, forty years after the war, he calls her on the phone and spends two hours talking about the war. The phrase “rivers of blood” fairly leaps off of the page.
It’s a beautifully and cleverly done book, with some charming and imaginative illustrative and narrative techniques that cleverly glide from one era to another using overlapping dialogue and scenes that evolve. A really terrific piece of craftsmanship, it jumps nimbly between eras separated now by almost seventy years. It’s a fairly large-format book, with a cover suggesting it’s been made out of plywood, a sly salute to the working-class, can-do man that was her father. This particular volume is titled Book one: A Good and Decent Man. Her story of her father’s time in the army has only taken him to the shores of north Africa so far. Still, to come: Italy, France, and finally Germany. I’ll certainly be reading any future volumes that come out. But there’s more than a little trepidation about what will eventually be revealed.
At times charming and enthralling, and at other times emotionally wrenching, the story so far leads only to the edge of the war Chuck Tyler experienced. The title, “You’ll never know” appears in the lyrics of a love song from the era and it’s a sweet counterpoint to the scenes where young Chuck is wooing Carol’s mother on the dance floor. But it also hints at the dark side of the war (every war) that never seems to be revealed. Like Carol, I want to know her father’s story, but I’m more than a little afraid of what I’ll find out. The book’s title suggests a many-layered truth, not just about this one man, but about war itself.
If you’re interested in finding out more about author Carol Tyler, her website is here and there are numerous links to newspaper and magazine articles exploring her work as a teacher in the expanding field of “sequential art” (i.e. comics).
September 22nd, 2009
Dennis - Central
Chances are that this edifying little book originally published 38 years ago would not have gained steam again without the amazing video footage shown on YouTube to millions worldwide. I’m talking about A Lion Called Christian, the story of a lion cub purchased at Harrods luxury department store in London and raised by two Aussie blokes until he’s too big to live in the city and with humans.
Christian gets reintroduced to the wild in the Coast Province of Kenya at the Kora National Reserve and is later joyously reunited with the Aussie blokes who raised him. The reunion is filmed as part of a documentary about George Adamson, best known through the award-winning Born Free, who lived at the Kora Reserve and rehabilitated captured or orphaned lions into the wild.
If you have seen the video or looked at the stills on the cover of the book, you can’t help but notice the bond between Christian and his original owners Anthony Bourke and John Rendall. They obviously had a loving and playful relationship. It will only take you a couple of hours to read about what it was like to live in a London flat with a growing lion cub, what types of feeding and exercise was necessary and the difficulty of getting a lion from England to Kenya. What a story!
August 11th, 2009
Molly - Central
A while back I read and loved 84, Charing Cross Road, a collection of letters between the witty and wonderful Helene Hanff and the staff of a London bookshop. Several times during the decades spanned by the book, Helene planned to visit London, but each time she was thwarted. Eventually, however, her dream came true and she set off for the land of Shakespeare on a tour combining publicity and pleasure. Sadly, her primary correspondent, Frank Doel, passed away before Helene was able to make the trip, but she was met at the airport by his widow, Nora, and daughter, Sheila.
Helene feels so welcomed and admired in London that she takes to calling herself “The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street.” It was sweet and spooky to read about her meeting strangers - fans of her book who’d written to her, offering their services, inviting her out to meals and into their homes. For several chapters I feared it would turn into a cautionary tale for single female visitors to foreign lands. But Helene’s luck held; no one dipped her into a scalding vat of tea or smothered her in tweed.
As she so hoped it would, London enchants Helene. She writes of its bustling but comparatively quiet (to NYC) streets, “Even the sirens are quiet. The ambulance sirens go BlooOOP, blooOop, like a walrus weeping under water.” While she’s there, she finally gets to visit the now-closed Marks & Co. book shop. “I started back downstairs, my mind on the man, now dead, with whom I’d corresponded for so many years. Halfway down I put my hand on the oak railing and said to him silently: ‘How about this Frankie, I finally made it.’”
July 25th, 2009
Robin - Pinney
Remember that one song from the 8th grade dance that seemed to get all the girls out on the floor? So does Rob Sheffield.
In his New York Times bestselling biography Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time, Rob Sheffield shares the ways music has been an indelible part of his life. A journalist for Rolling Stone, Sheffield has been thinking about and worshipping music all his life. His biography traces this path, from when his dad took him out for milkshakes and they each picked a song on the juke box, to when he DJed a middle school dance, to the mix tapes exchanged with women he’s dated and loved.
Each chapter opens with the track listings of a different mix tape that the author has either made or received. From that, Sheffield springboards into the story of the tape’s context: why the tape was made and how the songs related to the people and places in his life. Familiarity with the particular songs Sheffield muses about is unnecessary, as Sheffield focuses more on the people and events in his life rather than nuances of the music he’s listened to. Alternating humorous tales of adolescence with the heartbreaking story of his wife’s premature death, this biography is much more than a music geek’s artistic obsessions; it’s a portrait of coming of age, falling in love, coping with loss, and the struggle for personal growth.
Conversational, warm, and unafraid of the occasional self-deprecating jab, Sheffield provides an intimate glimpse into his life and the music woven through it. Anyone who’s ever listened to an album on repeat or swapped music with friends would value this moving work.
July 8th, 2009
Robin A.
I am not exaggerating about this. Kelly Corrigan’s account of dealing with breast cancer at the same time that her dad is dealing with bladder cancer is a funny, funny book. I laughed out loud while reading it on a plane. That’s crazy, right?
The title of the book, The Middle Place, refers to the generation that is parenting and being parented at the same time. Kelly is a grown woman, a writer living in California with a family of her own, when she discovers a lump in her breast. She has a biopsy and discovers she has late-stage breast cancer. While she is recounting her trials with chemotherapy, radiation, and the many drugs she is taking, she fills us in on her childhood and family. She grew up in a tight-knit Irish Catholic family in Philadelphia and her relationship with her dad is one for the books. He is one of those perpetually upbeat, energetic, affectionate people that everyone loves. When she finds out that his cancer has returned, she is devastated. She is torn between wanting him to come take care of her and trying to manage his care from the opposite coast.
Cancer is tough, but people are tough, too, and the way Kelly takes on her treatment and then her father’s is nothing short of admirable. But this book is not all cancer, all the time. There’s a lot of love and life in these pages. Adorable toddlers and preschoolers, adventures abroad, the Dot-com bust and what it means to be a Corrigan (does your family have a fight song? C-O-double R-I-G-A-N spells Corrigan). Kelly’s the kind of woman who honestly admits to fighting with her mother over Guess jeans in 1984, losing a coveted job at The Limited AND her virginity in the same chapter that follows her reaction to a three-year-old calling her bald, chemo-ridden self “monster”. How does one combine all of these things seamlessly? I’m telling you, it is funny.
This is probably one of those books that you have been thinking about reading, that is making the rounds of the book groups, and I say, why wait? Don’t put it off, it is surprisingly light and you will feel enriched and grateful after reading it.
July 1st, 2009
Molly - Central
But I really heart Hilary Liftin, author of Candy and Me: A Love Story, a book that does not refer to Candy Spelling. Even though Liftin co-authors both of Tori Spelling’s biographies: New York Times bestselling sTORI telling and the new Mommywood. Is it confusing to start this review with that?
Let’s go back to the beginning. I will never tire of Hollywood princess Tori Spelling and her stories of growing up as the privileged daughter of one of the most popular prime-time television producers of all-time. What’s not to love about growing up in a home large enough to house a bowling alley and gift-wrapping room? (OK, I know she didn’t live at “The Manor” until she was 17, but she still had Halloween costumes designed by Nolan Miller.) It is fascinating to read about her tempestuous relationship with her mother and $30,000 wedding gowns and starring roles on popular television shows. I am an unabashed fan of Beverly Hills, 90210 and couldn’t wait for Tori to pick up her role as the now grown-up fashion designer Donna Martin in the new 90210 series. Her character is silly and down-to-earth and so it seems, is the real life Tori.
Where sTORI telling takes on Tori’s own growing up in Hollywood, Mommywood tackles parenting in la-la land. And it is crazy. But told with humor and recognition of the craziness. Like I said, the real life Tori seems to be down-to-earth and funny. Her relationship with her mother and her own life as a Hollywood child color her every move as a parent, but she is trying her best. She changes her babies’ diapers, struggles with temper tantrums and tucks her kids in at night. She also gets invited to red carpet events, receives expensive merchandise for free and celebrates birthdays with other celebrities and their babies at somewhat over-the-top, but not totally excessive parties. I mean, a moon bounce, magician and bakery cakes are not unheard of even in these parts, right?
I listened to Tori read the audio book and it was very funny. I have a special something for audio books read by the author and this was no exception. Tori has great comedic timing and these are her stories. I also really like Hilary Liftin’s writing, and whatever finessing she might have had with Tori’s stories, it all works.
This definitely kicks off summer beach reading season for me. If you are looking for a little taste of lifestyles of the rich and famous and aren’t squeamish when it comes to swim diapers gone wrong (in a private pool, of course), take a trip to Mommywood. And don’t forget Candy and Me: A Love Story. Cola flavored Bottle Caps rule!
June 22nd, 2009
Molly - Central
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