+Nina Simone’s Gum by Warren Ellis
Memoir is the wild west of literary genres. Anything goes. Continue reading +Nina Simone’s Gum by Warren Ellis
Tag: memoir
Role Models by John Waters.
I heard about this book on an episode of A Good Read my favorite book related podcast from BBC 4. The host and both of her guests loved it, went on and on about how good it was, with a few caveats, it is the BBC after all. I’ve been a fan of Mr. Waters’ work since I first saw Pink Flamingoes, with my hands over my eyes … Continue reading Role Models by John Waters.
I Blame Dennis Hopper by Illeana Douglas
Do you have to be a fan of hers to enjoy Illeana Douglas’s memoir I Blame Dennis Hopper? That’s the essential question with any celebrity memoir, I guess. Does it have anything to offer people who are not fans of the author? Or to people who don’t know the author’s work at all? I can only speak as a fan, or as something of a fan. … Continue reading I Blame Dennis Hopper by Illeana Douglas
Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant by Roz Chast
I know this won’t win me many friends in some quarters but my main problem with graphic novels is that they are typically so much better as graphics than they are as novels. Even when I look at the graphic novels I’ve loved and admired, I have to admit that I like the artwork much more than I do the writing. Most graphics novelists–in … Continue reading Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant by Roz Chast
What It Is by Lynda Barry
How to categorize this book? Part memoir, part essay on art, part essay on philosophy, artwork, journal, graphic narrative. Hard to say. Then, if you don’t really know what it is, how do you determine if it is good? What It Is can be viewed as a sort of textbook for a class on imagery. Each section of the book deals with some aspect of … Continue reading What It Is by Lynda Barry
The Gastronomical Me by M.F.K. Fisher
This passage may contain everything I loved about M.F.K. Fishers memoir, The Gastronomical Me. The first time, on our way to Germany, we had sat downstairs while our meal was being made. There were big soft leather chairs, and on the dark table was a bowl of the first potato chips I ever saw in Europe, not the uniformly thing uniformly golden ones that come out … Continue reading The Gastronomical Me by M.F.K. Fisher
My Dog Tulip by J.R. Ackerley
Two years ago, when I was walking my dog in Fulham Palace Gardens, we overtook an old woman who was wheeling a baby carriage. She was chatting cheerfully to the occupant of it, and it was therefore, perhaps, not unreasonable of me to be surprised to find, when I caught up with her, that this too was a dog. My Dog Tulip by J.R. Ackerley … Continue reading My Dog Tulip by J.R. Ackerley
Sweet Tooth: a Memoir by Tim Anderson
Tim Anderson’s memoir Sweet Tooth is the first ARC I’ve accepted in a very long time. I’m glad I did. Mr. Anderson begins his memoir just before the summer of his 15th year when he discovers that he has type 1 diabetes and that he likes boys. Of course he thinks God is punishing him for liking boys by giving him diabetes; what else would … Continue reading Sweet Tooth: a Memoir by Tim Anderson
Sunday Salon: ARC’s and Fairies
I’m in the midst of an Advanced Review Copy (ARC) which is news only because I swore I wouldn’t take ARC’s when I started this new blog. I didn’t make a public declaration of principles or anything, just a promise to myself. I have not sought out any ARC’s, but one was offered by a book tour group I worked with many times at Ready When … Continue reading Sunday Salon: ARC’s and Fairies
May Contain Spoilers 