Memoirs

Beamer, Lisa, with Ken Abraham.  Let's Roll!  Ordinary People, Extradordinary Courage.  Wheaton, IL:  Tyndale House P, 2002.

Few people watching TV during the days following 9/11 could forget Lisa Beamer, the pretty, gentle wife of Scott Beamer, whose "let's roll!" is immortalized in the day's lore.  Let's Roll! is Lisa Beamer's memoir ofthose days.  This book is an instructive illustration of the effect on memoir of ghost writing.  The book is forthright about the fact that she is the storyteller while Ken Abraham is the writer.  Unfortunately, the price is a less than genuine voice.  I found myself wondering how this book would differ if it had been edited by a major, non-religious based press.  I think her message could have been conveyed more effectively had the testimonials been more reflective and less overt.  In addition to the vice issues, I learned the damage of a cursory discussion of a topic that deserved more detail.  More than once, she introduces a topic that deserves more discussion and clarification.  Clearly, for example, there was some conflict among the various survivor families. She lets us know that, but we know little of the details except that Beamer suggests varying views of an afterlife stressed relations.  (Interestingly, Elizabeth Edwards, in her book, commented on a similar conflict among grief listserv members.)

Potential classroom use: I was disappointed in this book, because I had been very interested in her story at the time of 9/11.  I couldn't recommended it as an exemplary memoir, but it would be useful as an instance of lack of personal voice. 

Burroughs, Augusten. Magical Thinking. New York:  St. Martin's P, 2004.

This man can write.  Augusten Borroughs' writing is as engaging as his life is dysfunctional.  He has a wonderful sense of humor that tends to take the edge off some pretty grim experiences.  We learn more about the causes of that dysfunctionality in Running with Scissors, though I read this before Running with Scissors, which was a good order for me.  From this I know that he developed a meaningful relationship with a fellow who sounds amazingly sane compared to the others in Burroughs' life.  That's reassuring, given the exploits in Running with Scissors. 

While Running with Scissors is a book-length memoir, here we have article-length memoirs tied together by the concept of "magical thinking"--giving oneself credit for something that is actually random.  This structure is a valuable reminder that article-length memoirs can be hugely effective.

Potential classroom use:  Burroughs relishes being raunchy in his writing, especially sexually raunchy.  I wouldn't feel comfortable assigning this book, though I definitely would use parts of it to illustrate effective memoir writing.

Burroughs, Augusten.  Running with Scissors.  New York:  Picador, 2002.

All I could think of as I read this memoir was Joan Crawford as depicted in Mommie, Dearest.  There was no coat hanger or convent; instead, Burroughs' mother, a mentally ill, chain smoking, would-be poet, gave him to a shrink that could most kindly be described as "strange."  Fortunately, Burroughs' attitude saves the day, buffering the cruelty and neglect with humor.  In many ways, this is a fairly typical coming of age tale, though, in his case, it's coming of age in a world that seems to function at a 37 degree angle.  If nothing else, this is a testimony to the resilience of youth, and to Burroughs' survival skills. We learn in Magical Thinking the personal price he paid for this less than orthodox child rearing.

As a reader I appreciated how this book demonstrated the multiple uses of humor.  Burroughs uses it to buffer against the nastiness he describes but also to create a sort of surreality that heightens to horror/absurdity of his childhood.

Potential classroom use:  This book is disturbing, for the explicit description of his homosexual affair with an older man, to be sure, but more so for the fact that the System failed him so completely.  Though I wouldn't assign this book to my students because the explicit content would not fare well in our local culture, I would definitely use portions to demonstrate the excellent writing and the engaging tone.

Cheever, Susan.  Home Before Dark:  A Biographical Memoir of John Cheever by His Daughter.  Boston:  Houghton Mifflin, 1984.

Though less of a page-turner than, say, Burroughs' or Cooper's writing, Susan Cheever writes with a compelling genuineness and even gentleness.  The relationship between her and her father was often conflictive, but she writes compassionately to help us understand the complexity of John Cheever--a troubled but talented man.  Especially useful to the discussion of fact in memoir was her ongoing discussion of his views of truth as he told tales.  A side benefit of this book is that we learn a lot about the process of writing and of how the Cheevers related when they both were writing fiction.

Potential classroom use:  This book is useful to point out the differences between biography and memoir and to demonstrate the overlap in this one.  It also contains several illustrations of the range of resources that could can be researched for evidence in a memoir.  Finally, discussion of historic and literary truths can benefit from the stories of her father's tales.

Cooper, Anderson.  Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival.  New York: HarperCollins, 2007.

Anderson Cooper's memoir was an inspiration for this memoir project.  From it I learned the necessity of time to write, and the results of haste.  I've always been fascinated by his "rich boy/successful professional" self, so I was eager to read his memoir, Dispatches from the Edge.  I found the behind-the-scenes details of his international adventures fascinating, and how many of them have personal connections absolutely intriguing.  The segues between the personal and the professional suffered, though, in part I think because of the haste in which this was written.  (The substantial advance and the leave from CNN were well publicized.)  At points it sounded more like a comparative/contrastive draft than the substance deserved.

Potential classroom use:  The book has a few instances of strong language, but, otherwise, it would be usable for classes to learn about readability and the value of transitions.  Cooper's introspection is also a valuable teaching tool. 

Daniell, Ellen.  Every Other Thursday:  Stories and Strategies from Successful Women Scientists.  New Haven: Yale UP, 2006.

This memoir of a group was a lucky find.  Written by one member of a support group of women scientists, it includes narratives from each member, tips for women professionals, strategies for developing and using a support group, and interesting tales of the author's evolution as a person and professional. 

Potential classroom use:  This book is less for the classroom than for the classroom instructor.  I found it very uplifting and encouraging.  I also found the experiences recounted to be sadly reassuring in the "been there, had this done to me but still survived" sense.

Dillard, Annie, and Cort Conley, eds.  Modern American Memoirs. New York:  HarperCollins, 1995.

I need to like this book more than I do.  It is, no doubt, a standard for classes that emphasize memoir writing, because it includes well-known memoirs writers from a diverse background.  Unfortunately, these are excerpts from full-length texts rather than article length memoirs.  I have a major hang up about excerpts; the concept seems to violate the genre.  I found myself setting this book aside time after time as I reached for a full-length memoir.

Potential classroom use:  This book seems to have been developed for classroom use, though it is, mercifully free of study questions.  On the positive side, these excerpts excerpts expose student to a variety of well-known writers and memoirs.  On the negative, readers are often left hanging.

Edwards, Elizabeth.  Saving Graces:  Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers.  New York:  Broadway Books, 2006.

During the 2004 presidential campaign, the Kerry-Edwards train sped through Lawrence without stopping late one evening.  It was Elizabeth Edwards who notice the crowds, and it was Elizabeth Edwards who insisted that she and John return.  I've respected her for that and for her dignity and candor in her battle with cancer.  She writes her memoir, Saving Graces, with the same candor.  I've learned a lot reading this book.  First, the effectiveness of her narrowing to a theme to anchor her memoir:  the impact of kindness on others.  Second was the several experiences surrounding the death of her son.  It was helpful to me to learn that she shared my frustration with people who insisted on focusing on the grief of the living, when the family wanted the focus to be on remembering and memorializing the dead.  I also found some of her writing devices effective--quoting her postings to a grief listserv.  From that practice, I was reminded of the importance of stringent editing and avoidance of italics, which were used to print the numerous postings.

Most of all I appreciated her sharing the grieving process with such honesty.  Several times I had to set the book aside, not only for what she wrote but because I could identify with her experiences and reactions in dealng with the death of a loved one.

Potential classroom use:  Many parts of this book would be useful in classes--to stimulate discussion on loss, grieving, giving, civic action; to explore a variety of research sources for memoir writing; to critique editing strategies and organizational schemes.  Most of all, it's valuable to stimulate a discussion on the value of community building.

Gilbert, Elizabeth.  Eat, Pray, Love:  One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia. New York:  Penguin, 2006.

This is one of those books that came to me when I needed it.  Just as I was feeling incredibly depressed two months after the death of my mother, I picked up Elizabeth Gilbert's life-affirming journey through Italy (eat), India (pray), and Indonesia (love).  Granted, my very positive reaction to it may be more about it fulfilling my need than about its literary quality, but I don't think so.  Besides the fascinating story, Gilbert successfully weaves her reflections into her writing in a way that actually develops the story and with a voice that seems to be visiting with the reader.  It definitely qualified as a page-turner for me.

Potential classroom use: Despite the comments on the book flap, I think it is primarily a "chick book";  though guys could learn a lot from her observations about life and love, I don't think most would bother, especially male college freshmen.  I also think some of the references are more explicit than typical for our school.  I would like to use chapters of it, though, for the quality of the writing and to illustrate various aspects of effective memoir writing.  I also think the overall structure--three parallel components presented chronologically and hierarchically, with life learned in each contributing to the next--is worthy of class discussion.

Kondrake, Morton. Saving Milly: Love, Politics, and Parkinson’s Disease.  New York:  Public Affairs (Perseus Books Group), 2001.

Mort Kondrake writes a candid, at times self-deprecating, story of his relationship with his wife as they battle her Parkinson's disease.  This is a great love story, but it is also an education about Parkinson's and the politics surrounding pursuit of a cure of that disease.  Milly was still living when he published this book, so his hope for a political victory that would lead to a cure was still alive; she has since died.

This was the memoir I needed to read, though it was difficult at points to do so.  I can relate as Kondrake describes his hesitancy to assume the role of caregiver, and I can certainly understand his miss-steps in that role.  I've been there.  Though we didn't battle as precise a disease as Parkinson's, the way he describes their trials with the medical community is helpful for me as I write about my parent's plight with nursing homes, insurance, doctors, etc., etc.  Like Kondrake, I'm interested in writing a memoir about a relationship, so it was helpful to read how his disclosure of his own attitudes contribute to the story as a whole.  Finally, I appreciated the way that he wove the medical facts and the politics into the text without wavering from his focus on Milly.

Potential classroom use:  I was disappointed in Kondrake's style, too clipped and journalistic for my taste.  I wouldn't use his writing as a stylistic model because of that, but I would use this book as an example of how to do more with text than merely tell a story.  When people finish reading this book, they have learned about Parkinson's, about Michael J. Fox's commitment to the crusade, and about the politics that can slow the progress of worthy causes.  

Obama, Barack.  Dreams from My Father:  A Story of Race and Inheritance.  New York: Three Rivers P, 2004.

Barack Obama knows how to write, and he has a story to tell.  And it's an important story, for if more read this memoir, written long before the presidential campaign--and the rumors about him--began, the rumors would stop.  He has had a very rich, complicated life that he explains well in this book.  The tale is, for the most part, a page turner.  We learn about the school that has become part of the rumors, and the religion, and his values, and his political grounding, and his association with the Rev. Wright.  Whatever individuals' political views about Obama, it's unfortunate that so many have read and forwarded emails rather than this very readable memoir.

Potential classroom use:  A major strength of this book is the genuineness of the voice, and another is the current value of the information.  I would use this book, along with John McCain's, to demonstrate that you don't have to be a writer to write, that what you write has a long shelf life, and that important information can be written in a way to be readable and even interesting.

Rose, Mike.  Lives on the Boundary. New York. Penguin, 1989.

Lives on the Boundary is the sort of book I want to write.  Though my early experience was very different from Rose's, his attitudes toward his high school-to-college adventures were so similar to mine that when I first read this book, I cried through most of it.   I admire the fact that Rose took his experiences and turned them into good for others; I also admire that he took a memoir and turned it in to a book about rhetorical theory. 

Potential classroom use:  Portions of Lives on the Boundary are widely anthologized now. Besides the story and the writing, this book would be useful to illustrate how to work simultaneously with narrative and theory.

Sheridan, Kerry.  Bagpipe Brothers:  The FDNY Band's True Story of Tragedy, Mourning, and Recovery.  New Brunswick, NJ:  Rivergate Books (Rutgers UP), 2006.

I read Bagpipe Brothers as part of the memoir project to assess the difference between a memoir and a profile.  The topic also intrigued me:  I have been interested in how the pipers could withstand the tremendous demand for their services after 9/11.  Kerry Sheridan was wise to narrow to one group, but her reporter's objectivity at times got in the way of her story.  At others, the wealth of info muddles the message.  From this book I learned the importance of voice and tone.  Clearly, the author understood the New York Irish ethos, but, in the end, she mostly "told" rather than "showed."

Potential classroom use:  The book would be a good point of contrast to illustrate effective personal voice and tight editing.

Van Doren, Charles.  "All the Answers:  The Quiz-Show Scandals--and the Aftermath." The New Yorker July 28, 2008:  63-69.

I happened upon this "Personal History," as The New Yorker categorizes it, as I was catching up on my reading of recent issues.  This is valuable in that it is article-length and definitely emerging from a specific event in the author's life.  What struck me most was the voicelessness of his writing.  Perhaps that comes from his years with Encyclopedia Britannica, but more likely he had the same experience I had when I wrote the "What's in a Name?" chapter for The Politics of Writing Centers. I had been devastated by the turn of events when our new writing center basically cannibalized the parent WAC service that had created it, but I was determined to be professional in my writing.  The price was that I so distanced myself from the ideas that a computer could have written that chapter. 

Van Doren seems to be suffering from the same denial/evasion/compensation.  I well remember the quiz show scandals, so, as I read, I wanted his interpretation as well as his story.  How did he feel, for example, when--multiple times--he chooses the wrong ethical response?  We read what happens, but don't really learn the why.

Potential classroom use:  At first I thought this would have little direct classroom use because the events are memories of boomers only.  On second thought, though, the very fact that students don't experience the events may make them the perfect audience to ask the questions that he avoids.  I can't imagine students not asking why a college graduate would fall into the fraud.  At a minimum, this is a great opportunity to introduce the word "hubris."

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