Category Archives: Book review
Thoughts on “The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear”
By Nancy Eberle Ralph Keyes has been peeping in my windows. At least that’s how it felt as I made my way through his book The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear earlier this summer. Keyes’ book is a … Continue reading
Why I Love Amanda Knox
I just finished reading Waiting to Be Heard, and I am in love with Amanda Knox. Why? Because she is me—and the daughter I never had. We were both students abroad. She was 19 in Perugia, Italy, and I was 21 … Continue reading
Reflecting on this spring’s “The Season of Women”
From February 2 (Imolc) through March 8 (International Women’s Day), I focused “True Stories Well Told” on the problem of violence against women. I hoped the stories and commentary shared here would affect some people, somewhere. How did it affect me? … Continue reading
Book review: Unorthodox by Deborah Feldman
In the Sarasota airport recently with time to kill, I checked out the “read and return” books. I was pleased to see a memoir among the titles there. But I won’t be “read and returning” Deborah Feldman’s Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection … Continue reading
A thought on Truth and Memoir
My colleague in the Association of Personal Historians Philip Sherwood posted to our listserv recently with a note that caught my fancy. With Phil’s permission I pass it along to you. Hi all, Just finished reading Ghosting: A Double Life by … Continue reading
Book review: “The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human”
News flash! IT’S OK TO READ FICTION! Even if your goal is to write true stories, it’s OK to read fiction! If you’ve read my post on Little Bee, the last novel I read, you know I have an inner … Continue reading
Book review: “United States of Arugula”
Since I’m teaching a cookbook-memoir class right now, I thought I’d background myself with a dip into David Kamp’s book The United States of Arugula: How We Became a Gourmet Nation. It was a fun read–a tour that took me from … Continue reading
Book Review: Caitlin Moran’s “How To Be A Woman”
How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran came to my attention through a recent piece in the New York Times Magazine that quoted her on breasts: “It doesn’t matter if your breasts sag because the only people likely to … Continue reading
Writing as a Way of Healing: thoughts from Louise DeSalvo
“The difference between a victim and a survivor is the meaning made of the trauma,” writes Louise DeSalvo in Writing as a Way of Healing: How Telling Our Stories Transforms Our Lives. Earlier this year I made a commitment to deepen my … Continue reading
Will your words outlive you?
Association of Personal Historians member John Hawkins posted recently the members’ listserv about The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, which his bookclub is reading. “This paragraph leaped off the page for me as an APH member,” John wrote, “since it speaks so directly to the value … Continue reading
True Stories Well Told 