September 2011

Tobias Wolff, "This Boy's Life"

When I found This Boy's Life on sale at the Kindle store, I snapped it right up. I had seen the movie ages ago, and always meant to read the book, but never got around to it. My grandmother grew up in Concrete, and although she had left by the time Wolff arrived, she still felt a connection to his book. She never talked about her childhood, but I remember her grim look of satisfaction when she mentioned that "He got everything exactly right." Read more about Tobias Wolff, "This Boy's Life"

Catherine Friend, "Sheepish"

Keeping with the oddball tradition of Memoirs That Have Very Long Subtitles, Sheepish is subtitled "Two Women, Fifty Sheep, and Enough Wool to Save the Planet." I found myself spending a surprising amount of time ruminating (sorry) over that last bit. At the beginning of Sheepish, we learn that Friend and her wife are raising their flock for meat, and essentially selling their fleece for scrap. As the chapter essays progress, Friend becomes more enamored of the many eco-friendly aspects of wool, and better uses for it (both financially and ecologically) than shipping their fleece off for use in carpets. Read more about Catherine Friend, "Sheepish"

Rachael Herron, A Life In Stitches

Of all the knitting memoirs released in the last decade, this is far and away the best of them. People not in the know will doubtless think that's meant to be a joke, but far from it. Knitting has long since spilled out of the "Arts & Crafts" section of the book store into the romance, fiction, murder mystery, and autobiography shelves. (I eagerly await the first science fiction knitting book.)

As a rule, I am leery of all books about knitting. Even though - or perhaps because - I love both books and knitting. But Herron manages to deftly avoid the traps of writing which is too cutesy, or too sentimental. At the same time, she avoids the memoir trap of writing everything in a high key to make it seem Super Duper Dramatic. (An understandable impulse for the writer, if one which is tiring for the reader.) Read more about Rachael Herron, A Life In Stitches

Memoir Book Club

Memoirs written by your favorite celebrities and historical figures

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Tobias Wolff, "This Boy's Life"

Catherine Friend, "Sheepish"

Rachael Herron, A Life In Stitches