The combative broadcaster’s memoir mixes engaging snapshots of his early career with some score-settling and a robust defence of his interviewing styleJohn Humphrys is the first to admit he doesn’t deal well with authority. He inherited it from his father, who refused to use the service entrance at the grand houses where he worked as a French polisher and, as a child, once watched his aunt get a humiliating dressing-down from the vicar for missing church. Humphrys had his own brush with condescending authority figures when he was in hospital with a cyst on his spine at 13, and an “arrogant posh bastard consultant” told his retinue of trainees it was because he didn’t wash regularly. “I don’t like being defined or told what to do, whoever is in charge,” he notes, a stance that has proved useful for grilling politicians (he has interviewed eight prime ministers), though it has also landed him in hot water.His memoir mixes engaging snapshots of his early career and analysis of the evolution of broadcasting with diatribes and petty score-settling. The early chapters tell of his passage from teen lackey on the Penarth Times in Wales, where his main task was standing outside the local church taking the names of those attending weddings and funerals, to being the first journalist on the scene at the Aberfan disaster, near Merthyr Tydfil, in which 116 children and 28 adults died after a colliery tip collapsed. Later he became a BBC foreign correspondent, reporting on the 1971 war... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-10-10 06:30:10 UTC ]
“Tasha” is Brian Morton’s memoir of his complicated relationship with the woman who raised him. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-04-05 09:00:06 UTC ]
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She helped establish the study of postcolonial literature and made her own entry to the genre with the memoir "Meatless Days." Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-04-01 22:48:53 UTC ]
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At Slate, Maia Kobabe discusses writing Gender Queer, a memoir about self-acceptance and understanding, which has been challenged in schools and libraries across the country in recent months. “What I’m learning is that a book challenge is like a community attacking itself,” Kobabe says. “The... Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2022-03-30 20:30:51 UTC ]
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Her 1989 book, “Meatless Days,” is viewed as an important work of postcolonial literature. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-03-28 22:06:48 UTC ]
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In Sensorium by Tanaïs is, at once, a sensuous and gut-wrenching experience in expansive memoir that bleeds across genre and time. Using perfume as a framework, Tanaïs builds the work slowly, moving from the base to the heart to the head notes, recounting alienation and life on the margins as a... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2022-03-25 11:00:00 UTC ]
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In “Every Good Boy Does Fine,” the concert pianist recalls his artistic and erotic awakening. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-03-24 15:00:06 UTC ]
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The voice of Ariel in Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid’ is bringing a memoir to Tyndale Momentum, the co-authors behind ‘The Come Back Effect’ sign with Baker once again, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-03-23 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Her essay collection was removed from contention in the category of best lesbian memoir after she went on Twitter to defend a forthcoming Sandra Newman novel from charges that it was transphobic. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-03-22 01:34:52 UTC ]
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It’s been ten years since the release of Wild, Cheryl Strayed’s bracingly honest memoir about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail as a young adult after her mother’s death with no experience or training—and to ccelebrate the anniversary, Strayed has released a cut scene from Wild, free to read... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-03-21 19:22:02 UTC ]
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In “The Emergency,” Thomas Fisher writes about his work at a Chicago hospital and the inequities of American health care. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-03-21 18:46:34 UTC ]
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Garrett Hongo tells a coming-of-age story wrapped in his love of writing and music, and recounts his lifelong quest for the perfect audio equipment. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-03-18 12:00:15 UTC ]
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Sasha LaPointe escaped a difficult childhood on a reservation by diving into Seattle punk. Her memoir, "Red Paint," finds solace in her Native roots. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-03-17 13:00:46 UTC ]
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Why did Penguin decide to reissue a memoir and a novel by Harry Crews, a dead white Southern writer? His influence — and his truths — run deep. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-03-15 13:00:07 UTC ]
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Erika Krouse’s Tell Me Everything, about a landmark sexual assault lawsuit, is a remarkable story told by a thrillingly unreliable narrator. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2022-03-14 09:40:00 UTC ]
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Daniel Genis, author of the new memoir 'Sentence: Ten Years and a Thousand Books in Prison,' recommends 11 essential books about life behind bars. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-03-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Her memoir describes her long career in diplomacy and her unwitting entanglement in Donald Trump's schemes. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-03-11 18:24:57 UTC ]
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Qian Julie Wang’s debut memoir Beautiful Country is a compelling and intimate portrait of an undocumented childhood. Much like Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows In Brooklyn and Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes, we are carried into the heart and mind of a child: this time, a young, undocumented girl in... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2022-03-10 12:00:00 UTC ]
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In the memoir North to Paradise, Ousman Umar tells the story of his migration from rural Ghana to urban Europe, a five-year journey that took him across 11 countries. These years are so eventful and rife with suffering that just one could be a book unto itself: Ousman is exploited in Accra;... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-03-10 09:50:30 UTC ]
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T.E. Lawrence’s memoir of the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire -- the basis for “Lawrence of Arabia” — offers a sweeping look at war and its consequences. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-03-09 13:00:57 UTC ]
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At the Chicago Review of Books, Meghan O’Rourke discusses The Invisible Kingdom, a mix of memoir and research that investigates chronic illness through multiple lenses. “My work as a poet helped shape this book,” she explains. “I didn’t want it to be merely a work of reportage; I wanted to... Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2022-03-07 21:30:33 UTC ]
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