As you may have noticed, Barack Obama has a book out today. It’s a memoir, titled A Promised Land, that runs to more than seven-hundred pages and is still only a first volume—covering the period from Obama’s childhood to the raid, in 2011, that killed Osama bin Laden. Originally, Obama planned to write a shorter, single volume, but he ended up grappling with a surfeit of good material and with a desire to offer both rich historical detail and a compelling narrative; as he told The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, “there are parts of the book where I just had a really nice description I wanted to leave in and the editor was like, ‘Do we really need this, like, do we really?’ and I said, ‘Eh, I like it, sorry. That’s just a pretty description and I want to leave it.’” Online, every writer related and every editor winced. “Kill your darlings,” Seyward Darby, the editor in chief of the Atavist Magazine, advised. “It’s liberating, I promise.” Ahead of publication day, the former president embarked on a media tour, coverage of which has, implicitly and often explicitly, provided a marked contrast with the behavior of the soon-to-be-former president. Interviewers have asked Obama to weigh in on Trump’s refusal to concede defeat and the state of the country generally; in his answers, Obama has emphasized the centrality of America’s polarized information ecosystem in putting Trump in the White House and bolstering his unhinged claim that he gets to stay there. As Brian Stelter, CNN’s... Continue reading at 'Columbia Journalism Review'
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-11-17 13:29:32 UTC ]
Author Sally McQuillen shares the costs and rewards of writing and publishing a memoir of loving and losing a child. The post Why I Wrote and Published My Memoir appeared first on Writer's Digest. Continue reading at Writer's Digest
[ Writer's Digest | 2025-05-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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My habit is quaint, I know, and there are downsides – but for those who value literature, the focus will shift to this: how do we prove we didn’t use AI?When I was very young, three or four, before I learned to write, I’d search out empty pages in my father’s thin, hardbound ledgers and... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2025-05-23 03:29:59 UTC ]
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This week's featured new releases include a new graphic novel from Alison Bechdel, a memoir on grief, an exploration of American patriarchy, a medieval fever dream, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-05-20 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Memoir Nation: Weekly Inspiration for Writers is an extension of the Memoir Nation community hosted by Brooke Warner and Grant Faulkner, two friends and colleagues who bring a community-minded sensibility to the writing journey. Originally launched as Write-minded in 2018, this is a weekly... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-05-19 08:10:54 UTC ]
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Beyond disclosures about his sexuality and marriage, the media mogul’s memoir mostly serves up goodies for fans of Hollywood name-dropping and infighting. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2025-05-16 09:00:51 UTC ]
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In her latest book, part memoir and part biography, Returning to My Father’s Kitchen, Monica Macansantos writes fifteen richly textured essays about her father’s legacy both in her writings and in the kitchen where she finds his continued presence as she recreates his recipes that he’s developed... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2025-05-15 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon brand will offer more than 100 artificial intelligence-generated voices in English and other languagesAudible has announced plans to use AI technology to narrate audiobooks, with AI translation to follow.The Amazon-owned audiobook provider has said it will be making its AI production... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2025-05-13 16:56:54 UTC ]
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In her searing and revolutionary memoir First in the Family: A Story of Survival, Recovery, and the American Dream, writer and mental health advocate Jessica Hoppe discusses and inspects addiction and how ingrained the culture is within BIPOC communities, notably within the Latine community. In... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2025-05-13 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Tracy Slater examines the parallels between Trump’s anti-trans policies and the persecution of Japanese Americans during World War II. | Lit Hub History Sonya Bilocerkowycz on the impact of generational trauma in the midst of Russia’s imperialist onslaught against Ukraine. | Lit Hub Memoir David... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-05-12 10:30:51 UTC ]
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Acclaimed author Jill Bialosky examines the messy house of memoir, including how important the structure is to the story memoirists tell. The post The Messy House of Memoir appeared first on Writer's Digest. Continue reading at Writer's Digest
[ Writer's Digest | 2025-05-09 16:26:53 UTC ]
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William Morrow picks up a collaboration between James Patterson and YouTuber MrBeast, Michael J. Fox sells a memoir to Flatiron, Abrams will adapt Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Megalopolis’ as a graphic novel, and more in this week’s book deals. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-05-09 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Michele Filgate on navigating loss alongside her father: “Is this my family’s thing? The need to pin memories down, preserve them in a drawer, put a frame around them?” | Lit Hub Memoir “Rivers are the veins of our mother, the earth; they are the visual mapping of a watery network.” Leanne... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-05-08 10:30:40 UTC ]
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In a memoir that tries to wrest control of her story, Ms. Baldwin says she was “canceled” via online sleuths who looked for inconsistencies in her Spanish accent. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2025-05-07 20:25:13 UTC ]
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This memoir tells an incendiary story that shocked a reader who already thought the worst of the company and people it blows the whistle on. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-05-07 10:30:00 UTC ]
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Keith McNally’s new memoir is full of revelations, but one stands out: His work is an underrated art form. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2025-05-06 15:25:00 UTC ]
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“More than that, political art that seeks only to speak to this moment tends to flatten narrative in its attempt to be relevant.” Kevin Nguyen doesn’t think we need timely novels. | Lit Hub Craft Jiordan Castle remembers navigating a complex and tumultuous relationship with her father. | Lit Hub... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-05-06 10:30:11 UTC ]
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If you're looking for something unusual and beautiful, thought-provoking and funny, tender and smart, this unconventional memoir is for you. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-05-05 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Author Natasha Williams shares three tips for exploring the art of imagination and using that to find voice in memoir. The post The Art of Imagination and Finding Voice in Memoir appeared first on Writer's Digest. Continue reading at Writer's Digest
[ Writer's Digest | 2025-05-01 19:09:09 UTC ]
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