Book Reviews John K. Cox Jurij Koch / Courtesy of Domowina-Verlag In the 1950s, a girl whom Jurij Koch knew in high school moved away from their hometown of Cottbus in East Germany. It was a case, he says in his recent memoir, of “Weg von Ulbricht, hin zu Adenauer” (Away from Ulbricht, over to Adenauer). Her mother took the girl to the West, before the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961. This is a familiar enough arc of events, but, as it turns out, the motivation behind the move is probably not something that most people outside of Germany would have considered. The reason was ethnic. Little Greta was growing up surrounded by Sorbs in the southeastern part of the country. The Sorbian language reminded her mother of Polish, and she had had quite enough of the Poles in her pre-1945 home farther east. In addition, Greta’s family was Protestant and they felt awash in a “Catholic sea.” So off they went, leaving the author of this autobiography—who, well, yes, had a crush on Greta—scratching his head. Like so many other scenes in this engaging book, this story blends the customary with the unexpected to stretch our understanding of what is “German.” Like so many other scenes in this engaging book, Koch’s memoir blends the customary with the unexpected to stretch our understanding of what is “German.” Windrad auf dem Dach (Domowina-Verlag, 2016) is the second volume of Koch’s memoirs to be published in German. Currently in his... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2020-01-27 20:47:13 UTC ]
‘If all things were equal, what were we even doing here? Why weren’t we lying on our living-room floors, watching the dance of the dust, today and every day?’ Memoir by Noreen Masud. The post A Flat Place appeared first on Granta. Continue reading at Granta
[ Granta | 2024-03-18 17:23:09 UTC ]
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“Interior design’s aim is to make reading easy. It creates order out of chaos and bestows authority (warranted or not) on an author’s words.” On book design beyond the cover. | Lit Hub Art The accidental icon Lyn Slater on style, rebellion, and aging with attitude. | Lit Hub Memoir What do Leo... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-03-15 10:30:28 UTC ]
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Which cookbook or foodie memoir would you like your book club to discuss and make the food from? Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-03-13 17:00:00 UTC ]
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Leslie Jamison’s new memoir Splinters follows the aftermath of divorce and the awakening of motherhood, but it explores desire more than it does any kind of death. Jamison wants to make meaning, to connect, to love, to feel, to mother, to write, and to revise her life endlessly. There are losses... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-03-08 12:00:00 UTC ]
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“I am fascinated by the mismatch of these two systems, the fact that we can occupy two temporal spaces simultaneously…” Grace Loh Prasad on finding meaning in the space between Chinese and Western astrology, and what it means to remember her translator father. | Lit Hub Memoir Jennifer Croft on... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
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The veteran tech journalist is promoting her memoir with tech bros like Sam Altman. Continue reading at Slate
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A new mystery from the Queen of Irish detective fiction, a memoir by RuPaul, and a trippy, shifting narrative set in Prague all round out today's new releases. Which ones are you thinking of picking up? Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-03-05 12:30:00 UTC ]
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Chronicling the high-heeled path to drag-queen superstardom, the new memoir also reveals a celebrity infatuated with his sense of a special destiny. Continue reading at The New York Times
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Lily Meyer recommends books that recollect personal experience without being prescriptive. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2024-03-01 17:00:00 UTC ]
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Today's new releases include a follow up to Tommy Orange's THERE THERE, a memoir of grief, a secret, anti-Confederacy spy society, and more. Which ones will you TBR? Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-02-27 13:00:00 UTC ]
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“I was still reporting to my father, the things I had read and all that I had remembered.” Amitava Kumar on family, loss, and resonating with the words of other writers. | Lit Hub Memoir “Even in the worst of times, humans have a way of coming together to lighten the load and provide hope […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
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“I’ve been prank-calling Justin Torres for like two decades,” says the poet and performer, whose new book is called “Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt: A Memoir in Verse.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-02-22 10:00:27 UTC ]
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In today's new releases, there's an epic story of a conjuror-made safe haven in 1830s St. Louis, a feminist retelling of Zorro, a Cambodian food-based memoir of survival, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-02-20 13:30:00 UTC ]
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It’s another Tuesday, and that means that a bevy of beautiful new books are out. And it’s a brilliant bevy indeed: below, you’ll find twenty-three new titles to consider that span an incredible range, including a raw new memoir from Leslie Jamison on motherhood and the self; the esteemed... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
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Kate Sidley on writing in the aftermath of a home robbery: “When bad things happen, they happen off-page, out of sight, and with a certain delicacy.” | Lit Hub Memoir Lockdown may be over, but what did it to to our collective sense of balance? How the pandemic ruined our understanding of “free”... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
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As his own life unfolds, an artist reconsiders his reaction to Joan Didion’s memoir about loss. Continue reading at The New York Times
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Silicon Valley’s top pundit dishes on her memoir Burn Book, immature billionaires, and whether she’s actually mean. Continue reading at Wired
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Britney Spears is perfect and her nasal voice with a Southern accent and just the right touch of vocal fry is perfect. Which is why I was so surprised to hear Michelle Williams, an actress who is also perfect, read the audio version of Britney’s memoir with a bit of a drawl but mostly very […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
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