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 ]
Stephanie Danler’s memoir Stray invites us to look closely at our own life: our family dynamics, our loss, our trauma, and the moments of happiness that still exist within that fragile frame. With deep introspection and stunning prose, Danler tells us about the years she spent after writing her... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2020-05-19 11:00:55 UTC ]
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Naomi Fry on “Miss Aluminum,” a new memoir by Susanna Moore, who is known for her 1995 thriller “In the Cut.” Continue reading at New Yorker
[ New Yorker | 2020-05-19 10:00:00 UTC ]
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A selection of recent books of interest; plus, a peek at what our colleagues around the newsroom are reading. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-05-19 09:00:05 UTC ]
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Bonnier Books UK has acquired Kate MacDougall's story of the dog walking business she founded in her mid-twenties, London’s No1 Dog Walking Agency. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-19 04:39:15 UTC ]
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Among the big deals this week are a new book by rapper Gucci Mane, a memoir of addiction and recovery by a politician and her son, and a nonfiction book by the cocreator of Showtime’s Billions. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-05-15 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The juiciest fashion memoir of the year is out. But is it a tell-all, a tragedy or a harbinger of things to come? Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-05-14 15:03:20 UTC ]
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You know what they say: April showers bring May books. Here’s today’s brand-new batch coming to (virtual) bookstores near you. Consider this a friendly reminder that it’s never a bad idea to support your local indie. * Samantha Harvey, The Shapeless Unease (Grove Press) “This memoir churns deep... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-05-12 13:45:17 UTC ]
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Readers thought Stephanie Danler's debut novel, "Sweetbitter," was autobiography. The reality, in her memoir "Stray," is far more painfully dramatic. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-05-12 13:00:01 UTC ]
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On this episode of Personal Space: The Memoir Show, Sari Botton interviews Maggie Downs, author of the memoir and travelogue, Braver Than You Think: Around the World On the Trip of My (Mother’s) Lifetime about the year she spent traveling around the world, fulfilling many of her mother’s unmet... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-05-11 18:38:48 UTC ]
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“We are only sheltered from tragedy”, he writes in “Inventory”, “by the thin ice that we call time.” Continue reading at The Economist
[ The Economist | 2020-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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On this episode of Sheltering, Maris Kreizman speaks with Mikel Jollett about his memoir, Hollywood Park. Hollywood Park is about Jollett’s experience growing up in a cult, and his escape and fallout from the childhood trauma he experienced. He talks about believing his life was normal as a... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-05-08 19:00:54 UTC ]
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The author of “Sweetbitter” has written a memoir about the pain she’s suffered from — and caused to — those she’s loved. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-05-08 09:00:05 UTC ]
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Independent publisher Hashtag Press will publish Jess Impiazzi's memoir Silver Linings. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-07 17:36:02 UTC ]
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IT IS ONLY IN the second half of Ellen O’Connell Whittet’s poignant and exquisite memoir about ballet (and other causes of female pain), What You Become in Flight, that it dawns on the reader — or on this reader, at least — that she’s invoking the word “flight” in two senses: the balletic sense... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-05-07 17:00:08 UTC ]
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“Recollections of My Nonexistence,” a memoir by the feminist icon, is both revealing and not. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-05-07 15:00:00 UTC ]
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“We are only sheltered from tragedy”, he writes in “Inventory”, “by the thin ice that we call time.” Continue reading at The Economist
[ The Economist | 2020-05-07 14:55:41 UTC ]
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On April 1st, I sent the final draft of my book, a memoir that revolves around my relationship with my cartoonist grandfather, to my editor. It was also on this day that there were nearly one million confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide, almost 50,000 deaths, and thousands of overwhelmed... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-05-07 08:48:18 UTC ]
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A reader on how Roxane Gay's memoir HUNGER helped her overcome a fear of writing about her partial paralysis and disability within Black feminism. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-05-06 10:39:34 UTC ]
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One of them is that if you’re holding out hope for her to save 2020, it’s not going to happen. “Your life isn’t yours anymore,” says Michelle Obama at the outset of Becoming, the new documentary based on her 2018 memoir of the same name. She makes the poignantly self-aware comment as she... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2020-05-06 06:30:05 UTC ]
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Natalie Wood's daughter, actress Natasha Gregson Wagner, has written a memoir of life with the legend and produced an HBO documentary about her career. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-05-05 15:00:49 UTC ]
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