Shake, rattle and write: why the music memoir is booming

From Bono to Jarvis Cocker, Bruce Springsteen to Cosey Fanni Tutti, the last decade has seen an explosion of books by artists from every walk of musical life. Why is this once-rare genre striking a chord with stars and readers alike?By her own admission, Miki Berenyi was not a woman itching to write a memoir. Even if she had been, she says, why would anyone have been interested? Her band, Lush, were “never that big”. They enjoyed cult alt-rock success in the early 90s, scored three Top 30 singles in the Britpop era, and broke up in 1996. They briefly reformed in 2015, but broke up again after less than a year, keen “to return to our families and homes”. When a publisher approached her with the idea of an autobiography, she says, “I literally laughed in his fucking face – I was like: ‘Why would I want to do that? That sounds ridiculous.’”But then Berenyi lost her job as a subeditor when the magazine she worked for folded. “Lockdown was looming, and I thought, ‘Oh shit, actually this isn’t a great time to be looking for a job’, so I kind of … It was a bit more pragmatic than a burning ambition.” Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-07-15 08:00:25 UTC ]

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In ‘Memorial Drive,’ Natasha Trethewey reclaims her mother’s life from the man who took it

Trethewey’s memoir is a tribute to a life snuffed out by a brutal man, a fractured judicial system and a patriarchy as old as Methuselah. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-07-31 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Green Tree acquires Liz Fraser memoir

Bloomsbury's Green Tree is to publish Liz Fraser's memoir Coming Clean: A True Story of Love, Addiction and Recovery next year.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-31 11:02:40 UTC ]
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A Queer Memoir About Navigating Toxic Masculinity

I met David Adjmi at a fancy writing residency. The kind of place where you work all day alone and then eat dinner together, have a drink in the parlor afterwards. I remember a night when someone suggested watching a movie. As people were perusing the house copy of the criterion collection... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-07-31 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Deals: Week of August 3, 2020

Scribner buy a book about American’s first female astronauts, Matthew McConaughey sells a memoir to Crown, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-07-31 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Personal Space: Laura Lippman Dares to Focus on Herself

On this episode of Personal Space: The Memoir Show, Sari Botton interviews Laura Lippman, author of My Life as a Villainess, published by William Morrow. In this wry essay collection she writes movingly about becoming a mom in her fifties, choices she made in her career as a journalist and a... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-07-30 18:00:43 UTC ]
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In ‘Memorial Drive’ a Poet Evokes Her Childhood and Confronts Her Mother’s Murder

The new memoir by the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey is an aching investigation of trauma and art. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-07-30 10:06:53 UTC ]
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How “Memorial Drive” Tries to Make Sense of a Mother’s Murder

Katy Waldman writes about “Memorial Drive,” a new memoir by the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey, who pieces together memories of her mother, who was murdered by Trethewey’s stepfather. Continue reading at New Yorker

[ New Yorker | 2020-07-29 10:00:00 UTC ]
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The best audiobooks of July provide an escape

Let your summer getaway include a new Sherlock Holmes adventure, a memoir about reinvention, and two novels that offer insights on racial identity. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-07-28 21:20:01 UTC ]
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The best audiobooks of July provide an escape

Let your summer getaway include a new Sherlock Holmes adventure, a memoir about reinvention, and two novels that offer insights on racial identity. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-07-28 21:20:01 UTC ]
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The best audiobooks of July provide an escape

Let your summer getaway include a new Sherlock Holmes adventure, a memoir about reinvention, and two novels that offer insights on racial identity. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-07-28 21:20:01 UTC ]
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Narrative of My Heart: A Conversation with Natasha Trethewey

NATASHA TRETHEWEY’S Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir is a breakthrough book that artfully balances prose and lyricism as it guides us through unspeakable trauma. Prior to our conversation, I felt a bond with Natasha since I spent much of my youth “as the girl whose brother committed suicide.”... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-07-28 12:30:40 UTC ]
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Canongate's Terri White memoir optioned by Bad Wolf

Production company Bad Wolf has optioned Terri White's memoir Coming Undone (Canongate, 2020) for TV.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-27 05:17:52 UTC ]
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The Books Briefing: What Is a Political Memoir For?

What we can learn from books by politicians and their family members: Your weekly guide to the best in books Continue reading at The Atlantic

[ The Atlantic | 2020-07-24 16:52:28 UTC ]
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Scouting Report

In this roundup of the best-reviewed BookLife titles, we highlight a sci-fi mystery, a memoir of personal discovery, a Viking saga, and others. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-07-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Michael Cohen will be released and allowed to finish his memoir from home confinement.

[Updated 1:18 pm ET] Michael Cohen will be released from prison on Friday under orders from a federal judge, who said he was re-imprisoned after an initial release to home confinement in retaliation for his plans to publish a book about the president. “I make the finding that the purpose of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-07-23 14:28:49 UTC ]
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Jane Austen rescued her: A memoir about reading and solace

Rachel Cohen never imagined that she would experience a stretch of time in which she only wanted to read Austen. Until it happened. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-07-22 22:40:11 UTC ]
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Jane Austen rescued her: A memoir about reading and solace

Rachel Cohen never imagined that she would experience a stretch of time in which she only wanted to read Austen. Until it happened. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-07-22 22:40:11 UTC ]
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Jane Austen rescued her: A memoir about reading and solace

Rachel Cohen never imagined that she would experience a stretch of time in which she only wanted to read Austen. Until it happened. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-07-22 22:40:00 UTC ]
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Alex Trebek’s Memoir Says He’s Ready for the End of the Game

“In addition to my passion for the musk ox, I also have a deep love for horses.” Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2020-07-22 14:09:02 UTC ]
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Ebury lands undercover cop memoir

Ebury Press has landed a memoir by actor, screenwriter and former undercover police officer Liam Thomas. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-22 02:22:30 UTC ]
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