The BBC’s Fergal Keane: ‘The breakdowns get harder to recover from each time’

The former BBC war reporter, now special correspondent, on the terror of PTSD, his tips for living with it day to day, and the people and poets he admiresDuring a career spanning more than 30 years, BBC special correspondent Fergal Keane has covered brutal conflicts in South Africa, Rwanda and Bosnia. It’s taken a lasting toll on his mental health, and in 2020 he stepped back from frontline reporting, revealing that he’s suffering from acute PTSD. In his memoir The Madness, newly published in paperback, he goes into greater detail, powerfully describing multiple breakdowns, alcoholism, and the inherited trauma that shaped his Irish childhood, as well as the resilience he’s found in himself. He will be talking at the Edinburgh International book festival on 17 August.What part of The Madness was hardest to write?Most difficult was what it was like to be in a psychiatric hospital. People talk about going mad and it conjures up all kinds of stereotypical images, but it’s terrifying, it’s this implosion. I’ve never been so afraid in my life. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-08-06 08:30:06 UTC ]

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Gina Frangello: Truth and Consequences

The author of the memoir Blow Your House Down talks about secrecy, accountability, and resisting happy endings. Continue reading at Guernica

[ Guernica | 2021-04-19 13:00:21 UTC ]
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Obituary: Jonathan Ball

Jonathan Ball, who died aged 69 on 3rd April, created the finest and bravest publishing house in South Africa. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-17 13:34:55 UTC ]
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Autofiction is Cheating, and You Cannot Change My Mind

What am I supposed to do with autofiction? Where is it shelved, literally and mentally? Is it memoir or fiction? Pick a lane. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2021-04-16 10:36:00 UTC ]
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This Week's Bestsellers: April 19, 2021

Manga makes its mark: 'My Hero Academia, Vol. 27' by Kohei Horikoshi is the #6 book in the country. Plus chef Erin French's memoir finds its way onto our hardcover nonfiction list, and we spy Flynn Berry in hardcover fiction. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Deals: Week of April 19, 2021

Pamela Dorman buys a debut novel by a longtime Knopf editor, Holt signs a memoir by Ronnie Spector, Hanya Yanagihara re-ups with Doubleday, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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President Obama, Ava DuVernay bring 'A Promised Land' to L.A. Times Community Book Club

Barack Obama and filmmaker Ava DuVernay will discuss the former president's memoir "A Promised Land" April 21 in a livestreamed event for the L.A. Times Community Book Club. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-04-16 01:25:03 UTC ]
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Brazen to publish Bridge's 'brutally honest' second book on mental health

New Octopus imprint Brazen is to publish Grow, the second book from author and TV presenter Frankie Bridge.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-15 17:43:29 UTC ]
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Brittany Higgins' memoir will join a powerful Australian collection reclaiming women's stories of trauma. Here are four

Brittany Higgins' forthcoming memoir will allow her to tell her story in her own words. She'll join a group of strong women who've done just that. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2021-04-15 03:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins acquires Sharkey memoir about murderer brother

HarperCollins has acquired a book by journalist Alix Sharkey exploring his experience growing up with a brother now imprisoned for the murder of teenager Danielle Jones. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-13 19:59:28 UTC ]
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Uwaa: the sound of the feeling that cannot be spoken

An excerpt from Fifty Sounds, a memoir by Polly Barton, translator of Aoko Matsuda and Kikuko Tsumura. The post Uwaa: the sound of the feeling that cannot be spoken appeared first on Granta. Continue reading at Granta

[ Granta | 2021-04-13 02:08:24 UTC ]
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Book Review: ‘On the House,’ by John Boehner

“On the House” is an anecdote-rich memoir by the former speaker of the House that fails to give readers the whole picture. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-04-09 13:05:40 UTC ]
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It took a woman with autism 25 years to find her voice. Now she’s telling her story.

The memoir “I Have Been Buried Under Years of Dust” chronicles one family’s struggles and victories. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-04-09 12:00:00 UTC ]
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7 Memoirs About Unraveling Family Secrets

There are as many different kinds of memoirs as there are novels, maybe more. The public-figure memoir. The witnessing-history memoir. The survivor’s memoir. The addiction memoir. The let-me-set-the-record-straight memoir. The travel memoir. The memoir about one specific family member. The... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2021-04-09 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Mother of all book deals: Mike Pence signs seven-figure deal for memoirs

Ex-vice-president is first of Trump circle to snag lucrative dealSimon & Schuster to pay $3-4m for two booksMike Pence has signed a two-book deal for his memoir that is reported to be worth millions of dollars, making him one of the first of former president Donald Trump’s inner circle to... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-04-07 22:02:58 UTC ]
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A beloved musician's memoir is cause for celebration ... and mourning

Richard Thompson's new memoir, "Beeswing," was written with journalist Scott Timberg, who died before the book was completed. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-04-06 15:45:19 UTC ]
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Treading a Fine Line: On Translating Tove Ditlevsen’s Gift, by Michael Favala Goldman

On Translation Browsing a Copenhagen airport bookstore, a translator picks up a book. The journey between that impulse and his eventual translation of the memoir into English was both emotional and serendipitous. In the summer of 2016 I was passing... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2021-04-06 13:12:22 UTC ]
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Lit Hub Daily: April 6, 2021

Erik Hoel on the joy of growing up in an indie bookstore—and with his badass single mom, who opened The Jabberwocky in 1972 when she was 23 years old. | Lit Hub Memoir “You may have noticed that anger is making a comeback for women.” Gina Frangello on rage and infidelity. | Lit Hub “These […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-04-06 09:30:32 UTC ]
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A Rage-Fueled Memoir of a Marriage-Ending Affair

In “Blow Your House Down,” Gina Frangello examines her experience of loss, lust, pain and longing with angry intensity. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-04-06 09:00:21 UTC ]
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No Longer Homeless or Hiking, Raynor Winn Is Still in Thrall to Nature

In “The Wild Silence,” a sequel to her best-selling memoir “The Salt Path,” the British author contends with the illness and death of loved ones but finds solace outdoors. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-04-06 09:00:08 UTC ]
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John Boehner, Matt Gaetz, and government by right-wing media

On Friday, Politico published an excerpt from On the House, a forthcoming memoir by John Boehner, the Republican former House speaker, that, in Politico’s words, is the story of “how America’s center-right party started to lose its mind, as told by the man who tried to keep it sane.” The excerpt... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review

[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2021-04-05 12:13:42 UTC ]
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