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 through Kastrup Airport in Copenhagen with my wife, on our way home after a visit with family. We stopped to browse the bookstore, and I noticed a reprint of a book by Danish author Tove Ditlevsen called Gift, which had first been published in 1971. I hadn’t read much of her work, but I knew she was a big name, so I bought it, even though the cover was strange, a psychedelic skull on a gray background. It did not take more than a couple of sittings to devour this memoir of Tove Ditlevsen’s life from the ages of about twenty-three to thirty-five. It chronicles her rise as a best-selling author, while she also had four failed marriages, two back-alley abortions, and a five-year near-fatal addiction to the opioid Demerol. I distinctly remember laying the book down after the final page and thinking to myself, I think this is a masterpiece. This was an intuitive judgment, not a conclusion I had come to after analyzing the text. But looking back now, I think what caused me to deem this work a masterpiece is the combination of Ditlevsen’s writing style, which is concise, honest, and ironic, combined with the content of her story, which through her many troubling experiences pulls back the... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2021-04-06 13:12:22 UTC ]
Read rapid-fire interviews with (almost) all the finalists for the 2023 National Book Award, before next week’s ceremony. | Lit Hub Is twinship the ideal relationship? Helena de Bres investigates. | Lit Hub Memoir A Gilded Age Kardashian: Why Apple TV+ made a mistake in passing on Sofia... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-08 11:30:33 UTC ]
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Amy Schneider’s new memoir is honest and so very reasonable. The Jeopardy! winner shares insight and experiences in her new memoir. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2023-11-08 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Jami Nakamura Lin begins with a warning: “In the presence of a story—if the story is a good one—time collapses.” This is precisely what she achieves in a genre-bending memoir that collapses past and present, personal and mythical. The Night Parade begins with her attempts to trace the origins of... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2023-11-07 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Stephanie Land’s new book, Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education, is out today, so we asked her a few questions about her routine, writing advice, and how she deals with writers block. Who do you most wish would read your book? Anyone who has authority over a person who... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-07 09:50:56 UTC ]
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Britney Spears's memoir sold 1.1 million copies in its first week. Here are some other recent celebrity memoir sales numbers. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-11-02 14:55:52 UTC ]
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Hannah Lillith Assadi on losing home, identity, and her father: “I wonder what it is I have inherited from him more profoundly: his Palestinian-ness or his propensity to fall?” | Lit Hub Memoir At the Refocus Film Festival, Kristen Roupenian and director Susanna Fogel talk about adapting “Cat... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-02 10:30:44 UTC ]
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“I read them the way that people surf the internet today, maybe,” says the Wilco frontman, whose new memoir is “World Within a Song.” “So I know everything.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-11-02 09:00:33 UTC ]
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In its first week on sale in the U.S., the pop star's debut memoir sold a total of 1.1 million copies across pre-orders, sales of print books, e-books, and audiobooks formats, according to publisher Gallery Books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Snippets of Michelle Williams’s narration of Britney Spears’s new memoir have proved explosively popular online. But what goes into selecting a celebrity reader for an audiobook? Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-11-01 22:47:54 UTC ]
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Stephanie Land's second memoir, 'Class,' a sequel to her blockbuster debut, 'Maid,' follows her journey to get an education — and holds readers at a distance. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-10-31 10:00:21 UTC ]
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The 90s were a decade of carefree optimism and comically low stakes. Matthew Perry’s death brings us crashing back into the now In 2004, the author Damian Barr published Get It Together: Surviving Your Quartlerlife Crisis. Barr would go on to write poignant and beautiful books (including the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-10-30 18:37:24 UTC ]
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In “The Woman in Me,” the pop star mines her extraordinary story for generic lessons. But the details speak for themselves. Continue reading at New Yorker
[ New Yorker | 2023-10-29 19:33:11 UTC ]
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The celebrity memoir is booming. But while such books have become part of entertainers' brand management, the focus on salacious details poses risks. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2023-10-28 08:00:00 UTC ]
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Britney Spears’ memoir illustrates once again the potential lifelong damage that can be caused by being a child star. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2023-10-27 11:37:38 UTC ]
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“I know my limitations, but I would still invite William Shakespeare,” says the actor, whose new memoir is “Being Henry: The Fonz … and Beyond.” “I would also invite Daniel Silva and definitely Larry David!” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-10-26 12:16:08 UTC ]
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In Myriam Gurba’s latest essay collection Creep, the Mexican American author interrogates both those who deceive, exploit, and oppress others as well as the culture that enables them. “People who hurt other people can be charming,” Gurba notes in the title essay. “It works in their favor.” In... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-26 11:00:00 UTC ]
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“Welcome to the ‘Bad Ass Women Memoir Club,’” Pinkett Smith wrote in a cheeky note to the fellow first-time author. Continue reading at HuffPost
[ HuffPost | 2023-10-25 17:27:27 UTC ]
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Michelle Williams' impression of Justin Timberlake as she narrates Britney Spears' memoir is going viral as 'the greatest clip of audio since Watergate.' Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-10-25 01:06:01 UTC ]
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“The Upstairs Delicatessen,” a memoir by Dwight Garner of The New York Times, traces his life’s twin passions. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-10-24 09:00:14 UTC ]
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As my debut memoir plowed towards print publication, I suddenly remembered that my agents had negotiated the audio book rights with my publisher. Although I had the option to try out for the role of narrator (essentially to audition to be myself) my agents suggested that I should consider... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-23 08:50:26 UTC ]
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