What We're Reading – April 2019

Her Body and Other Parties, by Carmen Maria Machado I've absolutely loved this collection of short stories, which floats between the weird and the queer, passing horror, black comedy and feminism along the way. Doubles and others are especially important: a wife enters her wife’s dream when they are apart; a girlfriend fades until her girlfriend accidentally falls through her in bed. Most noticeably, in the magnificent story ‘Especially Heinous’, detectives Stabler and Benson from Law & Order: SVU meet Abler and Henson, who always get to the crime scene first but do nothing about the beautiful murdered girls whose deaths fuel most episodes of Law & Order: SVU. Machado’s stories are direct, fast-paced, and funny, yet there’s always a slow-moving malevolence to them, a hidden seriousness, a careful confusion, and a sense of meaning that’s just out of reach for the characters. I can’t wait for her second book – a memoir – to be published later this year. Swithun Cooper, Research and Information Manager   Ordinary People, by Diana Evans Just shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize. Ordinary People is the story of two couples in the second flush of marriage, wondering about where their lives together are going and what compromises they’ll have to make along the way. It’s also a love-letter to London, and to the music of John Legend. I’m enjoying Diana Evans’ lyrical writing style and in depth exploration of her characters inner lives, their frustrations and complex... Continue reading at 'British Council global'

[ British Council global | 2019-04-11 08:49:28 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "What We're Reading – April 2019"


The Abnormalizing of the World: A Conversation On Mental Illness

Two celebrated memoirists of mental illness—Marin Sardy, author of The Edge of Every Day: Sketches of Schizophrenia, and Sarah C. Townsend, author of Setting the Wire: A Memoir of Postpartum Psychosis—discuss writing, families, and the struggle to make meaning out of madness. * Sarah Townsend:... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-05-01 08:47:51 UTC ]
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Hachette Books Ireland wins pathologist's memoir in six-way auction

Hachette Books Ireland has acquired former state pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy's memoir in a six-way auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-01 00:07:05 UTC ]
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The Memoir in Essays: A Reading List

While the personal essay has enjoyed continued popularity, a book-length collection of linked essays, centered on an author’s self or life, is less common than a traditional memoir or novel. A truly successful essay collection can reveal the author processing experiences at many different points... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-29 08:47:44 UTC ]
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Ishmael Beah’s memoir revealed the realities of child soldiers. His fiction shows the humanity of homeless kids.

“Little Family” speaks to the plight of poor people in countries riddled with corruption and violence. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-04-28 16:54:34 UTC ]
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George M. Johnson's New Memoir Reminds Us That ‘All Boys Aren't Blue’

The journalist digs deep into the past in this touching debut book on sexuality, gender identity and the power of family. Continue reading at HuffPost

[ HuffPost | 2020-04-28 09:45:09 UTC ]
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Sheltering: Nina Renata Aron on Desperate Love and Codependency

On this episode of Sheltering, Nina Renata Aron speaks with Maris Kreizman about her new book, Good Morning, Destroyer of Men’s Souls, a memoir of codependency. They talk about the cultural history of love and its entanglement with suffering, particularly for women, and how hard it is to break... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-27 19:00:44 UTC ]
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Two Novels, Two Global Catastrophes, Two Decades Apart

My first novel bombed spectacularly. This was about 20 years ago. Everything went wrong. First my editor quit after which my publishing house kinda-sorta forgot I existed. Orphaned was the word they used. Since nobody gave a damn, I at least got to choose my own book cover. The photograph I... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-27 08:49:54 UTC ]
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Literature on Lockdown 3: #CultureConnectsUs

Many lives are radically different right now. But birthdays, anniversaries, and public holidays come and go as before. The pink supermoon would have appeared whether we’d watched it from our windows or outdoors among a crowd of strangers. This week, Earth Day, Shakespeare’s birthday, and World... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2020-04-24 14:34:13 UTC ]
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Personal Space: Alia Volz’s Writing Helped Her Family Heal

This is Personal Space: The Memoir Show, with Sari Botton. On this episode, Sari talks with Alia Volz, the author of reported, historical memoir, Home Baked: My Mom, Marijuana, and the Stoning of San Francisco — about being raised by colorful hippie parents who ran an illegal pot-brownie... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-23 20:00:24 UTC ]
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Hodder wins record-breaking ex-Special Forces soldier's memoir

Hodder & Stoughton has won at auction the memoir of ex-Special Forces soldier and record-breaking mountaineer Nims Purja MBE. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-23 14:18:55 UTC ]
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No-prorogation justice Lady Hale to publish memoir and guide to the law

Judge famous for ruling against Boris Johnson will recount how ‘a little girl from North Yorkshire became the most senior judge in the UK’ Lady Hale, who presided over the momentous decision to rule Boris Johnson’s prorogation of parliament unlawful, is set to write her memoirs, of how “a little... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-04-23 14:06:04 UTC ]
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Bodley Head signs Lady Hale memoir in two-book deal

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[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-22 15:33:30 UTC ]
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‘It would be all right’: Novelist Susanna Moore finds solace in a sometimes troubling life story

In the memoir “Miss Aluminum,” the writer and former script reader for Jack Nicholson shares a #MeToo moment, and more. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-04-22 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Lenarduzzi wins 2020 Fitzcarraldo Editions, Mahler & LeWitt Studios Essay Prize

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[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-22 06:21:34 UTC ]
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Lit Hub Daily: April 21, 2020

“To me, nonfiction is an act of translation, and the task for the writer is to bring dead letters to life.” Jessica Pearce Rotondi on writing the family saga of her missing uncle. | Lit Hub Memoir Joshua Sperling on the decade John Berger became an art world revolutionary. | Lit Hub Criticism ON... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-21 10:30:09 UTC ]
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Ten Memoirs to Keep You Company in Isolation: A Reading List

Recently, I threw out the first 60 pages of the novel I am currently working on. I had been determined to challenge myself by writing in the third person—I had spent the last ten years working on my first novel in the first person and I thought I was ready for something new and difficult. […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-21 08:48:34 UTC ]
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Five eye-catching graphic novels that define the genre

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[ The Conversation | 2020-04-20 11:08:17 UTC ]
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Sopan Deb on Approaching His Own Memoir as a Journalist

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[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-20 08:48:57 UTC ]
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From house of horrors to family home

Erica Bauermeister’s latest book is a thoughtful, entertaining memoir of the time she and her family spent renovating the mother of all fixer-uppers. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-04-17 22:35:19 UTC ]
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