This is a carefully researched and well written memoir. ...
354743
This is a carefully researched and well written memoir.  It makes enjoyable reading for anyone interested in the experiences of a very successful naval officer in the era of the Korean and Vietnam conflicts.
3804496
This is a remarkable beautifully written memoir.  The author describes her childhood, full of parental neglect and verbal abuse, a rape at age 13, and the sexual exploitation by a foster father, all in vivid details, which helps the reader understand how such experiences leads to a life of prostitution and addiction. Buddhist meditation, "angels" who rescue her and, most of all, God's prodding change the author who then changes her life. Metamorphosis is a book you will not forget.
3888237
Through painstaking research and meticulous scouring of family archives, Gartz has presented us with a beautifully written memoir of the triumphs and tragedies of her extended family woven into the fabric of living in the west side of Chicago. This book was both informative as it relates the practice of redlining neighborhoods and touching as it reveals the complex dynamic of a family in turmoil. I highly recommend this book.
2281092
If you're concerned that there will be too much religion in this for you- don't be.  Faith is an important component in this memoir but it's a thread or theme, not a brickbat.  Bowler is a fascinating woman.  She's a scholar of a subject I know nothing about, she's a mom, and she's living with a terrible cancer.  I learned a lot from this beautifully written and thoughtful book, not least of which was what not to say to someone in her position.  There are many memoirs these days written by young people with cancer; this one is one of the best because it's so frank.  Bowler asks questions, especially about whether positivity can make a difference.  She articulates concerns some of us have thought about and that's comforting.  I only wish I could send comfort to her.  Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.
55922
Carefully researched and well written by a fine historian, but  a newcomer on the subject may find too many details. Recommended.
125476
This is a carefully-researched and well-written book exploring Dawn Powell's mid-century New York life and literary output. It helps bring this perennially-neglected author to light in a way that also illuminates a disappearing, if not already lost, New York.  I anxiously await "Message from the Heartland: Dawn Powell's Ohio Novels."
4906957
This first volume of Doris Lessing's autobiography is an intimate soul searching of her early life into adulthood. Beautifully written and constructed, she views her life with a razor sharp lens of observation and a critical sensitivity. Few writers are capable of the objectivity and honesty she reveals. Her intellect is one of deep and elegant structure.

This is a book that can enrich the reader. She creates an intimacy with her reader that is trusting and challenging. Many of her choices went against established standards: she leaves her husband and children from her first marriage and she has a not casual involvement with the communist party until her eventual disillusionment with it. This is only a part of the framework that also reveals her iconoclastic view of many sacred cows of 20th century culture and literature. She realizes her identity and destiny through her writing. Doris Lessing's origins as a daughter of English colonialists in Africa after World War 1 is exquisitely captured as is her arrival in London as a young woman when she finally, fully claims her own life.
4019201
The author is excellent at thorough research and even better at placing the historical record in a very informative and interesting book.
1605948
What an interesting and inspiring memoir this was.  Now having said that, I will admit up front that I am not generally a big reader of memoirs, having only read one other (Solacers by Arion Golmakani).  Having come across The Little Girl That Could on an author discussion group site, I wondered to myself if this could be as enjoyable as Solacers -- as it turned out, I was not disappointed.  Though having been born in Germany before WWII and survived the horrors of the entire war as a young child, Marianne Tong's command of the English language was impeccable in all facets of the writing of this memoir.  If only many of us American-born citizens could write so clearly and express ourselves as well as she did.

It was fascinating to follow her earlier years while trying to grow up in a city that was always under siege by the Allied bombings -- ultimately to have her parent's apartment destroyed by those bombings.  As one continues to read through her eventual move to America at age 13 and ultimately becoming a loving wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother to many, it is easy to see how those first thirteen years set in motion the basis for all of her later behaviors and experiences when it came to raising her own children and, during the summer months, their children.

Having lost her own sense of innocence at a very early age, and somewhat hardened by her experiences, one is not surprised to read of her active role as an adult in righting wrongs and being a voice for those that are ignored by the general populace.  Her many letter-writing campaigns included presidents, governors, senators and representatives, mayors and many other notables as well.  At times she called into question the "apathetic spirit" of American ideals.  How could Americans shun their very own citizens during their time of greatest need?  In spite of her active nature, she never lost sight of the fact that she was first and foremost a wife and a mother.  We come to realize throughout the memoir that she fought hard (successfully) to maintain a loving, cohesive family -- something, as we sadly find out, she did not experience in her own upbringing.  I highly recommend Marianne's memoir to anyone who is looking for an inspirational read that cannot but help to put our own lives in better perspective.
1263850
For reasons I cannot understand, I seem to be among the minority who viewed Kathryn Harrison's "The Kiss" as a restrained and remarkable memoir.  I was not side-tracked by what many apparently perceived as sensationalist writing...on the contrary, I found Harrison's account of her experiences to be a lean, intelligent, and heartfelt account of an unspeakably difficult passage...furthermore, I can say honestly that among the more compelling aspects of this piece to be her recollections of her relationship with her mother; I have been haunted ever since by those images.  As such, I jumped at the opportunity to read "The Mother Knot."  I must admit, when the book arrived, I was disappointed to note it's slender profile; little did I know that I would spend the night that followed in lonely sorrow, sobbing, as I processed my own relationship with my mother, who finally passed away this past September...let NO ONE DEPRIVE THIS AUTHOR HER VOICE.
1995882
Riveting and well written account of a blossoming soul.
4490599
Living with a Wild God is Barbara Ehrenreich's memoir(ish) ruminations on the child she was, the adult she became and a (the?) pivotal event in her life. This book speaks to the part in all of us that grapples with the big questions, through both certainty and uncertainty.

Much of the book resembles a typical memoir in that it moves chronologically through her younger years but with a certain open exchange with her current self. The aspect that sets this apart from most memoirs is that the story is less about every detail of her life and more about the details that pertain to her search for answers, or perhaps THE answer.

Having read all of her books, most of them more than once, I was more pleased than disappointed that this was not the typical memoir. I found that eavesdropping on her wrestling with her past self gave me insight into both the wonderful author with which I was already familiar and into how I can better approach my own reckoning with my life. While we all have different events in and approaches to life as we have lived it, Ehrenreich's candid exploration of her intellectual past can offer the reader new perspectives on exploring one's own past.

The last part of the book is particularly interesting because this is where Ehrenreich answers the questions about her journey, with yet more questions. That is, I think, the nature of life: questions lead to more questions, hopefully with an answer or two thrown in for guidance.

This may be an unusual read for someone who prefers straightforward memoirs or biographies, but I think if they know what to expect going in they will enjoy it. Fans of Ehrenreich will, for the most part, enjoy the insight into how she developed into the cultural critic she has become, how she found her initial connection to other human beings. Additionally I believe anyone who likes to reflect on her/his own life will both appreciate Ehrenreich's journey as well as find points of connection between their own and her life arcs.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
957512
my grandparents homesteaded in Montana so maybe I am more inclined to love this rewritten memoir, but I thought it was great.  It is re-written because the original character did not finish the third grade, but was able to overcome the really troubled conditions of his early life.  Contains a lot of fascinating detail about the early settlers, and I thought it was very well researched and written.  Please read the author's notes at the back of the book, there is a wealth of detail about the continuing lives of the real-life characters.
554786
This is a memoir of Jeannette Walls' childhood and adolescence with 3 siblings and a pair of eccentric parents, plus a dash of poverty. I've read this twice and both times found it impossible to put down. One of the better memoirs I've read in some time, and I've read more than a few memoirs.
3717257
This 1997 memoir by Kathryn Harrison is the true story of her incestuous relationship with her father.  Her parents were divorced and there had been little contact throughout her childhood, but she had always been obsessed with him.  Then, after visiting her in college when she was 20, his kiss good-bye was passionate rather than fatherly. That was the beginning.
Ms. Harrison's writes in the present tense, with brief flashbacks and flash forwards, her language seemingly simple and yet poetic.  Always, it is startling with a deep underlay of sorrow.  The reader shares her turmoil, her guilt, her attraction to her father as well as her repulsion.  She's a victim, although a willing one, anorexic, bulimic and sad.
I've read two of her other books, "Poison" and "The Binding Chair".  I loved both of them.  And now that I've read this memoir, I've come to know her more and understand the deep well of discomfort which is present in her writing.  Now a wife and mother, and a writer of some renown, I admire the courage it took for her to write this book and come to terms with the demons of her past.  A mere 207 pages of large print, this book can be easily read in one sitting.  Like her other books, it's not a pleasant read but yet very worthwhile.  I definitely recommend it.
2052592
I found this book to be a fascinating read. The book was thoroughly researched and provided rich detail of the years leading up to WWII, the war years, and the aftermath. There are 38 pages of photos, which enhance this memoir. I especially enjoyed reading the perspective of the author's alter ego, 10-year old "Relly" who provided a running commentary on life as seen through her eyes. She fluidly jumps between the latest movies playing in Czernowitz, to some bits of gossip she heard from friends, to advertisements in the newspaper, to major world events as they were unfolding. We learn that to a 10-year even as the world moved closer to war, these all held equal importance. Eventually, the book culminates with Professor Rosenthal receiving the German Order of Merit, an award of high distinction conferred by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, in 2004. It is a long journey, touching on six generations, well told.
2017686
This is a beautifully written and often moving memoir of a woman whose life and career spans several continents, intersects with history at many points, and settles in the profession of medicine in the Midwest, especially the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She was born in pre-Communist China to a foreign service officer in the national government of Chiang Kaishek; grew up in several Chinese cities and spent four childhood years in Cuba; barely escaped the Japanese invasion of Nanjing; and ended up attending college at Mount Holyoke, and medical school at the University of Michigan. After major stops in Detroit, Dublin, and Minneapolis, she landed at the Mayo Clinic, as a staff physician in rheumatology. The book is finely observed and carefully written from first to last, with detailed evocations especially of her childhood in China and Cuba, and as a teenager at the Blackstone School for Girls in Blackstone, Virginia in the segregated South in the early 1940's. (Once she was told by a bus driver to sit in the back of the bus. "But I'm not black, I'm Chinese," she said. After scrutinizing her, the bus driver relented and let her sit in the front.) Interwoven through these travels is the emotional biography of an exile finding a home in place after place, trying to make sense of new customs, new ideas, and new people each step of the way. Describing her studies of Christianity, Buddhism, Tai Chi and Yoga in book's last chapters, the author shows how adventurous travel can cross not only geographical but spiritual boundaries.