But where is the memoir that is essential?
587836
I think it's all very nice to have all these contributors telling us something of their relationship to John Lennon, occasionally something we didn't know before. But what's missing from this picture?

What's missing makes for a gigantic gap in the record. And it's a gap only Yoko can fill--with a full-length memoir of the years she and John spent together as lovers, as artists, as parents.... If Yoko is disinclined to write this kind of thing, she should simply hire an editor--a "with"--to sit down with her and take her back through the years with hundreds of probing questions.

Yoko was John's main inspiration for those dozen years, longer than for the Beatles years that preceded Yoko. Listen to John's late Beatles and solo output. Absent Yoko there might not be much at all.

A memoir of John Lennon by Yoko would likely be a transAtlantic bestseller. To write it would be a great service to Beatles, Lennon and Yoko fans alike. To die with it still unwritten would be a tremendous DISS-ervice to everyone, including John.

How is it even possible that Yoko could think it unnecessary to write this? I don't get it. Granted her own recording work in recent decades has often been excellent. But surely she could make time, and do the right thing by John. Which is to tell the whole truth, warts and all.

Yoko is already in her late-70s. She'd better start firing up those `late 1960s through 1980' memories before they fade to black.

What we need is `John Lennon: a Memoir' by Yoko Ono. The present volume has its merits but is totally inadequate by way of substitute.
4622192
This book covers two areas that are important to me: Environmentalism and Spiritualism.  It is a autobiography of one mans journey to learn to shapechange and how he comes out of it understanding the importance of changing the community around him.  A book about a life story, about some tribal beliefs, not a book on technique.
4949334
If you've read a few books by NDE peeps or Kubler-Ross' memoir, there isn't much new in this book as to what's important in life. I wanted more anecdotes from people who were dying and had lessons to share versus short lectures on subjects I'm familiar with. I absolutely adored and was riveted by Kubler-Ross' memoir. Check that out. I might read it again.

If you haven't read many books by NDE's or Kubler-Ross or Brian Weiss, etc., then this might appeal to you.
3153070
Some books are meant to be devoured like a soul food meal; other books are best enjoyed in small sips like a fine glass of wine. Things I Should Have Told My Daughter is obvi the latter. I read this memoir very slowly. It is a personal view into an amazing storyteller's life in the 1970s and 1980s. Told in journal format, it is confessional writing at its finest!

Literary Marie of Precision Reviews
531630
The description of this book is a little misleading. It would have you believe that it is all about the RSVP (Resolve to Stop Violence Program) and ideas for reforming our abominable criminal justice system. (That last bit about the "abominable system" are my words and not part of the description.) It becomes that, eventually, but not until about 70+ pages of a 200-page book. Until then it is a memoir--haven't we had enough of those yet--told in the typical memoir style of infusing an otherwise fairly normal childhood with painful Freudian significance and centering on the memoirist as though Sunny Schwartz, alone, could see the failings of the criminal justice system she worked in. Even more irritating for me was the snarky style that, had I not felt compelled to read this through as a Vine choice, I'd have given up on after a couple of chapters.

I'm glad I didn't, because it eventually became the story of the development, implementation, and relative success rate of RSVP, which represents a holistic approach to violent crime that includes bringing perps and victims together and getting violent criminals to accept responsibility for their actions. The second half of the book--over which I am guessing Sunny Schwartz had more control than her co-author--is totally different, told in a calmer, more mature voice and giving credit where credit is due, to all he people who helped develop the program, get it off the ground and keep it running. Still some of the most important points are lost, such as that the program is only running in two places in the country, funding is a constant struggle, and it isn't getting nearly the recognition it deserves.

I have enough writer friends trying to get books published that I won't blame Ms. Schwartz for these problems. I can just imagine her agent/editor telling her how no one wants a book about prison reform, but memoirs are selling like hot cakes, and then assigning a co-author to turn the book into this unfortunate hybrid. In fact, I can think of lots of people interested in a book about the RSVP program such as the 100 or so people with whom I volunteer as well as judges, lawyers, law enforcement and corrections officers, and any one else connected with the criminal justice system. However, not only is it asking a lot of busy people to weed through all the extraneous preliminaries, it would be awkward for a professional to suggest this to staff when it includes far more about things like the author's love life than most readers would need or want to know.

Still, if you have a professional or human interest in our criminal justice system; if you, like me, feel it is failing and badly in need of innovative ideas; and if you are willing to pay full price for what amounts to half a book (or, better yet can get it from your library), then you will benefit from reading this.<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Dreams-from-the-Monster-Factory-A-Tale-of-Prison-Redemption-and-One-Woman-s-Fight-to-Restore-Justice-to-All/dp/1416569812/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Dreams from the Monster Factory: A Tale of Prison, Redemption, and One Woman's Fight to Restore Justice to All</a>
3412927
With the practice of being present, writing a zen "memoir seems like a dicey proposition.  And critiquing a zen memoir and even more perilous endeavor...lol.  The recounting of his life does not attempt to make sense of or understand anything, so its got that going for it...lol.  However, being lost in memories while sitting zazen in a forest seems like the kind of activity which would be rewarded by the keisaku stick by Katagiri Roshi.

Of course, someone has to document what went on in the formative years of the San Francisco and Minneapolis Zen Centers, don't they?
4263834
What drives a person to "make it" in America?  In reflecting on the significant event of one's life 40 to 60 years after they have happened, what kinds of things emerge as the drivers that brought a person from Point A to Point B, particularly if Point B was a most unlikely destination?

Ticket to Ride, by Don Hussey, is a book that tells such a story, but somewhat unfortunately leaves every one of those questions largely unanswered.  A memoir seems to be the perfect place to share the insights of one's journey, but insight and maturity, particularly emotional maturity, are lacking from his narrative.

As I read his story there were many things I could identify with.  A less-than-perfect childhood and a mediocre, at best, high school education.  And I give Hussey credit for sharing and surviving  a childhood that in today's world would have had a large measure of involvement by child protective services.

Like Hussey I also went into the military shortly after high school, as we each realized the options for our future were very limited.  And we each emerged from the military having learned how to push ourselves in an academic environment we were otherwise poorly prepared for; going to college shortly after completing our military service and graduating on time with an employable skill set.

Also somewhat similarly, Hussey and I each had sons who served in Iraq at the same time, and in his case his son's service overseas was the spark for recording his narrative.  One area in which the events of our life before the age of thirty differed significantly was that he was very seriously injured in a work-related accident while he was in college, resulting in a significant injury and a permanent level of disability.

His story is basically the narrative of his life from childhood until shortly after college graduation, roughly to age 29.  But what made him tick?  What drove him?  What insights had he gained?  How had he been shaped emotionally?  Spiritually?  None of these questions are really dealt with.  There are a few pages of generally superficial comments in the afterword, and that's about it.

During the bulk of the book he carries a big chip on his shoulder, one which he seems to be justified in keeping when writing of things that happened 40 years ago.  People who treated him wrongly, and it would be debatable that they did so, remain clearly in the wrong.  One example has to do with his entry into college and his SAT scores being too low.  He reports a discussion with the dean, whom he characterizes in somewhat unflattering terms.  I can understand having those types of feelings at the time the event happened but I am baffled as to why 40 years later he would continue to see that event in that way.

He discusses his college romance in a similar fashion.  It seemed to be a vibrant relationship for several years, one that was moving towards marriage.  But it cracked, and ended, an ending which I'm sure was painful all the way around.  And it would seem that the pain from that relationship continues to be felt in a real way today.  I don't get it.

I don't get hanging on to wounds from so long ago.  And, in the end, that is why I don't really find anything in this book to commend it to anyone else, particularly in the fashion of the recommendation on the back cover.  It is not the story of someone who made it, against all odds.  It is the story of someone who made it but hasn't learned what to leave behind from the journey.
2519090
I recently released my own memoir, and I have been in touch with the author Victoria Twead ever since, but I wish I had been able to get my hands on this little book before I had written it. It is full of useful advice, hints, tips and ideas that any memoir writer will find useful. A very worthwhile purchase!
3356051
This classic hardly needs my help as a recommender, given how many of Kazin's distinguished fellow writers have praised it.  It is a powerful, evocative memoir of the early childhood and coming-to-age-as-an-intellectual of a major figure in American literary history.  On his walks about and out from Brownsville, where his parents settled after escaping (unlike most of their relatives) from the Holocaust years in Europe to the Brooklyn neighborhoods beyond and to "the city" (as Manhattan was also known to those of us growing up in Queens), Kazin shares the sights, sounds, smells, experiences, and thoughts of his days.  It is privilege to be in his company.
1365988
Beautifully written memoir. Its about families, history, truth, individuality and oneness.
264534
Outstanding memoir that touches on very important questions that all of us will eventually consider, whatever the circumstances that give rise to our need to address them.  I have to wonder what other teachings would have been shared by this very intelligent, sensitive and aware human being might have given us had his life lasted longer.  Nonetheless, what we received is and will continue to be a gift to all who read his memoir.
1135573
A bit of the story is missing, but still good...
1193660
Definition of "Memoir" - An account of the personal experiences of an author.

Shirley Jones wrote her account of her personal life experiences as she remembers them, NOT as YOU imagine they were or should have been.  In true Hollywood fashion movies are just movies and reality is completely different.
She made the point that life and relationships are unique for each of us.  Yes, there were experiences she wrote about that I could have lived without knowing but she wrote it the way she wanted, apparently wanting to dispel the Polly Purebred image everyone and Hollywood imposed on her and worked hard on maintaining. She wanted you to know she loved her man hard, she worked hard, she was a devoted mother as well.  She deserved her fun and frolic.
Maybe for all of the Hollywood buffs she will consider writing a book about the movie trivia, but I doubt it.  She is just a real woman like anyone else and that's what she wants you to know.
2877659
For anyone who expects this to be a memoir, it is not.  Aminatta Forna tells of her childhood as a daughter of an African father and European mother, growing up in post-colonial Sierra Leone.  She also tells of her father's career in politics.  A memoir is someone's memory of a certain instance.  Usually, they are written as memories of past events years after those events.  This cannot be called a memoir because Forna's accounts of her father's life in politics are so detailed that it's obvious she researched his life and conducted interviews.

Furthermore, she tells her story like one of those annoying people who tells a joke by getting half way through the joke and then saying, "Oh wait, I forgot to mention part of the joke."  Forna talks about the months of her adulthood, many years after she moved to America, and the struggles she went through to conduct interviews and research her father's life when she goes back to Sierra Leone.  Though, she goes back and forth from the age of ten to the age of fifty, losing the cadence of the story like that annoying person who can't tell a joke.

Forna never really let's the reader know how the events of her childhood made her feel.  She only tells her readers about the factual events that happened during her childhood.  She never lets her readers know what kind of person she is now, and how the events of her childhood caused her to become that type of person.  An author should offer their readers more value than they could find perusing Wikipedia, and Forna does not do that.
2826665
Anyone writing a memoir should read this book first.  It is a guide to the inner self and sets a path for all of us to follow in our individual life review.
1764136
Old Friend from Far Away is supposed to be about writing a memoir. It's really a set of exercises to help readers begin writing about themselves and their memories, interspersed with tantalizing glimpses of the author's own life.

On the positive side: The topics for the ten-minute timed writings (Goldberg's significant contribution to the world of writing) seem like fun. She teaches us to see details, not get derailed into abstraction. Her own writing demonstrates these principles. The author's own memories -- all too brief -- are the best part of the book. I loved her stories of studying with Alan Ginsberg and finding an unusual coffee shop for writing. As always, her writing elevates mundane events and gives them meaning.

But I was disappointed to see so many pages with just a sentence or two of writing exercises. Is she just tired of writing, I wondered, forcing herself to finish her book to meet the demands of her publisher?  We don't get the kind of background Goldberg shares in earlier books, especially Thunder and Lightning. We get snapshots when it would be nice to have a movie. We don't get new exercises. And I'm not sure we get helpful insights into memoir as a genre.

For publication (or a good review, if you self-publish), memoirs need to make meaning of a life. The strongest memoirs carry a theme of struggle and redemption. We read about someone's life and something resonates with our own. Or we see this story a part of a bigger theme, giving us new insights and ideas. Weak memoirs leave the "so what" question unanswered.

Maybe that comes later...after you've written dozens and dozens of timed writings. Maybe it's not possible till you realize you've got to face down the truths that Natalie Goldberg urges us to expose in writing.

Or maybe I just feel frustrated because I know a few people who ought to be writing their memoirs. This book won't help them.

The last part of the book includes a list of published memoirs, a curious selection. Although Goldberg has made a recording with Julia Cameron, and Cameron's blurb appears here, there is no mention of Cameron's own memoir. There's an obvious allusion to the James Frey story (although no names are  mentioned) and the author briefly describes some memoirs she likes.

Ultimately, the title describes the way many readers relate to the author herself. Those who like Natalie Goldberg will pick up this book to visit with an old friend. What's new in her life? Will we get an update of what happened since she wrote about the monk and the bartender?

Alas, our visit will be more like a fast encounter at an airport, catching up between changing planes, than a long satisfying conversation in one of those coffee shops where Natalie Goldberg used to sit and write. She really is an old friend from far away, and she's not getting any closer.
2620029
am not finished yet--it seems like a set of memoirs to me, not as well woven as, say Boo's book.