An obvious one, but I Am I Am I Am, by Maggie O'Farrell - a memoir told in 17 accounts of her brushes with death - is astonishing. I also really recommend Lost & Found by Kathryn Schulz and Larger Than An Orange, by Lucy Burns (about her abortion) as skilful, fresh, and moving books that play around a bit with the form memoir usually takes. Definitely not plodding!
Thank you for such beautiful writing about these books!
Another vote here for My good bright wolf (currently partway through and loving) and A heart that works (read in one sitting). I'd also recc:
- An exact replica of a figment of my imagination by Elizabeth McCracken, about her son Pudding who was stillborn (another one I read in one sitting, in a bath that I let grow steadily colder. And actually prob the only memoir I've reread and would reread again?)
- Don't think, dear by Alice Robb about 'loving and leaving ballet', interwoven with looking at ballet through a feminist lens, reeeeally resonated as someone who 'failed at' ballet as a kid and loves to watch it now but has conflicted feelings about it.
Also from one Biscoff fan to another, Morrisons bakery does Biscoff croissants and they're every bit as delish as you'd expect!
I love memoirs, and the older the better. I have a stack of them. It's the lived experience that submerges into your subconsciousness. One favourite that I still think about years after reading it is Vera Britain's Testament of Youth. To name but a few more....I also loved Lorna Sage's Bad Blood, Deborah Orr's Motherwell, Jeanette Walls' The Glass Castle, Jill Tweedie's Eating Children, Alexandra Fuller's Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, Gloria Steinem's My Life on the Road, Gerard Brenan's South to Granad, Piri Thomas's Down These Mean Streets.
hi! loved these reviews. The best memoir I have read recently is by Safiya Sinclair "How to say Babylon" she write profoundly and poetically on her childhood
You want memoirs? I got memoirs! "Heavy," by Kiese Laymon. "The Yellow House," by Sarah M. Broom. "Experience," by Martin Amis. "Country Girl," by Edna O'Brien. "Eight Months on Ghazzah Street" *and* "Giving up the Ghost," by Hilary Mantel. "Hillbilly Elegy," by J.D. Vance. KIDDING, KIDDING. I don't know if I'll have the courage for Neige Sinno, but I'm eager to read Sigrid Rausing. Thank you for this excellent dispatch, Pandora.
Excellent list memoir queen, and that made me laugh—my friend told me recently she loved Hillbilly Elegy when she read it so I’m kind of sad I missed the chance… lmk how you find Mayhem.
I appreciate the care you took writing these reviews. The current must-read memoir in Oz is “Australian Gospel” by Lech Blaine. Hard to believe it’s true to be honest, but a superbly written family saga x
Oh this sounds so up my street—thank you! I just very kindly got sent the Stella prize shortlist and there’s a) some excellent Aus non fic and fic in there and b) makes me realise how little makes it across the pond here in terms of critical coverage
This is a constant conversation over here and I think the fact that it’s taken so many decades for Garner to be published internationally says it all. Charlotte Wood being shortlisted for the Booker in 2024 really helped with exposure of Aus lit but still, there’s so many undiscovered voices here. Make sure you follow @jaclyncrupi on insta; she’s a voracious reader and a brilliant mind who reviews about 3 books a week (and works in publishing + a bookstore) x
Thanks v much for these. I have read Mayhem and also found it moving and revealing but the other two sound good if tough. Ones I would recommend: Margie Orford's Love and Fury (I am biased cos I know her a bit but it is equally heartbreaking and galvanising), Doppelganger by Naomi klein (extraordinary), Rob Delaney's a heart that works about his sick son henry (made me weep) and Nadia Owusu's Aftershocks. Ps. I read fundamentally recently and loved it!
Adored both Aftershocks and a Heart That Works, love the sound of the others—thank you! How did you find Mayhem? You’re actually the first person I’ve come across whose read it, so I wonder if it was more of a critical success than a sales-y one
I’m sure you're right. I picked up Rausing's because she's a philanthropist in my sector (peace) but aside from knowing who her family was, had only vaguely heard of her brother's addiction issues. I agree, she was hard on herself to the point of making herself ill, but I do also understand why you would question every decision/response and feel guilt about their wealth and privilege. It was obvious how much she had also left out but her introspection was deep, so it was a good form of memoir for me. I'm about to read Shon Faye's Love in Exile, George the Poet's Track Record and Lucy Easthope's When the dust settles so will report back! Loving your writing 🫶
Aftershocks!! I wondered if that began as a Pandora recommendation when I thought of it but that book has stayed with me yearsss later. It is so beautifully written and her accounts of her mental health are visceral. Second this one!!
ADORED Aftershocks. I feel like I *might* have written about it—or maybe we talked about it on The High Low… I actually want to re-read it, now you’ve mentioned it!
I had a hunch it came from you initially but yes, it pops into my brain often, similar to a little life! I just adore memoirs, the context and background to everyone’s journey from celeb to journalist to podcaster to someone who has just lived an amazing life, I just love peeking behind the curtain. Extreme nosiness perhaps but I’m owning it haha
My Good Bright Wolf by Sarah Moss is incredibly good, as is The Possessed by Elif Batuman. Mothers of Sparta by Dawn Davies is completely brilliant — it’s a memoir in essays, the first one, Night Swim, is just beautiful and the title piece is one of the most powerful (and shocking) things I’ve ever read.
I see a lot of people recommending Mosses's book. I have read some of her fiction and love her weekly column in the Saturday Irish Times. We have kidnapped her from Scotland
All new to me—thank you! Speaking of Garten, I’ve just been down a Google hole about The Farm… which sounds so much more dubious than it was given credit for
I love memoirs and loved reading your beautifully written reviews of these three, all new to me. I'm sure you've already heard of all these, but I have recently loved Clover Stroud's 'The Wild Other' and 'My Wild and Sleepless Nights', Fern Brady's 'Strong Female Character', Hadley Freeman's 'Good Girls: A Story and Study of Anorexia' - such an important book about a different (or opposite?) type of 'addiction' - and the totally delightful 'Love From Venice' by Gill Johnson.
An obvious one, but I Am I Am I Am, by Maggie O'Farrell - a memoir told in 17 accounts of her brushes with death - is astonishing. I also really recommend Lost & Found by Kathryn Schulz and Larger Than An Orange, by Lucy Burns (about her abortion) as skilful, fresh, and moving books that play around a bit with the form memoir usually takes. Definitely not plodding!
I actually have not read that Maggie O’Farrell (read my first MoF the other day though!) so will source myself a copy. Thank you!
I really enjoyed this one too
‘Poor’ by Katriona O’Sullivan is excellent and has stayed with me since I read it.
Yes to this!
Thank you for such beautiful writing about these books!
Another vote here for My good bright wolf (currently partway through and loving) and A heart that works (read in one sitting). I'd also recc:
- An exact replica of a figment of my imagination by Elizabeth McCracken, about her son Pudding who was stillborn (another one I read in one sitting, in a bath that I let grow steadily colder. And actually prob the only memoir I've reread and would reread again?)
- Don't think, dear by Alice Robb about 'loving and leaving ballet', interwoven with looking at ballet through a feminist lens, reeeeally resonated as someone who 'failed at' ballet as a kid and loves to watch it now but has conflicted feelings about it.
Also from one Biscoff fan to another, Morrisons bakery does Biscoff croissants and they're every bit as delish as you'd expect!
LETHAL!!! (And great recs thank you)
I love memoirs, and the older the better. I have a stack of them. It's the lived experience that submerges into your subconsciousness. One favourite that I still think about years after reading it is Vera Britain's Testament of Youth. To name but a few more....I also loved Lorna Sage's Bad Blood, Deborah Orr's Motherwell, Jeanette Walls' The Glass Castle, Jill Tweedie's Eating Children, Alexandra Fuller's Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, Gloria Steinem's My Life on the Road, Gerard Brenan's South to Granad, Piri Thomas's Down These Mean Streets.
So many fab recs thank you!
hi! loved these reviews. The best memoir I have read recently is by Safiya Sinclair "How to say Babylon" she write profoundly and poetically on her childhood
I have this one. Thank you so much for the nudge to open it
Yes, I agree. I thought it was devastating and hopeful in equal measure. If you liked Sinclair's book, you might be interested in Free by Lea You.
Thank you for the recommendation! Have checked it out and its now on my tbr list!
I have wrong spelling. It's Ypi. I hope you found it.
I did!
You want memoirs? I got memoirs! "Heavy," by Kiese Laymon. "The Yellow House," by Sarah M. Broom. "Experience," by Martin Amis. "Country Girl," by Edna O'Brien. "Eight Months on Ghazzah Street" *and* "Giving up the Ghost," by Hilary Mantel. "Hillbilly Elegy," by J.D. Vance. KIDDING, KIDDING. I don't know if I'll have the courage for Neige Sinno, but I'm eager to read Sigrid Rausing. Thank you for this excellent dispatch, Pandora.
Excellent list memoir queen, and that made me laugh—my friend told me recently she loved Hillbilly Elegy when she read it so I’m kind of sad I missed the chance… lmk how you find Mayhem.
Hillbilly Elegy has also sat on my shelf until it is now too late ... maybe one day
I thought Heavy was amazing!
I loved Edna O'Brien's Country Girl.
I appreciate the care you took writing these reviews. The current must-read memoir in Oz is “Australian Gospel” by Lech Blaine. Hard to believe it’s true to be honest, but a superbly written family saga x
Oh this sounds so up my street—thank you! I just very kindly got sent the Stella prize shortlist and there’s a) some excellent Aus non fic and fic in there and b) makes me realise how little makes it across the pond here in terms of critical coverage
This is a constant conversation over here and I think the fact that it’s taken so many decades for Garner to be published internationally says it all. Charlotte Wood being shortlisted for the Booker in 2024 really helped with exposure of Aus lit but still, there’s so many undiscovered voices here. Make sure you follow @jaclyncrupi on insta; she’s a voracious reader and a brilliant mind who reviews about 3 books a week (and works in publishing + a bookstore) x
Thanks v much for these. I have read Mayhem and also found it moving and revealing but the other two sound good if tough. Ones I would recommend: Margie Orford's Love and Fury (I am biased cos I know her a bit but it is equally heartbreaking and galvanising), Doppelganger by Naomi klein (extraordinary), Rob Delaney's a heart that works about his sick son henry (made me weep) and Nadia Owusu's Aftershocks. Ps. I read fundamentally recently and loved it!
Adored both Aftershocks and a Heart That Works, love the sound of the others—thank you! How did you find Mayhem? You’re actually the first person I’ve come across whose read it, so I wonder if it was more of a critical success than a sales-y one
I’m sure you're right. I picked up Rausing's because she's a philanthropist in my sector (peace) but aside from knowing who her family was, had only vaguely heard of her brother's addiction issues. I agree, she was hard on herself to the point of making herself ill, but I do also understand why you would question every decision/response and feel guilt about their wealth and privilege. It was obvious how much she had also left out but her introspection was deep, so it was a good form of memoir for me. I'm about to read Shon Faye's Love in Exile, George the Poet's Track Record and Lucy Easthope's When the dust settles so will report back! Loving your writing 🫶
https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/a-thread-of-violence-a-story-of-truth-invention-and-murder-mark-o-connell/7639249?ean=9781783787715
Aftershocks!! I wondered if that began as a Pandora recommendation when I thought of it but that book has stayed with me yearsss later. It is so beautifully written and her accounts of her mental health are visceral. Second this one!!
ADORED Aftershocks. I feel like I *might* have written about it—or maybe we talked about it on The High Low… I actually want to re-read it, now you’ve mentioned it!
I had a hunch it came from you initially but yes, it pops into my brain often, similar to a little life! I just adore memoirs, the context and background to everyone’s journey from celeb to journalist to podcaster to someone who has just lived an amazing life, I just love peeking behind the curtain. Extreme nosiness perhaps but I’m owning it haha
My Good Bright Wolf by Sarah Moss is incredibly good, as is The Possessed by Elif Batuman. Mothers of Sparta by Dawn Davies is completely brilliant — it’s a memoir in essays, the first one, Night Swim, is just beautiful and the title piece is one of the most powerful (and shocking) things I’ve ever read.
Brilliant recs thank yoy!
I see a lot of people recommending Mosses's book. I have read some of her fiction and love her weekly column in the Saturday Irish Times. We have kidnapped her from Scotland
My Good Bright Wolf was totally transformational for me. I have given it to all my sisters and also a bunch of friends (and in hardback!)
Ooh added to my list, it looks amazing!
Thanks for the recommendations.
What a collection!
Likely you have read it but Somebody's Daughter by Ashley C Ford is great writing.
Ina Garten's Be Ready When The Luck Happens is a nice exploration of her life (and empire building).
Jami Attenberg's I Came All This Way To Meet You for inspiration on sticking with creative pursuits!
All new to me—thank you! Speaking of Garten, I’ve just been down a Google hole about The Farm… which sounds so much more dubious than it was given credit for
You're welcome! :)
Ooh interesting!! - though mention of The Farm has me wondering if you are thinking of Ina May Gaskin?
Or quite possibly Ina Garten has a dubious farm I may not be aware of!
Oh dear god yes — you are totally right 😂
Hahaha maybe that's an interesting collab opportunity waiting to happen 😂
I love memoirs and loved reading your beautifully written reviews of these three, all new to me. I'm sure you've already heard of all these, but I have recently loved Clover Stroud's 'The Wild Other' and 'My Wild and Sleepless Nights', Fern Brady's 'Strong Female Character', Hadley Freeman's 'Good Girls: A Story and Study of Anorexia' - such an important book about a different (or opposite?) type of 'addiction' - and the totally delightful 'Love From Venice' by Gill Johnson.
Mayhem so good.. ❤️🩹
Am enjoying Graydon's, which is surprising me.
I just read The Tell… I couldn’t put it down. An amazing and amazingly brave memoir.
My favourite genre!! Added to my list, thank you. I’ll go check my bookshelf later and recommend ones I think you’d enjoy!