Star Tribune reviews Handling the Truth

How lucky am I?

Thank you, Meganne Fabrega, for this heartening review of Handling the Truth in today's Star Tribune.

Grateful doesn't begin to describe me, at this moment in time (relieved is another word). And thank you, Serena Agusto-Cox, for letting me know.

The full review is here. One gesture below. And don't forget to enter for your chance to win a copy of the book—and to extend the conversation about memoir; more about that here.

At first glance her writing style may appear to be casual, but her advice for the memoir writer is deadly serious. “Careful, now,” she says to her class, and to her reader, as they start down the path of writing about their lives. There are many cautions like this along the way, because, “Writing is not a task; it is no job. Writing is a privilege.”

One of the qualities that make Kephart the perfect author for a book like this is that she considers herself not only a teacher, but a lifelong student. “I blame Natalie Kusz,” she writes, citing Kusz’s memoir “Road Song” as her earliest foray into memoir. She quotes heavily throughout the book from writers she continues to learn from, whether it is one of her own novice students or those she considers masters of the craft, such as Patricia Hampl or Sven Birkerts.