Pretending is Lying/Dominique Goblet: New York Journal of Books Review

My thoughts on a most-interesting new graphic memoir, in today's New York Journal of Books. Full review can be found here.

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In Gratitude: my review of Jenny Diski's final memoir

My thoughts on Jenny Diski's final memoir, In Gratitude, are here, in the New York Journal of Books.

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This Angel on My Chest/Leslie Pietrzyk: thoughts in New York Journal of Books

Leslie Pietrzyk has written a stunning book of fiction that, based in part on her own loss of a young husband, spirals toward emotive, shattering truth. I've written of it here, in New York Journal of Books.

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The Prize/Jill Bialosky in the New York Journal of Books

In the midst of crazy, swoony days, I sat down with Jill Bialosky's new novel The Prize, a book I kept racing to return to, because you just know, from about page one, that you won't rest until you know what happened.

Art. Greed. Honor. Desire.

It's all here.

My thoughts, in the New York Journal of Books.

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My review of Patti Smith's M Train, on New York Journal of Books (Churched! I tell you. Churched!)

Yesterday, on Huffington Post, I wrote about the importance of structure in memoir. How, indeed, considered structure makes memoir memoir. If we don't care about how the true story gets told, if we don't think broadly, innovatively, wisely about structure, we're only writing autobiography. Telling our story because it's interesting to us, because we feel like talking.

Patti Smith understands structure.

Indeed: How much did I love Patti Smith's utterly humble and humbling new memoir, M Train?

TOOMUCHTOSAYTOOMUCHTOWRITETOOMUCHTOOMUCHTHATMUCH.

This is a star who moves quietly through this world, sitting at coffee shops, remembering and thinking. Never drops a name. Never boasts a moment. She is, and she takes us with her.

My thoughts on M Train, in New York Journal of Books, here.

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Reviewing Julianna Baggott's Harriet Wolf's Seventh Book of Wonders (New York Journal of Books)

A very happy publication day to Julianna Baggott and her immensely wonderful Harriet Wolf's Seventh Book of Wonders. Baggott spent years getting this book right, she has explained in interviews. Her dad helped with research, her acknowledgments say. And anyone who has witnessed Baggott in social media knows her heart is always in the right place. Her mind, too.

My review in full is here.

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Barefoot to Avalon: A Brother's Story. My thoughts in NY Journal of Books

I had the pleasure of reviewing Barefoot to Avalon, David Payne's memoir about the loss of a beautiful brother who faced the demons of Bipolar I, for the New York Journal of Books. Payne's brother was the blessed one, the favored one, a young man much loved. When he dies helping the author move his belongings to a new southern home, Payne is left with the past—sifting clues, pushing beyond old hurts, admonishing himself for not paying closer attention.

It's a knotty, layered, intricate read. It is compelling and urgent. A reminder of the terrible power of mental unwellness and lost chances.

My complete review is here.

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Thoughts on I Refuse (Per Petterson) in today's New York Journal of Books

Readers of this blog know just how much I love Per Petterson. Indeed, having read all of his books I can say with some assurance that I Refuse, his newest, is his most technically astonishing and emotionally devastating.

My thoughts can be found here, in the New York Journal of Books.

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The New York Journal of Books Review of Handling the Truth: oh, my!

My cup overfloweth. Such a beautiful, beautiful review of Handling the Truth in the New York Journal of Books. Helen Gallagher, thank you so much. (Oh, it is a sweet, dear thing to be so kindly understood.)

My favorite words, because it is indeed my hope that this book will be helpful to teachers, are here.

Learning to write a powerful memoir requires studying the masters, finding your form, and getting ready to be vulnerable. How else can you write with honesty and tell the truth? If you’re ready to “get it right, when so many get it wrong, you’ll learn to write and write until you find your true voice.” Ms. Kephart helps you along the way by explaining what memoir is not, and helps you understand what readers gain by reading good literature.

Beyond its appeal to eager memoir writers seeking a teacher by their side, Ms. Kephart’s book allows writing teachers to create custom classroom reading for students by following the generous reading list and memoir samples in the book’s Appendix.

Throughout readers are encouraged to be active writers, to write about what is happening now in order to can learn to write about yesterday.

Thank you for this. Thank you for the whole, which is here.

Thank you.

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