Memoirs

 by Laurie Robb  Rowan Public Library

You never really understand a person until you …climb into his skin and walk around in it."

Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird

Perhaps you’ve tried to put yourself in the place of someone going through tremendous heartbreak or joy. Or maybe you've wanted to know how a survivor of tragedy faces each day. You’ve wondered how a person forgives the most unforgivable transgression, from someone else or from herself. 

Memoirs are wonderful tools to help readers understand how other people experience both ordinary and extraordinary life. Like biographies, memoirs chronicle a person’s experiences and can be as intense as Elie Wiesel's Night, or as light-hearted as Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castles. Classic memoirs include Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl, Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes, Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Girl Sings, and Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie.

The past few years have given us bumper crops of exciting and diverse memoirs. Award winning book Lab Girl by Hope Jahren, is about a female scientist who, through determination and love, excels in her field. J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy, which got lots of air time during the election, is about his white working class family in Appalachia. Paul Kalanithi's When Breath Becomes Air is the moving account of Kalanithi's diagnosis of cancer and how he approaches death. You Will Not Have My Hate is the story of a widower who must confront his grief after the murder of his wife in the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is the story of a family’s quest to find out more about the woman whose cancer cells would generate countless new medical discoveries.

Another gift that memoirs can deliver is the opportunity to experience the point –of-view of someone living with a disability, mental illness, or other condition. In honor of Autism Awareness Month, a wonderful way to connect or understand autism is to read memoirs written by authors on the autistic spectrum. Temple Grandin, a well-known autism advocate and animal scientist, has several books available at the library. Her memoirs include The Way I See It and Thinking in Pictures. John Elder Robison, brother to Augusten Burroughs and pyrotech guru, is another of my favorite authors on the spectrum. He wrote Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s as well as Raising Cubby: A Father and Son’s Adventures with Asperger’s, Tractors and High Explosives. The Reason I Jump: the Inner Voice of a13-Year-Old Boy with Autism by Naoki Higashida is a wonderful memoir that young adults find intriguing. Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant  by Daniel Tammet is another perspective of living with autism and Letters to Sam: A Grandfather’s Lessons on Love, Loss, and the Gifts of Life  by Daniel Gottlieb is the touching memoir of a grandfather relating to his autistic grandson. Rowan County author Susan King wrote a moving account of her experiences with her son in the inspiring book Optimism for Autism.

If you can’t wait to pick up one of the newest memoirs, here is a list of suggestions. There is certainly something here for everyone.

·         How to Murder Your Life by Cat Marnell

·         Rest in Power: Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin by Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin

·         My Life, My Love, My Legacy by Coretta Scott King

·         Instrumental: a Memoir of Madness, Medication and Music by James Rhodes

·         Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick

·         No One Cares About Crazy People by Ron Powers

·         A Life Extraordinary: the Extraordinary Story of One Boy's Gift to Medical Science by Sarah Gray

·         Patient H.M. by Luke Dittrich

·         Storyteller's Nashville: a Gritty and Glorious Life in Country Music by Tom T. Hall

·         Girl Who Escaped ISIS by Farida Khalaf

·         Based on a True Story by Norm MacDonald

So, if you want to connect with someone extraordinary or even someone ordinary in extraordinary situations, pick up a memoir. Through the author, you will have a front row seat to learn, explore, and grow. To me, memoirs are the best of both worlds: true events and great stories (and storytellers). Find your next favorite memoir at the Rowan Public Library.