Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir

by William Knowlton Zinsser
Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir  
published May 20th 1998 by Mariner Books
binding Paperback
isbn 0395901502   (isbn13: 9780395901502)
pages 240
description Every time Inventing the Truth appears in a new edition, editor William Zinsser can't help but add to it. The first edition (1987) evolved from...more
date added
03-02-07



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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 53)



Wendy
Wendy rated it: 2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars
05/12/08

bookshelves: anthologies, essay, memoir, teaching-writing
Read in May, 2008
There are a few gems here -- the latter part of Annie Dillard's "To Fashion a Text" and Toni Morrison's excellent guide to the history of African American memoir: "The Site of Memory." The bibliography is also fascinating, to see what writers were reading as they wrote their memoirs. Otherwise, this book hasn't quite made the transition from spoken presentations to published essays, and the product is neither solid craft advice nor strong personal essay.
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Hurston
Hurston rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
05/01/08

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in April, 2008
recommends it for: memoir writers, writers, people into writers
This is a good complement to Zinsser's classic "On Writing Well." I was hoping for the magic sauce that would make my life interesting enough to write a book about it and get rich and retire, so I was disappointed. It's really a collection of writings from several very successful memoir writers and each tells, in the writer's own words, how they went about getting their memories down on paper and into a logical, coherent form. It's very well written and interesting. If you're going to ...more
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Suzii
Suzii added it
06/10/07

IN the last two weeks, I just tackled the task of committing the letters of a 25 year friendship to a scripted presentation. I was inspired and educated to read these reflections by major authors - of fiction and nonfiction - of their process of actually writing about their own lives in the first person.

In one selection Annie Dillard reflects that once you commit something of your own life to written text, the act of writing ( and refining), the text-experience can overshadow the original...more
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Stephanie
Stephanie rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
01/03/08

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in December, 2007
Interesting book about writing your own memoir. Each chapter is by a famous author who has written a memoir and the decisions and consequences of having done so. Helpful for anyone considering writing a memoir.
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Jenni
Jenni rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
08/09/07

bookshelves: nonfiction
Good. A book of essays by nine different memoirists including: Russell Baker, Frank McCourt, Annie Dillard, and Toni Morrison. I highlighted something in every essay. Some are better than others.
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gad
gad added it
12/19/07

bookshelves: library, loaned
Loaned to Kirby.
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amanda
amanda rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
01/21/08

 

Sara
Sara rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
06/09/07

Read in January, 2006
 

Robb
Robb marked it as to-read
05/13/08

bookshelves: to-read
 

Linda
Linda rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
06/23/08

bookshelves: reference
 

Mom
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11/19/07

 

Christopher
Christopher rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
06/21/07

 

Lyssia
Lyssia marked it as to-read
09/09/07

bookshelves: to-read
 

RF
RF marked it as to-read
03/26/08

bookshelves: to-read, writing
 

Jennie
Jennie marked it as to-read
08/09/07

bookshelves: to-read
 

Darwin
Darwin added it
03/24/08

bookshelves: will-get
 

Jessica
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04/23/08

 

Harriet
Harriet rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
03/26/08

 

Jen
Jen is currently reading it
04/06/08

bookshelves: currently-reading
Read in April, 2008
 

Colin
Colin rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
03/21/08

Read in March, 2008
 


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book data (includes all editions)

avg rating (all editions): 3.59 (32 ratings)
avg rating (this edition): 3.61 (31 ratings)
number of reviews: 6






other editions

Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir (Writer's Craft)
Inventing the Truth (Paperback)