The Art Of series is a new line of books reinvigorating the practice of craft and criticism. Each book will be a brief, witty, and useful explor...
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Sep 25, 2010
Therese
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Although Birkerts focusses exclusively on memoir writing, the crux of his book is the distance between the narrator and the subject...and that distance is as applicable to an older self recalling a younger self in memoir as it is to an older narrator animating his younger self in fiction. Birkerts introduces his book by exploring a few classic masters of the art: Nabokov (Speak, Memory) and Virginia Woolf's "A Sketch of the Past," he devotes most of his exploration to works by authors
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Oct 04, 2009
Visha
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Loved this nifty, square tome, dedicated to the philosophy of memory & memoir writing. Be aware: it's most helpful to have read at least several of the memoirs referred to throughout the chapters, which are conveniently organized into 'broad-idea'/'condensed space' chapters: the Lyrical Seekers (a bit dense for the beginning, but it picks up from there); 'Coming of Age' (my recommendation of where to start reading); 'Fathers & Sons', 'Mothers and Daughters'. Possibly due to the space constraint
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Apr 29, 2009
Samara
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A helpful book for anyone interested in writing a memoir. It doesn't go into the mechanics of writing, but focuses instead on demonstrating the philosophy that must be followed if you wish to write a memoir instead of an autobiography. (Yes, there is a difference).
To show what you're in for, here's a sampling of my reading notes:
-Don't be trapped by chronology. You *don't* need to start at the beginning and work your way forward.
-Seek a healthy detachment from th More...
To show what you're in for, here's a sampling of my reading notes:
-Don't be trapped by chronology. You *don't* need to start at the beginning and work your way forward.
-Seek a healthy detachment from th More...
Jan 31, 2011
Mara
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I just finished reading the NY Times Problem with Memoirs and think that Genzlinger weighted his review with the three worst examples of memoir he could find, while Birkerts made me want to run out and grab a whole stack of other memoirs. So I would respond to Genzlinger, that I know and am persuaded by Birkerts that no life is interesting in and of itself, but in the hands of her that writes well it is interesting. Or something. That formulation doesn't quite work. I did like Genzlinger's rule
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Aug 09, 2008
Julene
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I love reading anything by Sven! This is the second book I've read in this series so far and it is a good insite into the different types of memoir from someone who went through the long process of writing his own. Given his incredible writing skill, he did justice to explaining the dynamics of three types of memoir, using examples in depth.
He starts off with the lyrical seekers using Virginia Wolf, Vladimir Nabokov and Annie Dillard. Then he goes to coming-of-age memoirs, first dra More...
He starts off with the lyrical seekers using Virginia Wolf, Vladimir Nabokov and Annie Dillard. Then he goes to coming-of-age memoirs, first dra More...
Feb 15, 2010
David
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I keep trying to get into memoir. I want to believe it's not this thing I hate, that it's worth exploring.
Then I read books like this: the introduction outlines the problems with the genre (that it's more therapeutic for the writer, that it's narcissistic and self-serving). The book goes on to explain why memoir is not these things by giving examples that are mostly therapeutic, narcissistic, and self-serving. What a joke.
Then I read books like this: the introduction outlines the problems with the genre (that it's more therapeutic for the writer, that it's narcissistic and self-serving). The book goes on to explain why memoir is not these things by giving examples that are mostly therapeutic, narcissistic, and self-serving. What a joke.
Jan 30, 2010
Sarah
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I highly recommend this book to anyone attempting to write memoir. Birkerts explores the way memoirs use time differently than other genres, noting that memoir writing is less about telling everything that happened in chronological order, and more about searching for patterns and connections among events in your life. Birkerts writes that many memoirists “use the vantage point of the present to gain access to … the hidden narrative of the past,” and he gives solid examples of how different memoi
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Jan 05, 2012
Jan-Erik
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so this is basically a long essay where sven analyzes a bunch of memoirs he's read but i haven't. these bits were a little tedious, except for the parts about nabokov/woolf/dillard. but his conclusions about the memoir form, how its connected to memory, why its still a valid form of art that can speak to other people even though modern bookstores are full of celebrity ghostwritten pieces of poo.. good stuff!
Jun 26, 2011
Nancy
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4169634 Just finished reading this. I must say I was rather disappointed. I thought I would glean more useful information, as I am now in the throes of designing an approach to my own memoir. and thought maybe this would delineate a few issues for me...things to consider, to look out for.
I did not like the style of writing in this book and the language used. It seems pretentious, affected and excessive in the choice of words. It could have been easier to read and digest if the langua More...
I did not like the style of writing in this book and the language used. It seems pretentious, affected and excessive in the choice of words. It could have been easier to read and digest if the langua More...
May 30, 2011
Juan
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Excellent book. If I could give it 4.5 stars, I would. If you ever want to pick up a book that critically and thoughtfully analyzes the memoir, I can't think of a better book than this one. Birkerts provides a number of incisive breakdowns of books within the classic memoir genres (such as "Coming of Age," "Mothers and Daughters," and "Trauma and Memory") to show how some strong writers went about writing their books, how they dealt with the issue of writing abou
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Sep 14, 2011
Jay
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This is a great book for anyone thinking about writing a memoir. The author is a critic, editor, writer, and Harvard professor, so as expected; the book is more analytical than others. The author makes the distinction between literary memoirs that are focused, versus the sensation driven and often chronologically written biographical memoirs that cover a wide spectrum of the author’s life. The author defines several categories of literary memoirs and illustrates each with his discussion of numer
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Sep 13, 2008
Jesse
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Suspended somewhere between a short book and an extended essay, this is a brief look at a number of reoccuring narrative and stylistic techniques in the ever-popular genre of memoir, fleshed out with examples culled from Birkert's obviously expansive personal readings. It often gets bogged down in mere synopses, but the first two chapters--the prologue where Birkerts describes his own struggle to write a memoir and the chapter on "lyrical seekers" (specifically Nabokov, Woolf and Dill
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May 14, 2010
David
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Finally. Read a great analysis of time in memoir; breaking it down detailing various strategies and perspectives and their efficacy.
May 27, 2010
Loving this so far. It's answering some of my booky worries.
It looks like a cool series, too.
It looks like a cool series, too.
Jan 19, 2008
Mike
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Of course you'll be in a better position if you've read the memoirs Birkerts dissects here--Auster's "Invention of Solitude," Dillard's "An American Childhood," Conroy's "Stop-Time"--but still very keen and insightful writing about how a memoir functions, the way it courts its reader, and like the title says, uses its treatment of time to succeed.
Aug 25, 2011
Patricia
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This intensive study of several well-crafted memoirs is not only helpful as a discussion of craft, it also felt like having a smart conversation with a friend about books. I really enjoyed reading it.
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