Category Archives: Memoir

by Alison Bechdel Overall: Bechdel’s second graphic memoir takes on her relationship with her mother the way Fun Home unpacked her relationship with her father.  Using her childhood and adult diaries, family photos, and transcriptions of phone calls with her mother made over years, Bechdel recreates some of the foundational incidents of her life inContinue reading “Are You My Mother?”

by Jane Wong Why read a memoir? If the person is well known, I often think the answer comes down to “how.” How did this person achieve success?  But if the person writing the memoir isn’t a household name, I think the question in the best memoirs widens to “why.”  Why do we make certainContinue reading “Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City: A Memoir”

by Stanley Tucci Overall: I love food, cooking, and movies, so I expected Taste: My Life Through Food to hit all the sweet spots, and it did not disappoint. This memoir-cum-cookbook takes us through the actor’s life, providing recipes periodically as we move from his childhood in a close-knit Italian family in New York stateContinue reading “Taste: My Life Through Food”

by Alison Bechdel Overall: I love graphic memoirs, and this is such an amazing addition to the genre. You may be familiar with Alison Bechdel from Fun Home, her first book, which was made into a Tony-Award-winning play. Bechdel examines her lifelong relationship with exercise in her latest book, beginning with her discovery of runningContinue reading “The Secret to Superhuman Strength”

by Michelle Zauner Overall: a beautifully written memoir about Zauner’s relationship with her mother, who died of cancer.  Zauner, an only child, grew up in the Pacific Northwest with her Korean mom and her American father.  She often returned to Korea to spend time with her mother’s family, with whom she became close despite neverContinue reading “Crying in H Mart”

by Thi Bui Graphic memoir has become one of my favorite genres, and this book is a standout example of why.  Bui, a teacher in California, learned to draw comics to produce this book, which took ten years.  Beginning with the birth of her son, Bui traces her family history back to its origins inContinue reading “The Best We Could Do”

by Allie Brosh Graphic memoir has rapidly become one of my favorite genres.  Brosh is a queen of the genre, having published Hyperbole and a Half as well as a follow-up, Solutions and Other Problems.  Her artistic style is super quirky and blends perfectly with the self-deprecating humor and psychological self-analysis in Brosh’s writing.  TheContinue reading “Hyperbole and a Half”