In the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, American
memoirists have wrestled with a wide range of anxieties in their books.
They cope with financial crises, encounter difference, or confront norms
of identity. Megan Brown contends that such best sellers as Cheryl
Strayed's Wild, Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love, and Tucker
Max's I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell teach readers how to navigate a
confusing, changing world.
This lively and theoretically grounded book analyzes
twenty-first-century memoirs from Three Cups of Tea to Fun Home,
emphasizing the ways in which they reinforce and circulate ideologies,
becoming guides or models for living. Brown expands her inquiry beyond
books to the autobiographical narratives in reality television and
political speeches. She offers a persuasive explanation for the memoir
boom: the genre as a response to an era of uncertainty and struggle.