Since Writing the Memoir came out in early 1997 it has sold roughly
80,000 copies and is consistently praised as the best book on memoir out
there. It is thought-provoking, explanatory, and practical: each chapter
ends with writing exercises. It covers everything from questions of
truth and ethics to questions of craft and the crucial retrospective
voice. An appendix provides information on legal issues.
Judith Barrington, an award-winning memoir writer and acclaimed writing
teacher, is attuned to the forces, both external and internal, that work
to stop a writer; her tone is respectful of the difficulties and
encouraging of taking risks. Her nimble prose, her deep belief in the
importance of this genre, and her delight in the rich array of
memoirists writing today make this book more than the typical how-to
creative writing book. In this second edition the author has added new
material and reflects on issues raised since Writing the Memoir was
written, early in the memoir boom.
No student of memoir writing could fail to learn from this wise,
pragmatic, and confiding book. One hears on every page the voice of an
intelligent and responsive teacher, with years of thinking about memoir
behind her.--Vivian Gornick
Judith Barrington is the author of Lifesaving: A Memoir and
numerous individual memoirs which have been published in literary
magazines and anthologies. She is the author of three volumes of poetry:
Trying to Be an Honest Woman, History and Geography, and Horses and
the Human Soul (forthcoming in 2002). She has taught creative writing
for the past twenty years.
