Weather is the go-to topic for making small talk. Avoid religion and politics; talk about the weather. Nobody causes it, and we’ll all have to deal.
Review: Areas of Fog by Will Dowd
Category: Reviews
An archive of our reviews of memoirs, essay collections, and other works of creative nonfiction.
Review: The Boy Who Really, Really Wanted to Have Sex by John McNally
McNally shows us a pubescent boy who is fat, a teenager who is not, and a sometimes-fat, sometimes-not man who never fully escapes his earliest identity as a fat boy.
Review: We Are All Shipwrecks: A Memoir by Kelly Grey Carlisle
In 1976, when she was just three weeks old, Kelly Grey Carlisle’s mother left her in a motel room.
Review: I’ve Got My Period. So What? by Clara Henry
The title of this book pretty much lays it all on the line for you — and that was exactly the author’s point.
Review: Narrow River, Wide Sky by Jenny Forrester
One of the more useful tips I’ve received about writing memoir is this: when the material is hot, try to write cool.
REVIEW: Tilting: A Memoir by Nicole Harkin
As a child, Nicole Harkin suspected her family might not be like other families.
Review: The Art of Creative Research by Philip Gerard
[Gerard] quotes nonfiction writer and journalist Bronwen Dickey who warns that writers must maintain a sense of skepticism when researching.
Review: South of Forgiveness: A True Story of Rape and Responsibility by Thordis Elva and Tom Stranger
South of Forgiveness: A True Story of Rape and Responsibility is a remarkable experience. A catharsis. A symbiosis of grief and joy
Review: Golden State 2017: The Best New Writing from California by Lisa Locascio
In 28 separate tales, Locascio’s selections cover a spectrum of races and nationalities, heroes and villains, sexes and orientations, and family relations.
Review: Japanese Girl at the Siege of Changchun: How I Survived China’s Wartime Atrocity by Homare Endo
Not a day goes by that China is not mentioned on American news broadcasts or headlines. Most of these stories extol China’s economic growth, scientific innovations, or forward-looking president.
