| Marta's Reading Insight | number 27 |  |
MEMOIRS
A memoir is a story retold by the main character. Like autobiography, it includes the facts of one’s experience, but the tone of the re-telling is a part of the story. The author may re-write history and the facts may waver, but the essence of a life remains.
| My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme |
Thirty two years old, gawky, six-foot-two and unable to speak French! Yet, Julia Child became the Gallic cooking genius familiar to us all. Her grand nephew Prud’homme completed this account of Child’s “true calling” from teaching cooking classes in the late 1940’s to the joy of publishing (after a decade of rejections) her book to teach French cooking to Americans. Outspoken and iconic, Child never lost her charm and enthusiasm. Her classic cookbook is Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Child (1912-2004) went on to publish 16 more cookbooks and produce many television cooking shows. |
Omnivore’s Dilemma: a Natural History of Four Meals |
The ecology of eating is examined as Pollan presents the social, ethical and environmental impact of four meals. From dinner table to corn field to feed lot to forest floor, he examines his own emotions and thoughts to see how they affect what he eats. A fascinating look at America’s eating disorders and the politics behind our everyday supermarket choices. Pollan’s previous title, The Botany of Desire: a Plant’s-eye View of the World was a bestseller. |
| Seducing the Demon: Writing for My Life by Erica Jong |
Starting out as a serious & award-winning poet, Jong earned a different kind of recognition with the publication of Fear of Flying in 1973. (18 million copies in print) Her message, then and now, is feminism. She presents the whole woman, with nothing held back, and with the assurance that one woman’s experiences, emotions and thoughts are as valid and important as those of any other human being. Read this if you need inspiration to keep writing. Author of nineteen books of poetry, fiction & memoir, Jong also writes for the New York Times Book Review. |
A Writer’s Life |
Talese focuses on his own passion for the truth and the precision with which he has presented his findings on subjects as wide-ranging as the New York Times, the mafia, the sex industry and his own family’s immigrant experience. Using stories of ordinary people, Talese demonstrates how writing has worked in his life; he has become known as an “American master of the written word.” Talese was a NYT reporter from 1956-1965 and writes for many national magazines. He has authored elven books. |
| The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion |
Unimaginable mourning from the exceptionally talented journalist, whose husband of forty years died before her eyes. Minute detail, unwavering vision and honest self examination take the reader into a place no one ever anticipates. Didion chronicles the course of her grief with compassionate objectivity. |
| The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky: a True Story by Ken Dornstein |
David Dornstein was 25 years old when he died in the terrorist crash of Pan Am Flight 103 leaving his younger brother with a crushing void, overwhelming grief and many unanswered questions. Confronting stacks of notebooks and letters left behind by the aspiring author, Dornstein investigates his brother’s life and finds inspiration. A tragedy from the headlines turns into a mesmerizing and deeply affirming story of family love. Dornstein is an editor for PBS’s Frontline; this is his first book. |
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Marta Campbell, Head of Collection Management |  |
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| Tel: 203-291-4842 | E-mail: mcampbell@westportlibrary.org | |||
Updated 6/26/06
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