Shirley Hershey Showalter

Farmer's daughter, turned college professor, then college president, now foundation officer. Publications include The Washington Post, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Christian Century. Writing a memoir about growing up Mennonite in America, 1948-1966. Seeking others who read, write, and teach nonfiction/memoir. Goal: read and review 100 memoirs! Read More

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Top Ten Memoir List from Mary Karr

As you know, the goal of this blog is self-education in public.  I am trying to learn about memoir by reading and reviewing great examples of the genre, books about the genre, and offering some mini-memoir on the way. When readers search for good memoir reading lists, I want them to find this blog. What better way to create that list than to construct it from the best memoir writers themselves!  Here are the ones Mary Karr mentioned as her own models for memoir when she talked with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett on a podcast I highly recommend.

I created a simple list first out of the books Mary Karr mentioned in the podcast. Then below the list you will find direct links to Amazon.com so that you can explore reviews or order them just by clicking. Sorry that the layout is a little confusing–still learning how to insert images correctly!

  1. Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior
  2. Richard Wright, Black Boy
  3. Hilary Mantel, Giving Up the Ghost
  4. Robert Graves, Goodbye to All That
  5. Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X
  6. John Howard Griffin, Black Like Me
  7. Tobias Wolff, This Boy’s Life
  8. Michael Herr, Dispatches
  9. Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
  10. Frederick Exley,  A Fan’s Notes

1. Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior

2. Richard Wright, Black Boy

3.Hilary Mantel, Giving Up the Ghost

4. Robert Graves, Goodbye to All That

5. Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X

6. John Howard Griffin, Black Like Me

7. Tobias Wolff, This Boy’s Life

 

8. Michael Herr, Dispatches

9. Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

10. Frederick Exley,  A Fan’s Notes

Posted: January 10th, 2010 under My Reviews, Top Ten Lists.
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  • BTW, I'll also never forget The Liar's Club. Fabulous! I told my daughter that once she reads that, she'll never think of her own family as dysfunctional again. A fascinating, frustrating woman, Mary Karr's mother.
  • You know, Mary Lynn, one reason a lot of people read memoir is that they either feel better about their own lot in life or they feel inspired to be better--as strong, funny, persistent, or ethical as the people they admire who write their own stories. Not a bad reason to read memoir.
  • I like Tobias Wolff, I LOVE Rick Bragg. All Over But the Shoutin' is a book I still remember after ten years, fondly.
  • In case you missed it, here's a previous review of AOBTS:
    http://www.100memoirs.com/2009/04/all-over-but-...
  • lindajoymyers
    This is a terrific list, and I'm pleased to have read most of them, though some are so long ago I need to read them again. We can learn so much from other writers--concepts, style, word choice, tone, structure, and something ineffable that's hard to pin down--the way the book gets inside you and changes you.
  • I agree completely, Linda Joy. I especially like your last comment. Some books I enjoy as I read them but completely forget the characters and plot within weeks. Others hang around my head and my heart forever. I try to pay attention to the words and characters that stay. They help me form my own identity and shape my destiny.
  • I've made a commitment to read 100 books in 2010, with the idea that many of them should be memoir. This is inspirational, to say the least.
  • Hi, Walker, so glad to welcome you to 100Memoirs! I purchased all the books on this list and plan to read/review them. Would love to have you share your thoughts here if you do the same. Good luck with your worthy goal of reading 100 books (2 per week!).
  • Shirley,
    I just started Mary Karr's The Liar's Club.. a book I've had for ages but danced around due to the subject matter. She's a wonderful writer, so glad your posting on her gave me the nudge.
    The 100 books challenge is going to be... a challenge! I've put up the list on my blog and my progress is slow! Oh well, I'm more interested in the reading than the challenge so no problems
  • I know what you mean! I have read more than 100 memoirs by now, but I have only reviewed about 34 of them, and I need to reread many of them, now that I am focused on the genre itself. Glad you have decided to risk Mary Karr despite her subject matter. She is one of the very best memoirists writing today, in my opinion. She gets the tone just right and knows how to tell a story.
  • yes, 2 per week!!! Yikes! As if I needed that reminder-smile
    I'm reading Tales of a Female Nomad right now by Rita Gelman..Interesting, easy read and a memoir of a midlife woman! next I'll pick up Woman Warrior as I already have it.
  • Thank you for this, and for your useful blog, which I just discovered and have been enjoying. The idea of reading 100 memoirs to write your own is a great one. My own blog amounts to a case study in correcting the mistakes I've made over the last 4.5 years in writing my own!
  • You know, Richard, the more I am learning through reading and blogging, the less eager I am to rush into memoir writing or to seek trade book-level publishing. It seems one can get a lot of things wrong. I'd love to know more about your blog. Can you share the URL here so that I (and other readers) can visit you? Thanks!
  • Hi, My blog Narrative is at: http://richardgilbert.wordpress.com/

    A good book on writing memoir is Judith Barrington's Writing the Memoir. Her own memoir Lifesaving looks very good from the excerpts I've read.

    Good to read and plan and brood, but the only way to learn to write a memoir is finally to write one! And rewrite endlessly, noticing all the advice you were too overwhelmed or clueless to take in at first . . .
  • Thank you, Richard. I love your blog and left a message on one of your posts. I notice your publication in Memoir/and, a magazine I have blogged about. And, as a professor of narrative nonfiction, you might have some syllabi to share? I posted my first syllabus two weeks ago from Melanie Springer Mock, professor at GFU. Would love to offer the service of posting lots of these. Let's stay in touch. I like what you are doing. I will be writing some short memoir pieces this month for the local literary awards contest--the thing that launched me on this path. I find that I can do only a little "creative" writing, plus my complex day job, plus this enjoyable but time-consuming blog. One of the real pleasures of blogging, however, is meeting people like you. I've been at this 1.5 years and feel as though I am just starting in many ways.

    I will have to check out Judith Barrington. She has been recommended by more than one person.
  • Actually, I forgot to mention an important one Mary referred to twice--Nabokov, Speak, Memory. http://www.amazon.com/Speak-Memory-Everymans-Li...
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