The Art of Memoir

Synopsis

Karr Breaks Down The Key Elements Of Great Literary Memoir, Opening Our Concepts Of Memory And Identity, And Illuminating The Cathartic Power Of Reflecting On The Past; Anybody With An Inner Life Or Complicated History, Whether Writer Or Reader, Will Relate. Caveat Emptor -- Welcome To My Chew Toy -- The Past's Vigor -- The Truth Contract Twixt Writer And Reader -- Why Not To Write A Memoir : Plus A Pop Quiz To Protect The Bleeding & Box Out The Rigid -- A Voice Conjures The Human Who Utters It -- Don't Try This At Home : The Seductive, Narcissistic Count -- Sacred Carnality -- How To Choose A Detail -- Hucksters, The Deluded, And Big Fat Liars -- Interiority And Inner Enemy : Private Agonies Read Deeper Than External Whammies -- On Finding The Nature Of Your Talent -- The Visionary Maxine Hong Kingston -- Dealing With Beloveds (on And Off The Page) -- On Information, Facts, And Data -- Personal Run-ins With Fake Voices -- On Book Structure And The Order Of Information -- The Road To Hell Is Paved With Exaggeration -- Blind Spots And False Selves -- Truth Hunger : The Public And Private Burning Of Kathryn Harrison -- Old-school Technologies For The Stalled Novice -- Major Reversals In Cherry And Lit -- Why Memoirs Fail -- An Incomplete Checklist To Stave Off Dread -- Michael Herr : Start In Kansas, End In Oz -- Against Vanity : In Praise Of Revision. Mary Karr. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 221-226).