Is everyone writing a memoir? It seems like there are way too many of them these days. Anyone who has ever, oh, say, held a job thinks that it is worthy of 300 pages. If you had a rotten boss, add an extra 100 pages. It's like Andy Warhol was just slightly off on his famous "fame" prediction. He should have said, "In the future everyone will publish a memoir." Or, maybe I am just jealous: I had great parents and therefore a great childhood and therefore, no material for a memoir.
Having said all that, one of my favorite books ever is a memoir. Personal History by Katharine Graham is an amazing book. As the title says, it transcends memoir and becomes history. If you are the least bit interested in recent political history, read this book! Kay Graham was the owner of the Washington Post during Watergate. She was friends with the Kennedys; she had chats with Supreme Court justices. And she's really human: she struggles in her marriage; she has trouble at work. Of course her work is more grand than most ? she has trouble with the President, et al., over the Watergate articles, trouble with the unions at the newspaper, trouble with rival newspapers.
I enjoy getting history through the eyes of an individual. Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller is another "history" book disguised as memoir. We see the struggles of Rhodesia through the eyes of a child. It is riveting. Her father spends his time fighting while her mother seems determined to absorb Africa into her skin.
I just recently read Strange Piece of Paradise by Terri Jentz. Tessa loved it and so did Allison, so I figured I'd pick it up. I knew nothing about the incident. In the summer of 1977 I was eleven and reading my way through the Nancy Drew series. (Nancy Drew #1, Secret of the Old Clock.) These were the old yellow hardcovers with the great cover illustrations. I can still remember sitting in the living room reading late into the night, totally involved in Nancy's life. Terri Jentz, on the other hand, was a 20-year old college student on a cross country bike ride. She and her friend were attacked in Oregon. She's a good writer so the events come to life ? you can hear the sounds and feel the trauma of the attack and its aftermath. The book is mostly about Terri, 15 years later, coming back to Oregon to try to find the attacker. In other words, history on a small scale. My favorite parts of the book were the cultural/historical ones. Terri talking about police procedures then and now, for example. I admire Ms. Jentz. She was brave to write this book. As she unpacks the emotional baggage of the attack, you really feel her confusion and despair. I'm glad I read it, but I can't imagine ever re-reading it, you know?