Lisa Bruce spent years working on the film, The Theory of Everything, before convincing the author to sell the rights to the original memoir.
Border Crossers: The Here/There Memoirs
Beth Kephart, author of Handling the Truth — a guide to writing memoir — discusses several of her favorite border-crossing writers and the art of geomorphology.
Lance Armstrong and His Publishers Sued for Fraud, False Advertising
Two California men have sued Lance Armstrong and his book publishers for fraud and false advertising, claiming that Armstrong’s two best-selling memoirs were bunk.
Fact or Fiction, Is One Better at Presenting the Truth of Trauma?
In nonfiction, people traumatized by events might be inclined to soften the details as a form of self-protection. Fiction may simply be safer and more tender.
Why We Publish Whistleblowers
Neal Maillet, Editorial Director of Berrett-Koehler explains why it’s a publisher’s duty to take on books that challenge convention despite the risks.
What Makes a BEA Buzz Book? Curiosity, Soul, Voice
What really goes into making a BEA buzz book? Authorial obsessions, personal histories, medical redemption, the art and deliberate artifice of voice.
Pirate Version of George Bush Memoir Causes Dispute in China
A Chinese pirated version of George W. Bush’s memoir, Decision Points, sparked controversy about its authenticity what is lost in the Chinese translation.
Cool Idea: Five-year “Anniversary” of Memoir Prompts Book Party
By Rachel Aydt Last Friday night, at the Bowery Poetry Club in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, the book GirlBomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir, by Janice Erlbaum, was being celebrated on its 5th Anniversary by roughly fifty people who appeared to have been deeply touched in different ways by the memoir. At its root, Girlbomb (published by Villard in 2006) is a story …
Memoirs: The Yin to Twitter’s Yang
Franz Wisner, author and founder of Story-Driven Ink—a new online writing workshop—on why he’s bullish on the future of the memoir. Editorial by Franz Wisner I just returned from a funeral, one in a long string. This one mirrored the others — a bunch of somber-faced mourners, huddled in a room, cradling fermented beverages, mourning the death of our beloved. Oh, memoirs. …
Wen Huang’s “Coffin Keeper” in the Paris Review
By Edward Nawotka Our good friend and frequent contributor Wenguang Huang has published excerpt of his forthcoming memoir in the new issue of The Paris Review, alongside interviews with novelist David Mitchell, cartoonist R. Crumb, and fiction from Katherine Dunn, Colum McCann, and Ann Beattie. The piece, entitled “Coffin Keeper,” begins: “When I was nine, I shared my bedroom with …