Bibliography of memoirs suggested by Rosalind Reisner
Writing Your Memoir: Memory, Experience, and Imagination
East Hampton Library, June 7, 2021
Presenter: Rosalind Reisner
A bibliography of books mentioned
Bryson, Bill.
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. Crown, 2006.
Bryson reminds us of what life was like growing up in the 1950s, specifically, the Midwest version.
Conroy, Pat
My Losing Season. Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2002.
Conroy’s account of his senior year playing basketball at The Citadel and how the game helped him find his way out of a childhood of abuse and violence.
Fuller, Alexandra
Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight. Random House, 2001.
Humor and insight fill this memoir about growing up in Rhodesia and Malawi with a dysfunctional but adventurous family.
Giobbi, Edward.
Italian Family Cooking. Random House, 1971.
A collection of great family recipes leavened with heartfelt stories about Giobbi’s family in Connecticut and Italy.
Goodwin, Doris Kearns
Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir. Simon & Schuster, 1997.
A lovely portrait of the childhood of the acclaimed historian, who grew up on Long Island at a time when baseball and family were paramount.
Guthrie, Woody
Bound for Glory. Dutton, 1943.
Born in Oklahoma, Guthrie traveled the U.S. in boxcars and on foot in the Depression years, discovering the heart of the country and sharing his insights in his songs.
Hoffman, Eva
Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language. E.P. Dutton, 1989.
Hoffman’s survivor parents remained in Poland after World War II, but when she was thirteen years old, the family immigrated to Vancouver, Canada. Hoffman’s tries to make a place for herself as an exile from her beloved Cracow.
Hooks, Bell
Bone Black: Memories of Girlhood. Henry Holt, 1996.
Growing up black in the South of the 1950s, hooks learned many lessons as a strong-spirited child, on her journey toward becoming a writer and feminist.
Remen, Rachel Naomi
Kitchen Table Wisdom. Riverhead Books, 1996.
Healing stories from a physician and therapist.
Santiago, Esmeralda
When I Was Puerto Rican: A Memoir. Addison Wesley, 1993.
From tropical beauty and domestic strife in Puerto Rico to a new life in Brooklyn, the teenage Santiago was determined to succeed.
Wolff, Tobias
This Boy’s Life. Atlantic Monthly Press, 1989.
After his parents’ divorce in the 1950s, Toby and his mother travel across country for a fresh start, but his mother’s second husband turns out to be a petty tyrant who makes the boy’s life miserable.