I love reading about life experiences, however raw or unflinching they get. Many of the books on this list inspired me to be just as honest in my own creative work. While writing Alligator Meat, which began as my English honors thesis and became my memoir, I kept coming back to these books for guidance.
This book remains the pinnacle of memoirs, in my opinion.
Didion’s ability to weave biting social commentary with vivid, unforgettable anecdotes continues to inspire me. I’m grateful to my creative nonfiction professor, Michael Hofmann, for assigning this book. Her language is rich, precise, and full of wit, and it kept me hanging on every word until the very end.
Joan Didion's hugely influential collection of essays which defines, for many, the America which rose from the ashes of the Sixties.
We tell ourselves stories in order to live. The princess is caged in the consulate. The man with the candy will lead the children into the sea.
In this now legendary journey into the hinterland of the American psyche, Didion searches for stories as the Sixties implode. She waits for Jim Morrison to show up, visits the Black Panthers in prison, parties with Janis Joplin and buys dresses with Charles Manson's girls. She and her reader emerge, cauterized, from…
This book not only inspired me to explore the world of memoirs but also pushed me to confront my own fear of honesty on the page.
It is easy to hide behind fiction, yet confronting the culture tied to your own trauma is another challenge entirely. This book left me shocked, tearful, joyous, and empowered, and I returned to it often during my writing process for its sheer bravery.
"My Body offers a lucid examination of the mirrors in which its author has seen herself, and her indoctrination into the cult of beauty as defined by powerful men. In its more transcendent passages . . . the author steps beyond the reach of any 'Pygmalion' and becomes a more dangerous kind of beautiful. She becomes a kind of god in her own right: an artist." ―Melissa Febos, The New York Times Book Review
A deeply honest investigation of what it means to be a woman and a commodity from Emily Ratajkowski, the archetypal, multi-hyphenate…
Its descriptions of places, people, and events are rich with specifics and vivid with detail, perfect Floridian fodder. There is a sincere love for the locations in this book that I relished. It feels uniquely local, yet the themes of belonging are universal.
I like to think of my memoir and this collection as long-lost siblings, this book the older one that paved the way.
I must have been around thirteen or fourteen when I first read Brain on Fire. It changed me completely, giving me a new appreciation for life, health, and memory.
Cahalan’s account of her month of hospitalizations, diagnosis, and stigma sparked my passion for reading life stories, writing with empathy, and being more open about my own mental health struggles.
Brain on Fire is the stunning debut from journalist and author Susannah Cahalan, recounting the real-life horror story of how a sudden and mysterious illness put her on descent into a madness for which there seemed to be no cure
'My first serious blackout marked the line between sanity and insanity. Though I would have moments of lucidity over the coming days and weeks, I would never again be the same person ...'
Susannah Cahalan was a happy, clever, healthy twenty-four-year old. Then one day she woke up in hospital, with no memory of what had happened or how she…
As a lifelong Britney Spears fan, I was first in line for The Woman in Me.
The book became a pivotal reference point during a semester I later wrote about in my memoir. Despite Britney’s iconic status and once glamorous life, her experiences felt heartbreaking, tragic, and deeply relatable on a human level.
The Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope.
In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice-her truth-was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey-and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history.
Written with remarkable candour and humour, Spears's ground-breaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love-and…
Alligator Meat is a memoir told through six brutally honest vignettes. What began as an honors thesis for an English degree evolved into a raw, unflinching exploration of trauma, identity, and resilience set against the backdrop of college life in the South.
