From poverty, psychiatric hospital and writing in a shed to literary stardom: Janet Frame at 100 | Autobiography and memoir

From poverty, psychiatric hospital and writing in a shed to literary stardom: Janet Frame at 100 | Autobiography and memoir

In February 1975 the New Zealand writer Janet Frame was the subject of a rare interview for television conducted by the journalist Michael Noonan. This relaxed, intimate retrospective of her life and work... Read more »
Sister in Law by Harriet Wistrich review – in defence of women | Autobiography and memoir

Sister in Law by Harriet Wistrich review – in defence of women | Autobiography and memoir

In 2011, Harriet Wistrich got a call about Sally Challen, who had been convicted of the murder of her husband, Richard. Sally had bludgeoned him to death with a hammer at their Surrey home... Read more »
Coming Home by Brittney Griner review – from hoop dreams to a living hell | Autobiography and memoir

Coming Home by Brittney Griner review – from hoop dreams to a living hell | Autobiography and memoir

The text messages that open Brittney Griner’s memoir are a chilling short story. “Hey baby I got stopped by security at customs.” “If you don’t hear from me for like one hour... Read more »
My Family: The Memoir by David Baddiel review – sex, lies and the making of a standup | Autobiography and memoir

My Family: The Memoir by David Baddiel review – sex, lies and the making of a standup | Autobiography and memoir

In early 2015, a couple of months after his mother died, David Baddiel wrote to his younger brother, Dan, a sometime taxi driver in New York, setting out his plans for “a... Read more »
The Language of War by Oleksandr Mykhed review – ‘Eat, kill, grief, repeat’ reflections from Ukraine | Autobiography and memoir

The Language of War by Oleksandr Mykhed review – ‘Eat, kill, grief, repeat’ reflections from Ukraine | Autobiography and memoir

Oleksandr Mykhed and his wife Olena lost their home when the Russians invaded Ukraine. Before February 2022 he had never held a gun in his hands. But a week before the invasion,... Read more »
My Family: The Memoir by David Baddiel review – sex, lies and the making of a standup | Autobiography and memoir

These Foolish Things: A Memoir by Dylan Jones review – stars in his eyes | Autobiography and memoir

The efflorescence of men’s magazines in the UK lasted from about 1985 to 2010. You may recall their titles on newsagents’ shelves – Arena, GQ, Maxim, Esquire – near in time but... Read more »
The Friday Afternoon Club by Griffin Dunne review – a Hollywood insider with an outsider’s eye | Autobiography and memoir

The Friday Afternoon Club by Griffin Dunne review – a Hollywood insider with an outsider’s eye | Autobiography and memoir

For those less well-versed than me in the world of high 1980s Hollywood and its various satellites – or do I mean parasites? – it may be useful if I begin this... Read more »
The Language of War by Oleksandr Mykhed review – ‘Eat, kill, grief, repeat’ reflections from Ukraine | Autobiography and memoir

‘How could my mother leave her baby and then kill herself?’: author Maria Grazia Calandrone’s quest for answers | Autobiography and memoir

On 24 June 1965 a young woman sat her eight-month-old baby girl on a blanket in the gardens of the Villa Borghese in Rome, and walked quickly away. Within minutes, a passerby spotted the tiny child,... Read more »
Private Revolutions by Yuan Yang review – the women who tried to carve a path in a new China | Autobiography and memoir

Private Revolutions by Yuan Yang review – the women who tried to carve a path in a new China | Autobiography and memoir

When Yuan Yang was four years old, she tells us, her parents brought her from China to the UK as they pursued new educational opportunities. Although Private Revolutions, her vivid and detailed... Read more »
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