Memoirs

Still Life at Eighty, The Next Interesting Thing by Abigail Thomas ‘59

When I saw that Abigail Thomas had written a new memoir, I knew what the next interesting thing would be for me.  For a memoir to work, the central character (the “me”), must be likable because this person is going to be your companion for a time.  Abigail pumps this up a step.  Her central character is so quirky, so honest, so poignant that you can’t help loving her. What writer makes you laugh out loud while tears are flowing down your cheeks?  Good God! Stephen King and Elizabeth Gilbert love her!

At eighty plus, Abigail is beginning to wind down, and dread and fear are never far away.   The isolation of the epidemic provoked a wealth of introspection. Her mind roves back in time, conjuring long-ago moments and forward into future perils, but mostly she is in the…

My Beloved Monster, Masha, the Half-Wild Rescue Cat who Rescued Me by Caleb Carr

As I began this saga of man and cat, I kept wondering what seemed so familiar in the style.  I had read other books by Caleb, but that familiarity was not it.  I also found myself hearing the text in the voice of Vincent Price.  At first, I thought that the style was perhaps Sir Conan Doyle’s but no, that was not quite it.  It was the subject – someone seeking communication with an alien being and the rounding out of paragraphs with a mystery. Then it hit me.  It was the style of Mary Shelley in Frankenstein; this notion made me take a new look at the title.  This monster, however, was not of the author’s making. It was a cat, and as the story progressed, the contact was made between man and feline…

Afterimage: A Brokenhearted Memoir of a Charmed Life by Carla Malden. I read this book some time ago and didn’t write it up until now because in the book Carla stated that she had been in school in California since first grade. I saw this book mentioned in an old Class Notes but then wondered if characterizing Carla as an alum was a mistake. I eventually was able to message Carla and asked if she had attended Friends Seminary. She said that she had been there for kindergarten. Okay. That counts.

This memoir is a very wrenching story of cancer tragically disrupting what she calls a “charmed life” in the title. She is married to her high school sweetheart, soulmate, and professional partner in screenwriting projects. Cancer proves to be a relentless adversary. Even though I guess I am giving away what happens, the essence of the book i…

Kid Gloves, Nine Months of Careful Chaos by Lucy Knisley ’03. This graphic memoir takes the genre to places not yet imagined in French Milk. Everyone we see walking around got to the planet the same way, yet the story in all its drama is usually behind a cloud. Lucy shows what it is all about, what can go wrong (the grief of miscarriage, the horrific nausea, and the perfect storm of birth issues) and what can eventually go right. Very right. (I flipped to the end – you guessed it: adorable baby).

Growing up in the forties, before anyone had a TV, I depended on comic books. Much of the pleasure of reading works where a picture is worth at least a thousand words is brought back by Lucy’s expressive drawings. The occasional ZOOM or angry tornedo over a head or words that escape the talk bubble take …