What is a memoir?
American intellectual, Gore Vidal said “An autobiography tells the story of a life, while memoir tells a story from a life.” Meaning, that a memoir is typically about a specific phase or turning point — more of a snapshot into a moment — in an authors life. While an autobiography tends to be more comprehensive — more focused on covering the chronology of a lifespan. The Encyclopedia Britannica states “Writers of memoir are usually persons who have played roles in, or have been close observers of, historical events and whose main purpose is to describe or interpret the events.”
Examples of Memoirs
Using those definitions, memoirs can be dated back thousands of years, to as early as 58 B.C. — the estimated publication date of Julius Caesar’s Commentarii de Bello Gallico (Commentaries on the Gallic War). A political move, the book was published as a propaganda piece that enabled direct communication between Caesar and the Roman populace, allowing him to garner their support and increase his influence. It worked; Caesar may not have been very popular with the other Senators, but he often held the approval of Rome’s general population.
Caesar is not alone; when it comes to demonstrating the power of the memoir, other political leaders have also found success. In Dreams from My Father, President Barack Obama detailed a different type of war, reflecting on his experiences with race relations as a young adult. President Obama’s book, beyond being a bestseller, helped him garner a lot of publicity during the 2008 Presidential Election. Though, not a politician, Maya Angelou also provided a compelling portrayal of racerelations in her memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, forever marking her as an iconic literary figure. Jeannette Walls told a different story of entrapment in her remarkable memoir The Glass Castle, an account of her childhood growing up with an alcoholic father and negligent mother. Then there’s Cheryl Stayed’s ever popular Wild, detailing her 1,100 mile hike through the PacificCrest Trail, instigated by the desperation of losing a parent and ending a marriage.
The Common Thread
These memoirs are all successful because of the emotional journey they take you on. The narrative events are often engaging, but the real strength of these stories comes from the emotional growth the narrators undergo. A similar evolution can be seen in Joyce Maynard’s The Best of Us —a tale about love found too late and lost too early. In her book, Maynard recounts her experiences as she falls in love at fifty, marries, and then loses her husband one year later to pancreatic cancer.
To better understand how Maynard was able to transcribe her experiences into a popular memoir, come hear her speak at tonight’s NRGM: Art of Writing Non-fiction panel! The panel will feature two other non-fiction authors, and will be a great way to learn about different approaches to writing non-fiction.
Have any advice for non-fiction authors? Having trouble with your own non-fiction book? Share your thoughts in the comments below. We’d love to hear them.
By Rina Mody
Rina’s a Metadata and eBook Distribution Specialist at Thieme Medical Publishers. She’s an avid traveler and loves to go to new places – both real and fictional.
