|
Biography and Memoir November 2020
|
|
|
|
|
I have something to tell you : a memoir
by Chasten Buttigieg
"A moving, hopeful, and refreshingly candid memoir by the husband of former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg about growing up gay in his small Midwestern town, his relationship with Pete, and his hope for America's future"
|
|
| I'll Be Seeing You by Elizabeth BergWhat it's about: bestselling novelist Elizabeth Berg's (The Story of Arthur Truluv) relationship with her aging parents, whom she helped care for during their final years.
Is it for you? Berg's candid and insightful memoir will resonate with readers who are caring for older family members.
Food for thought: "The failing of an aging parent is one of those old stories that feels abrasively new to the person experiencing it." |
|
| The Man Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James Beard by John BirdsallWhat it is: a richly detailed biography of chef and cookbook author James Beard (1903-1985) that expands upon author John Birdsall's James Beard Award-winning essay "America, Your Food Is So Gay."
Read it for: a nuanced portrait of the charismatic yet complicated "Dean of American Cookery," who pioneered new cuisine while grappling with his closeted sexuality, depression, and difficult workplace reputation.
Don't miss: lush descriptions of Beard's culinary creations that will whet readers' appetites. |
|
| Tecumseh and the Prophet: The Shawnee Brothers Who Defied a Nation by Peter CozzensStarring: Shawnee leader Tecumseh; and his younger brother, Tenskwatawa, who worked together to create a pan-Indian alliance against the United States government in the early 19th century.
What sets it apart: Though there have been many accounts of Tecumseh's life and accomplishments, this well-researched, "long overdue" (Library Journal) dual biography also examines the life and legacy of the overlooked Tenskwatawa. |
|
| I Am These Truths: A Memoir of Identity, Justice, and Living Between Worlds by Sunny HostinWhat it's about: The View co-host and ABC News legal analyst Sunny Hostin's life and career.
Topics include: Hostin's loving yet dysfunctional childhood; her Afro Latina identity; making a name for herself in an industry that isn't always hospitable to women of color.
Reviewers say: "inspiring" (Booklist); "educational" (Kirkus Reviews). |
|
Focus on: National Book Awards
|
|
| The Yellow House by Sarah M. BroomWhat it's about: author Sarah M. Broom's upbringing as the youngest of 12 children raised in a New Orleans East shotgun house that was later destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
Why you might like it: Broom's lyrical family history explores the painful reality of redefining "home" following displacement.
Want a taste? "Without that physical structure, we are the house that bears itself up. I was now the house." |
|
| What You Have Heard is True: A Memoir of Witness and Resistance by Carolyn ForchéWhat it's about: In 1977, after accepting the invitation of a mysterious acquaintance to visit him in El Salvador, American poet Carolyn Forché was plunged into the horrors of the country's burgeoning civil war, becoming an unlikely activist and resistance fighter.
Is it for you? Vivid depictions of violence may be too much for some readers.
Further reading: Forché's 1981 poetry collection The Country Between Us, inspired by her experiences during the war. |
|
|
What is the grass : Walt Whitman in my life
by Mark Doty
The National Book Award-winning poet explores Walt Whitman’s poetic themes of love, death and queer sexuality while reflecting on Whitman’s complicated impact on his own work, his sense of self and the American imagination.
|
|
| Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah SmarshWhat it's about: the cycle of rural poverty that blighted author Sarah Smarsh's Kansas farming family for generations.
Who it's for: readers looking for a thought-provoking rejoinder to J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy.
Reviewers say: "a searing indictment of how the poor are viewed and treated in this country" (Library Journal). |
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|
Mary Riley Styles Public Library 601 S. Oak St. [Temporary Location] Falls Church, Virginia 22046 703-248-5030 (TTY 711)www.fallschurchva.gov/library |
|
|
|