Memoir Book Reviews

Review: From Particles and Disputations: Writings for Jeff by Philip D. Luing

Since the 80s when AIDS became rampant, its face has not changed.  Its name, though not as raging in the headlines these days, has not been forgotten.  What is different is each individual life it claims and the story of that life.

Philip Luing’s book, From Particles and Disputations, is the story of one of those lives lost – a celebration of Jeffrey Francis John Lalonde who succumbed to AIDS in 1994, twelve years after he met Philip.  During their relationship, Philip liked to write down his thoughts and record their memories in brief passages and verse. This book is […]

2014-05-09T21:44:01+02:00September 21st, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |

Review: Clips & Consequences by Beth Myrle Rice

Imagine being invited to lunch by your ex-husband and his wife to discuss what to do with the hard-to-manage teenager you all have in common. Imagine that, instead of actually going to lunch, they simply stay in the car, turn to you as you sit in the back seat, and accuse you of providing drugs to said teenager. “They were looking for a confession,” writes Beth Myrle Rice of that day in 1995 when the incident happened to her.

Ironically, Clips & Consequences is in part what is known, by definition, as a confessional memoir. In other words, the book […]

2014-05-19T21:46:53+02:00April 5th, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |

Review: Somewhere Over the Rainbow, I’ve Lost My Damn Mind by Derek Thompson

Derek Thompson is a confident young man. “The reason I enjoy making lists so much,” he writes, “is that it is almost impossible to screw up. I mean it’s your list.” So it is with memoir: personal experience is something owned.

Although this book is primarily made with blog posts, this is definitely a memoir. While I’m certain Derek would be first in line to acknowledge he’s not a writer of fine literature, his blog posts aren’t “random thought” or diary-type entries; this is a collection of essays, each containing a narrative arc, a thought process, if you will, that […]

2014-05-19T21:55:28+02:00March 15th, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |

Review: Black Flies in the Backyard with Snowshoes by Kevin Brian Carroll

I read through the opening pages, called “Before We Get Started” and I had the feeling I was going to be reading a book about a Blues Band from Albany. I wanted to research the material, but the link given to the band was wrong… http://WAlbanyStBlues.com should be https://WAlbanStBluesBand.com. And I am thinking, oh, boy, we need an editor here, stat.

I then started getting into the book itself; the first chapter. I thought, oh my, Hunter S. Thompson’s final work? Or maybe this is his protégé? This is soooo Gonzo Journalism; but the author is no journalist. The author […]

2013-06-19T10:21:32+02:00January 26th, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |

Review: Chasing the Runner’s High by Ray Charbonneau

If there’s one thing Ray Charbonneau understands, it is runners. In Chasing the Runner’s High he may claim that he isn’t sure what a typical runner is, but if the proof is in the pudding, not only is Charbonneau a true blue, died in the wool, run in the sun, rain or snow runner, but he talks the runner’s language. And it sounds like heaven.

At least it does until you remember how hard it is to get yourself out the door after bout of laziness during the holidays.

I picked up Charbonneau’s “Chasing the Runner’s High” sometime before the […]

2011-12-28T14:01:46+02:00December 28th, 2011|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , , |

Illumination – How One Woman Made Light of the Darkness, by Sophia van Buren

Interview with Sophia van Buren, Author of Illumination – How One Woman Made Light of the Darkness, available as an ebook on Amazon – http://amzn.to/hUV77F

1. How did you come to self-publish? Did you try to get published
traditionally?

I was querying agents and I did get a few sniffs, but I decided to self-publish for one major reason—it allowed me to use a pen name (yes, Sophia is not my real name). The reason this is so important to me is because of my children. They should not know what their father did, and my book is a […]

2011-01-16T10:13:54+02:00January 16th, 2011|Categories: Interviews|Tags: |
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