I'm looking for book recommendations on the academic/literary study of memoirs. Thanks!
posted by katopotato on Nov 15, 2009 - 7 answers

I'm preparing for a massive personal archiving/interviewing trip with my grandparents and need advice regarding many aspects of the project. [more inside]
posted by ikahime on Aug 18, 2009 - 8 answers

I want to record my parents telling the story of their lives. I would love to hear tips, pointers, guides, resources or your experiences of doing the same thing - anything which might help me do as good a job as possible would be appreciated. [more inside]
posted by therubettes on Aug 5, 2009 - 15 answers

I have put together a book using some old notes that a relative left for me over the years that I scanned as jpegs. In some of them the handwriting is bad so I need to put a translation, and some of them need an explanation to set the scene. I've decided to self-publish them. Blurb is very intuitive but lacks the sales options that Lulu offers. Whereas, Lulu makes it very difficult for what I'm looking to do because it's sort of a hybrid book. Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated.
posted by adfeb on Jun 9, 2009 - 3 answers

How do you find a top-notch ghostwriter? I have been told by many people over the years that I should "write a book" about my life experiences. Now that I have retired, I'd like to pursue the idea. Despite the urging of an accomplished fiction writer friend of mine, I don't believe I'm capable of writing a first draft. She believes that's the only way to have my memoir written in my voice. My other problem is I have been quadriplegic for 6 years now. I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking voice-activated software for all my typing [more inside]
posted by Daddysugar on May 7, 2009 - 12 answers

I need a recommendation for an instructional book on putting together a memoir. I already have a good portion of it written. The area I need help with is what to do with the various experiences that I've written about. Right now it's a bunch of stories with a central theme. I need to pull it together and make it a book in other words.
posted by adfeb on Mar 1, 2009 - 2 answers

I'm looking for a good read about bicycle randonneuring, in English or French. [more inside]
posted by everichon on Feb 22, 2008 - 12 answers

Help me find literature written about life in prisons, work camps, concentration camps etc. [more inside]
posted by Telf on Feb 7, 2008 - 39 answers

I'm planning to co-author a book with a semi-famous person who wants to tell her own story, but needs help with the writing part. My biggest question is about money - how should we split it? It's her story, but I'll be doing most of the writing. Yet we are attempting to treat this as a real collaboration where we edit together, pass drafts back and forth, and so forth. Any sense of what percentage is appropriate for each of us? Also, should I join the Writers Union to get help with this type of question? I'd like to join on principal but I'm your classic broke writer, so the dues feel prohibitive. Thanks!
posted by anonymous on Dec 10, 2007 - 3 answers

A family member (40-year-old woman, married, has a 6-year old) really enjoyed Eat, Pray, Love. I’d like to give her another book she’s likely to enjoy, but since she is already aware of current bestsellers, I’d like to get her something older or more obscure. Are there any classic memoirs, which are likely to appeal to this reader? [more inside]
posted by Meg_Murry on Nov 20, 2007 - 20 answers

What are your favorite autobiographies? For the purposes of this discussion, I'm including "autobiographies" that were written collaboratively (like Alex Haley's The Autobiography of Malcolm X) or that were straight up written by someone else (like Gertrude Stein's The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas). The point is, the book is written from the point of view of the subject and it's (ostensibly at least) non-fiction. [more inside]
posted by serazin on Sep 30, 2007 - 57 answers

I've really enjoyed reading 'Memo from David O. Selznick' - can anyone suggest something in a similar line ? [more inside]
posted by southof40 on Jul 21, 2007 - 4 answers

Author/Title? Comic memoir about Jewish childhood in pre-WWII tenements in NYC. [more inside]
posted by Secret Life of Gravy on Feb 23, 2007 - 28 answers

I am looking for true tales of adventure, preferably memoirs. Here are some examples I've already enjoyed: Apsley Cherry-Garrard's "The Worst Journey in the World", Thomas Cochrane's "Autobiography of a Seaman", and Ernie O'Malley's "On Another Man's Wound" and "The Singing Flame". Priorities are quality of writing, closeness of the writer to the events being described, and extremity of the adventures.
posted by stammer on Feb 6, 2007 - 57 answers

I'd like to find a description, either fictional or an actual account, of a mental breakdown. [more inside]
posted by frosty_hut on Jan 18, 2007 - 44 answers

How to (tactfully and successfully) get some major names to look at some of my writing? Of course there is [more inside]
posted by exlotuseater on Jul 18, 2006 - 18 answers

How would you publish an anonymous memoir?
posted by anonymous on Jan 11, 2005 - 9 answers