Archives de catégorie : Memoir

TO NAME THE BIGGER LIE de Sarah Viren

Part coming-of-age story, part psychological thriller, part philosophical investigation, this unforgettable memoir traces the ramifications of a series of lies that threaten to derail the author’s life—exploring the line between truth and deception, fact and fiction, and reality and conspiracy.

TO NAME THE BIGGER LIE:
A Memoir in Two Stories
by Sarah Viren
Scribner, June 2023
(via Frances Goldin Literary)

Sarah’s story begins as she’s researching what she believes will be a book about her high school philosophy teacher, a charismatic instructor who taught her and her classmates to question everything—in the end, even the reality of historical atrocities. As she digs into the effects of his teachings, her life takes a turn into the fantastical when her wife, Marta, is notified that she’s been investigated for sexual misconduct at the university where they both teach.
Based in part on a viral New York Times essay, TO NAME THE BIGGER LIE follows the investigation as it upends Sarah’s understanding of truth. She knows the claims made against Marta must be lies, and as she uncovers the identity of the person behind them and then tries, with increasing desperation, to prove their innocence, she’s drawn back into the questions that her teacher inspired all those years ago: about the nature of truth, the value of skepticism, and the stakes we all have in getting the story right.
A compelling, incisive journey into honesty and betrayal, this memoir explores the powerful pull of dangerous conspiracy theories and the pliability of personal narratives in a world dominated by hoaxes and fakes. TO NAME THE BIGGER LIE reads like the best of psychological thrillers—made all the more riveting because it’s true.

« A thrilling, labyrinthine and ultimately illuminating reckoning with what it feels like to be caught up in a vortex of post-truth, conspiracy, and lies, Sarah Viren’s To Name the Bigger Lie is a fascinating and deeply disturbing account of our contemporary age of weaponized falsehoods… This is a memoir, yes, but it’s also a view into a terrifying aspect of modernity, and Viren’s ability to unspool complicated tangles for the reader is unparalleled. » —Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, author of The Fact of a Body

Sarah Viren is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and the author of Mine. Sarah’s creative work has been supported by an NEA Fellowship and a Kerouac House Writing Residency, and her writing appears in the New York Times Magazine, Oxford American, Texas Monthly, and elsewhere. An assistant professor of creative nonfiction at ASU, she is a graduate of the Nonfiction Writing MFA at the University of Iowa.

WHAT’S WRONG? d’Erin Williams

A gorgeously illustrated critique of how the American healthcare system fails women, people of color, and nonbinary individuals—perfect for fans of Invisible Women.

WHAT’S WRONG?
by Erin Williams
Abrams ComicArts, January 2024

WHAT’S WRONG? is author, illustrator, and scientific researcher Erin Williams’s graphic exploration of how the American healthcare system has failed both her and the rest of us. Focusing on poignant, raw, and complex firsthand accounts from four patients, plus Williams’ own personal story, this book addresses identifiable illnesses such as bladder cancer, alcoholism, postpartum depression, abuse, and endometriosis. More broadly, it peels back the layers on the invisible illnesses that come from trauma, often perpetuated by the broken healthcare system.
Western medicine, which is intended to cure illness and pain, often causes more loss, abuse, and suffering, especially for those Americans who do not fit within the narrow definition of “normal,” meaning white, male, and heterosexual. The book explores the many ways in which those receiving medical treatments are often overlooked, unseen, and doubted by their doctors due to their race, gender, and unconventional social circumstances. Despite this, WHAT’S WRONG? remains a beautiful celebration of and declaration by those who were able to find various ways of healing and receiving care, ways where they were not just viewed as collections of parts to be taken apart and reassembled but as people.

Erin Williams is a writer, illustrator, and researcher living in New York. She is the author of Commute and co–author of The Big Fat Activity Book for Pregnant People and The Big Activity Book for Anxious People.

PARIS: The Memoir de Paris Hilton

Behind Paris Hilton’s meteoric rise from Upper West Side club kid to household name lies her self-proclaimed “superpower” of ADHD and a hidden history that traumatized and defined her. Shocking, funny, and surprisingly profound, PARIS is the deeply personal memoir of the ultimate It Girl and a stunning inside view of a pop culture phenomenon.

PARIS: The Memoir
by Paris Hilton
Dey Street/HarperCollins, March 2023

Until, in a revealing documentary, Paris Hilton disclosed that her childhood was shattered by two years of strip searches, isolation, beatings, restraint, and brainwashing within the now infamous “troubled teen industry,” Paris Hilton was simply the billionaire heiress America had watched grow up on television, on the internet, and in tabloids. But there was always more to Paris Hilton than met the eye. Yes, she is the media personality, DJ, entrepreneur, model, singer, actress, and icon beloved all over the globe. And yet…
PARIS is the story people have always wanted Paris Hilton to tell—the story of who she really is. In this revealing and thought-provoking book, Hilton will separate the creation from the creator, the brand from the ambassador, and show the woman who grew up with incredible privilege but was also trapped in a world of unreasonable expectation at a moment when young women were humiliated for sport in a gossip economy on steroids. PARIS recounts her perilous journey through pre-#METOO sexual politics with grace, generosity, and plenty of fun, rising above a series of heart-wrenching challenges to find healing, lasting love, and a life of meaning and purpose.
The parallel story arcs in Hilton’s braided narrative come to full bloom as a watershed portrait of the Aughts, challenging each of us to question our role in her story and her role in ours. The result is an intimate and unexpected memoir about persona and personification, the price of being young and disobedient, and the complexity of manifesting your dreams after watching part of yourself disappear.

Paris Hilton is the world’s most recognizable influencer and entrepreneur. Since starring in The Simple Life, Hilton has become the media expert, building a global empire as a DJ, entrepreneur, recording artist, philanthropist, actress, model, and author.

THE STRENGTH OF HOPE d’Abram Goldberg

One of the most uplifting stories you will ever read. Abram Goldberg is a beacon of joy and optimism, and a master of keeping perspective.

THE STRENGTH OF HOPE
by Abram Goldberg
with Fiona Harris
Affirm Press, September 2022
(via Kaplan/DeFiore Rights)

The day Abram and his mother arrived at Auschwitz death camp they both knew it would be her last. In their final moment together, Abram’s mum urged her nineteen-year-old son to ‘do everything humanly possible to survive, and tell people what happened here’. Then she was taken to a gas chamber and murdered. Abram had already endured and survived so much until that moment, but with his strength of hope, sometimes reduced to a flicker, he survived.
After liberation, Abram eventually found his way to Belgium, where he met the love of his life, fellow Auschwitz survivor Cesia. The young couple came to Australia, where that flicker of hope grew as bright as the sun, illuminating everything they touched and everyone who came into their sphere. Without bitterness and always with perspective, Abram has never forgotten his mother’s last words to him. And in their seventy-five years of marriage, Abram and Cesia have remained dedicated to educating people about the Holocaust and to living their lives to the fullest in tribute to its victims.
THE STRENGTH OF HOPE is full of wisdom, insight and daring, but at its heart it is a love story: for Cesia, for Australia and for life itself.

Abram Goldberg was born in Łódź, Poland, in 1924. Following the Nazi invasion, Abe and his parents were imprisoned in Łódź Ghetto. In 1944, Abe and his mother were sent to Auschwitz, where his mother was gassed upon arrival. Abe was sent to a series of camps before being liberated in 1945. Abe met his wife, Cesia, in 1946. They moved to Melbourne, Australia, in 1951, where they had two children and ran various restaurants including the iconic, Goldy’s. Abe has been volunteering at the Melbourn Holocaust Museum since 1984 and remains a member of the executive board. Abram was awarded an OAM in 2013.

THE FACE LAUGHS WHILE THE BRAIN CRIES de Stephen L. Hauser

A doctor’s powerful and deeply human memoir about the mysteries of the brain and his 40 year quest to find a treatment for multiple sclerosis.

THE FACE LAUGHS WHILE THE BRAIN CRIES:
The Education of a Doctor
by Stephen L. Hauser
‎ St. Martin’s Press, May 2023

Dr. Stephen L. Hauser is an acclaimed physician and neuroimmunologist who has spent his career performing cutting-edge research on multiple sclerosis (MS), a devastating brain disease that affects millions of people worldwide. His work has revolutionized our understanding of the genetic immunology and treatment of MS, and led to the development of B cell therapies―currently the only therapy in place for progressive MS patients.
THE FACE LAUGHS WHILE THE BRAIN CRIES is a riveting memoir that follows Dr. Hauser from his unorthodox upbringing among the colorful cast of characters responsible for his development into a tenacious and innovative researcher, to the life-changing medical breakthroughs he has made against extremely long odds. Along the way, readers will learn the incredible stories of many of his patients, whose bravery, strength, and optimism in the face of a debilitating illness were instrumental to the progress that has been made in the fight against MS. This heartwarming book, written in accessible prose and related with equal measures of humor, empathy, and excitement, is sure to inspire anyone who has faced a daunting challenge.

Stephen L. Hauser, M.D. is the Robert A. Fishman Distinguished Professor of Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco, and Director of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. A neuroimmunologist, his research has advanced our understanding of the genetic basis, immune mechanisms, and treatment of multiple sclerosis. Dr. Hauser has received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the Jacob Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award, the John Dystel Prize and the Charcot Award for Multiple Sclerosis Research, and the Taubman Prize for Excellence in Translational Medical Research.