The Art of Memoir: A Master Class in the Essential Elements of Great Memoir Writing

Writing a memoir evokes a special brand of fear. No matter how you approach the topic, the fear is that your life story is not worthy of being told and the mere attempt to tell it is to be guilty of exaggeration and pride. No matter how good the writing, the fear is that you do not stand in the company of presidents, kings, and celebrities. Against this fear, one can only aspire to write clearly with distinction and to seek out a good book or two to aid in this vain enterprise. In her book, The Art of Memoir, Mary Karr points to other motivations, somewhere between the writer “trying to make sense of the past” and “readers thirsty for reality” (xiv). Memoir invites the reader into the private life of the author in a verbal strip-tease, undertaken for catharsis or paid therapy (xxi). Something anyone can aspire to writing memoir, even if the readers may be limited to an immediate circle of friends and family. The primary requirement is having memories that you are willing to analyze against a particular theme and to share with readers. These memories need not be absolute truth, but they need to be spoken with an authentic voice. Karr emphasizes voice as the authenticator of good memoir, writing: “Each great memoir lives or dies based 100 percent on voice.” (35) The truth of memoir is not absolute—sworn on a Bible—truth, but rather a more interesting subjective truth—truth told with an authentic voice. It is subjective, in part, because we lie more often to ourselves than we do to other people. Karr validates her own accounts with the people she writes about (5). It is interesting, in part, because an authentic voice embeds the veils that we use to cover our inadequacies. Uncovering the veils and exposing the lies they cover up is painful, as Karr explains: “You have to lance a boil and suffer its stench as infection drains off.” (12) Yet, this catharsis liberates our true selves, a necessary step in healing and in personal growth, as Karr admits: “I often barely believe myself, for I grew up suspicious of my own perceptions” (22). Part of authentic voice is admitting your motivation in writing. Karr argues: “Unless you confess your own emotional stakes in a project, why should a reader have any?” (97) While this advice might seem to be a terribly female observation to make—why can’t I just lay out my hypothesis, you say?—communications professors often admonish their students that complete communication requires both an idea and an emotion. Authenticity requires complete expression—why is that hypothesis so important that you spent at least a year examining it in great detaiI? Chances are good that the emotional stake is already substantial and its substance needs only to be recognized in your writing. A novelist might refer to this stake as an emotional hook to grab the reader. Karr’s voice shows ironic tension. She is consciously literary—dropping great quotes from famous memoirists and dotting her work with cutesy new ways of expression. The tension arises when you see her photographed wearing blue jeans and cowboy boots more fitting of her Texas upbringing. “The lady doth protest too much, methinks” as Shakespeare writes in Hamlet. Voiced tension is a source of conflict and, as such, is interesting. Cowboy boots aside, Karr writes prescriptively in 24 chapters, each with its own theme. A particularly important theme in her writing comes in chapter 6: Sacred Carnality. While one’s mind naturally runs to carnal, as in carnal knowledge, Karr uses carnal to mean sensual in description, as in the five senses—seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling (71). For those of us more comfortable in non-fiction, analytical writing, this carnality is necessarily forced, as she readily admits (75). By utilizing carnal description to move the action, dialog can be used more like a spotlight. Mary Karr’s The Art of Memoir is helpful addition to any writer’s library. Karr’s cites from numerous famous memoirists(check out the appendix listing) aptly makes the point that memoir is a wider genre than the usual political and celebrity autobiographies, and the creative potential in memoir is greater than the usual A-B-C chronologies. I would never have guessed, for example, that a favorite film of mine, Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979) was based on a memoir by William Herr: Dispatches (1977). Karr’s book has already encouraged me to purchase a memoir that she recommended ; it has been a great encouragement in my own memoir project; and I have already gifted this book to a friend. Great book; read it. References Angelou, Maya. 2009. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. New York: Ballantine Books. Herr, William. 1977. Dispatches. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

It’s a treat to read an analytical book by an author who knows more about penning a memoir than any other living writer—after all, she’s the rare writer who has written three: The Liar’s Club, Cherry, and Lit. Furthermore, this book offers a broad perspective of someone who has had a full life as a wife, mother, therapy patient, writer, spiritual seeker, and alcoholic—while always living with lust and deep curiosity. The Art of Memoir is not necessarily what the title suggests—that is, it’s not a how-to book about memoir. It’s even greater and more exotic than that—it’s a powerful literary criticism of the form. Karr is very generous in her perspective, sharing many examples and excerpts of other famous writers and contemporaries who, like her, have made the memoir form come alive. These writers include Tobias Woolf, Maxine Hong Kingston, Geoffrey Woolf, Maya Angelou, Kathryn Harrison, as well as one of her very favorite writers, Vladimir Nabokov, who wrote the book Speak Memory. Karr shares many gems in this book, one of which is: “Each great memoir lives or dies based 100 percent on voice.” I could not agree more. “For the reader,” she adds, “the voice has to exist from the first sentence.” Having had the distinct pleasure of meeting Karr recently, I feel that I am at an advantage as I hear her vocalize the essence of this book. Her words are alive, both on the page and in person. She’s one of those rare writers who writes the way she speaks, and she will be the first to humbly admit that the sign of a great memoirist is one who speaks like they write, and in a way that brings their readers closer to them. This book is highly recommended, regardless of your preferred genre.

Great book. It makes me seriously approach writing my own memoir. It will help and encourage you if you have ever considered writing your own memoir, but this is far more than a help-you-write book. Based on a college course Mary Karr teaches, the book examines many of the best memoirs ever written, discussing them in detail and inspiring in me the interest to read and in many cases re-read with new eyes many memoirs. It has been a joy to follow Karr's syllabus, to rediscover old friends like Nabokov and Frankl through fresh eyes and to find new ones like Strayed, as well as learning about the process Kart went through in writing her own trilogy. One valuable element is her list of recommended memoirs at the end. I could think of only a few I would have added, like maybe Moss Hart, for example. Fascinating book for anyone with interest in memoirs, whether as a reader or perhaps some day as a writer.

A treasure trove of first rate writing about the memoire - so chockful that I have to read it slowly.

So beautifully written and extremely comprehensive and helpful. I immediately wanted to go back and read it a second time. Thank you!!!

Good material! I like how the author expresses her ideas, even when she tells stories non-linearly, which happens at many moments. It gives a personal and unique tone to her narrative and opinions.

Mary Karr shows you how to nail voice, by showing you hers. She dissects Nabokov's technique, and line by line, Michael Kerr's Dispatches. She explains what to leave in, and what to leave out, discusses mining for truth, getting out of your own way, and avoiding bringing your readers down. This is a masterclass in writing memoir. Highly recommended.

as you would expect, beautifully written and observed. For fans of good writing everywhere!