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An indispensable book by writers who have experienced firsthand the rewards and challenges of crafting a memoir

 

Anyone undertaking the project of writing a memoir knows that the events, memories, and emotions of the past often resist the orderly structure of a book.Inventing the Truth offers wisdom from nine notable memoirists about their process (Ian Frazier searched through generations of family papers to understand his parents’ lives), the hurdles they faced (Annie Dillard tackles the central dilemma of memoir: what to put in and what to leave out), and the unexpected joys of bringing their pasts to the page. Featured authors include Russell Baker onGrowing Up; Jill Ker Conway onThe Road from Coorain; Annie Dillard on An American Childhood; Ian Frazier on Family; Henry Louis Gates Jr. on Colored Peop≤ Alfred Kazin onA Walker in the City; Frank McCourt onAngela’s Ashes; Toni Morrison onBeloved; and Eileen Simpson onPoets in Their Youth.