Memoir Spotlight (8/5/20)

An exploration of one family’s legacy of white supremacy + a young poet in 1960s NYC + a gripping story of tragedy and family + a coming-of-age memoir on consent, vulnerability, and power = this week’s memoir spotlight.

LIFE OF A KLANSMAN: A Family History in White Supremacy by Edward Ball

3 starred reviews!

“A violent legacy stirs a deep meditation on the nature of racism in this anguished study of Civil War–era New Orleans…The result is a clear-eyed work of historical reclamation and an intimate, self-lacerating take on memory and collective responsibility.”–Publishers Weekly, starred review

“The National Book Award winner continues his investigation of his Southern roots…An illuminating contribution to the literature of race and racism in America.”–Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“The book is sober, dominated by a deep sense of shame and outrage, and intentionally disquieting. It won’t be a comfortable reading experience, and it’s not meant to be, but it’s a necessary one.”–Booklist, starred review

GREAT DEMON KINGS: A Memoir of Poetry, Sex, Art, Death, and Enlightenment by John Giorno

“The creativity and debauchery of gay artists and writers blooms in this exuberant memoir of avant-garde New York from the 1950s through the 1990s…The result is an engrossing, passionate ode to a revolution in art and sensuality.”–Publishers Weekly, starred review

INVENTORY: A Memoir by Darran Anderson

“A poetic and brutal reflection on the ways the unspoken past haunts the present, the construction of histories from fragments and secrets, and the physical, mental, and emotional traumas that result when violence becomes part of the daily landscape.”–Library Journal

BEING LOLITA: A Memoir by Alisson Wood

“Breakout 8 Award–winning writer Wood recalls her troubled romance with her high school English teacher, which includes his giving her—yes, LOLITA. To be read with Kate Elizabeth Russell’s fiction debut, MY DARK VANESSA, publishing in March.”–Library Journal, Pre-Pub Alert

LIFE OF A KLANSMAN: A Family History in White Supremacy by Edward Ball; 9780374186326; available now.
GREAT DEMON KINGS: A Memoir of Poetry, Sex, Art, Death, and Enlightenment by John Giorno; 9780374166304; available now.
INVENTORY: A Memoir by Darran Anderson; 9780374277581; available now.
BEING LOLITA: A Memoir by Alisson Wood; 9781250217219; available now.