Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir

Does it bother you, too, that so many books offering writing advice are poorly written? This is an exception; the prose sparkles. All the more surprising, since these essays originated either as lectures or as taped interviews. If you've read other published collections of lectures, you can guess how much work went into making these so readable, yet that never shows. I asked myself if anyone should read this who isn't looking for tips for writing their own memoirs, and answered yes. This book would be enjoyable for anyone who loves good writing. And if you don't, why are you following Goodreads?

Writing a memoir, a very personal task, involves an individualized process that is specific to each author. This book contains insights from ten authors of meaningful memoirs. Some of their advice conflicts; at other times, their process is so grounded in history that it can never be replicated. As such, this work is less of a how-to book and more of an inspirational book to aid a budding writer’s self-confidence.

I have taken from this work the motif of distinguishing between an autobiography and a memoir. An autobiography is a biography written about and by the author. It is essentially an objective record of facts about one’s life, shaped into a narrative. To contrast, a memoir contains a high degree of subjectivity. Feelings show more enter the mix and distort objective reality. Indeed, objective reality does not even seem to be an aim. Memoirs aim for respectful tone instead of journalistic accuracy.

The selected interviewees have been taken from many different walks of American life. Any American reader can find someone to identify with. Zinsser even includes Nobel prizewinner Toni Morrison, who wrote fiction and never penned a memoir. (Despite this – or maybe because of this – her interview was one of the most insightful.)

Zinsser is, as usual, on top of his craft. He is known for the best-selling book On Writing Well. This work merely applies some of those principles to the specific task of writing a memoir. One need not aspire to write a memoir to benefit from this work, however. We all craft stories about ourselves, to our friends, family, and co-workers. Zinsser’s work helps us refine what we are trying to say. This is the real benefit of his work and of his niche in writing. Overall, I recommend this book for those who want to learn how to share about themselves better because it helps them know themselves better first and because next it helps them relate that knowledge to others. show less

This isn't a "how to" book. It's basically a book of essays by successful memoir writers. They each tell something they think is important regarding how or why they wrote their memoirs. I found it interesting and comforting that these very successful writers felt and experienced the same things I have, and I gleaned some ideas to try with my own writing.

Useful in that it helped to understand how these successful memoir writers went about their story, their struggles and insights.

Excellent compilation of multiple authors