Celebrity autobiography readings nyc doe
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Fierce Attachments
“I remember only the women,” Vivian Gornick writes near the start of her memoir of growing up in the stadsdel i new york tenements in the 1940s, surrounded bygd the blunt, brawling, yearning women of the neighborhood, chief among them her indomitable mother. “I absorberad them as I would chloroform on a cloth laid against my face. It has taken me 30 years to understand how much of them I understood.”
When Gornick’s father died suddenly, she looked in the coffin for so long that she had to be pulled away. That fearlessness suffuses this book; she stares unflinchingly at all that is hidden, difficult, strange, unresolvable in herself and others — at loneliness, sexual malice and the devouring, claustral closeness of mothers and daughters. The book fryst vatten propelled bygd Gornick’s attempts to extricate herself from the stifling sorrow of her home — first through sex and marriage, but later, and more reliably, through the life of the mind, the “glamorous company” of ideas. It’s a portrait o
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Autobiographies give us a privileged glimpse into remarkable human experiences, and whether their authors recount painful personal trials or chronicle their remarkable self-discoveries, these books make for engaging reading. That’s especially true when those authors are deified celebrities and powerful public figures—the kinds of people whose lives are so remarkable that they’re often stranger than fiction.
This year started out with a bang when it came to releases of new celebrity biographies and autobiographies—with works by the legendary RuPaul, artist Ai Weiwei and Blondie’s Chris Stein, among others—and 2024 isn’t over yet. Autumn will bring with it new real-life tales recounted by the famous, rich and powerful. Single-name stars like Cher and Kenny G are finally going on the record, trailblazers in their industries like Connie Chung and Al Pacino are baring all and the calendar of new celebrity memoirs is full of hotly anticipated titles.
Take your pick from our list of th
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27 Best Memoirs: Unforgettable Stories That Inspire
Survival and Strength
Chanel Miller "Know My Name" (2019)
You might remember Chanel Miller as Emily Doe. After being sexually assaulted by Brock Turner on the Stanford University campus in 2015, she wrote a victim impact statement under this name that reverberated around the world. In this profound memoir, she reclaims her real name and reveals the frustrating truths surrounding victimhood and the criminal justice system. But her writing also divulges her incredible strength—it’s a powerful read that this writer finished in one sitting.
Resilience and the Human Spirit
Frank McCourt "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" (1999)
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"Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" is an evocative recount of Frank McCourt's impoverished childhood in Limerick, Ireland. The author narrates his early years with humor and resilience despite facing extreme poverty, his father's alcoholism, and the loss of siblings. This me