Top Shelf Tuesday - August 30, 2016
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Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Robin Kall, GoLocalWorcester Book Columnist
Memory can be a tricky thing. What are the expectations of the storytelling and of the author? A memoir includes a disclaimer; the story is true to the best of the author’s recollection and that timelines or other details might be altered to help with the flow of the narrative. So what does this mean? For me it means that its essence is true and if the topic is interesting and the writing is strong, I’m happy to go along for the ride. I interviewed all of these authors and the podcasts can be found on
iTunes. These are the memoirs I enjoyed reading this summer.
Robin Kall has always been an avid reader. From sneaking copies of Judy Blume from her childhood librarian to developing her own radio program, Reading With Robin, in 2002, Robin is a literary influencer and book pusher in her own right. Over the past 14 years Robin has built a devoted and passionate following both in her local Rhode Island, online, and wherever there are readers. In addition to her talk show, Robin has hosted countless “can’t miss” author events including her annual Evening With Authors and Summer with Robin, and the newly minted Point Street Reading Series. Robin is a graduate of Binghamton University and lives in Rhode Island with her husband and their corgi. Follow Robin on Twitter, on Instagram and “like” Reading With Robin and Point Street Reading Series on Facebook.
Related Slideshow: Top Shelf Tuesday - August 30, 2016
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One Of These Things First
Steven Gaines
Gaines is a bestselling author with many titles to his name. He’s written about The Beatles, Halston, Alice Cooper, Calvin Klein, the list goes on. Over 50 years in the making, he decides it’s time to tell his own story. One that takes the reader to Brooklyn in the 1960’s where Steven grows up as a gay Jewish boy who spends a great deal of time in his grandmother’s bra and girdle store. From there we watch as he is committed to the famed Payne Whitney, his psychiatric clinic of choice. A fifteen-year-old boy living amongst an amazing cast of characters begins to hone his skills as an entertaining and perceptive storyteller. I cold barely put this book down.
Listen to Robin's interview with Steve by clicking here.
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An Abbreviated Life
Ariel Leve
This is another book I barely put down, An Abbreviated Life, is the story of Ariel Leve, the daughter of a famous author and poet whose identity we never learn. For the purposes of the story and its larger message it doesn’t matter, yet I found my curiosity getting the better of me. Leve grew up in with an unstable and creative mother who had no boundaries. With her father living in Southeast Asia, she was pretty much left on her own to make sense of the world. She describes the parties in her mother’s Upper East Side penthouse, parties that went late into the (school) night. Where the guest list included Andy Warhol, Norman Mailer and others of the elite intellectual crowd. This book is quite a ride; a poetic and hypnotic journey, which does land her on the other side.
Listen to Robin's interview with Ariel by clicking here.
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Girl Walks Out Of A Bar
Lisa F. Smith
This book reads like a thriller; an amazing account of Smith’s addiction to drugs and alcohol and subsequent recovery is a page-turner. Lisa read from Girl Walks Out Of A Bar at Point Street Reading Series last month and I could hardly believe that the poised, elegant woman reading was the same as the one in the story. Smith shares it all and as a sober, practicing attorney today her story will resonate with many, whatever the addiction. It is truly one of the best addiction memoirs I’ve ever read.
Listen to Robin's interview with Lisa by clicking here.
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Bukowski In A Sundress : Confessions From A Writing Life
Kim Addonizio
Reading and writing go hand in hand. A memoir about the writing life is something I am immediately drawn to. I have a shelf dedicated to this sub-genre including: Dani Shapiro’s Still Writing, Anne Lamott’s Bird By Bird and Steven King’s On Writing.
Addonizio’s Bukowski In A Sundresss is the perfect addition to my shelf. The title alone hints at the “badass” persona that comes shining through in the collection of essays about the writing life. From “Best Words, Best Order” which talks about the power of words, how they call to the writer; to “Not Dancing” which includes various ways to distract yourself from the task at hand. Writing. I soaked up all of these stories and hope Addonizio is working on another collection. Or dancing.
Listen to Robin's interview with Kim by clicking here.
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