The Best Memoirs of 2010

NONFICTION

Released: Jan. 1, 2010

HAPPY: A MEMOIR

by Alex Lemon

"Empathetic, vividly rendered and impossible to put down."

An American poet recalls the medical maladies that befell him in college and beyond. Read full book review >

NONFICTION

Released: Jan. 18, 2010

THE TICKING IS THE BOMB: A MEMOIR

by Nick Flynn

"A striking collection of memories that will mystify, enlighten, trouble and amaze."

Memoir as meditation on love and loss, birth and death, good and evil, from PEN Award winner Flynn (Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, 2005, etc.). Read full book review >

NONFICTION

Released: Jan. 19, 2010

JUST KIDS

by Patti Smith

"Riveting and exquisitely crafted."

Musician, poet and visual artist Smith (Trois, 2008, etc.) chronicles her intense life with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe during the 1960s and '70s, when both artists came of age in downtown New York. Read full book review >

NONFICTION

Released: Feb. 1, 2010

STREET SHADOWS: A MEMOIR OF RACE, REBELLION, AND REDEMPTION

by Jerald Walker

"Several cuts above standard memoirs."

Humorous, provocative tale of a young black writer racing past personal and historical demons. Read full book review >

NONFICTION

Released: March 19, 2010

CLAIMING GROUND: A MEMOIR

by Laura Bell

"A work of descriptive virtuosity and a hard, honest pull through rough emotional terrain--an exemplary memoir."

An elegant, deep-running chronicle of Bell's 30 years living in the mountain West. Read full book review >

Cover art for THE FINE WISDOM AND PERFECT TEACHINGS OF THE KINGS OF ROCK AND ROLL

NONFICTION

Released: May 4, 2010

THE FINE WISDOM AND PERFECT TEACHINGS OF THE KINGS OF ROCK AND ROLL: A MEMOIR

by Mark Edmundson

"A near-perfect memoir."

Edmundson (English/Univ. of Virginia; The Death of Sigmund Freud: The Legacy of His Last Days, 2007, etc.) delivers a wily, playful, self-denigrating memoir. Read full book review >

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The Best Memoirs of 2010