Kirkus Star
THE KIRKUS STAR
Awarded to Books of Exceptional Merit

BROWSE BOOK REVIEWS




Best Nonfiction of 2012: Memoir


Cover art for MARBLES
NONFICTION
Released: Nov. 6, 2012
by Ellen Forney, illustrated by Ellen Forney

"Forney's story should resonate with those grappling with similar issues, while her artistry should appeal to a wide readership."
For anyone who loves graphic memoir or has concerns about bipolar swings, creativity and medication, this narrative will prove as engaging and informative as it is inspirational. Read full book review >
Cover art for KURT VONNEGUT
NONFICTION
Released: Nov. 1, 2012

"Vonnegut's most human of hearts beats on every page."
Selected and edited letters by the author of Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five and other enduringly popular novels, letters that reveal Vonnegut's passions, annoyances, loves, losses, mind and heart. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE OLD WAYS
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 15, 2012

"A breathtaking study of "walking as enabling sight and thought rather than encouraging retreat and escape.""
Macfarlane (English/Cambridge Univ.; The Wild Places, 2008, etc.) returns with another masterful, poetic travel narrative. Read full book review >
Cover art for JOSEPH ANTON
NONFICTION
Released: Sept. 18, 2012

"Aspects of a spy novel, a writer's autobiography and a victim's affidavit pulsing with resentment and fear combine to reveal a man's dawning awareness of the primacy of freedom."
The frightening, illuminating and disturbing memoir by the author of The Satanic Verses, the book that provoked a death sentence from the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989. Read full book review >
Cover art for LIFE AFTER DEATH
NONFICTION
Released: Sept. 18, 2012

"Essential reading for anyone interested in justice or memoir."
Exceptional memoir by the most famous of the West Memphis Three. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE VOYEURS
NONFICTION
Released: Sept. 4, 2012
by Gabrielle Bell, illustrated by Gabrielle Bell

"Playfully drawn and provocatively written, the memoir reinforces Bell's standing among the first rank of the genre's artists."
"Graphic memoir" only hints at the artistry of a complex, literary-minded author who resists the bare-all confessionalism so common to the genre and blurs the distinction between fiction and factual introspection. Read full book review >