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Best Nonfiction of 2012: Memoir

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Cover art for HOUSE OF STONE
NONFICTION
Released: Feb. 28, 2012
HOUSE OF STONE: A MEMOIR OF HOME, FAMILY, AND A LOST MIDDLE EAST
by Anthony Shadid
"A complicated, elegiac, beautiful attempt to reconcile the physical bayt (home) and the spiritual."
A nostalgic, bittersweet journey back to the Lebanese homestead. Read full book review >
Cover art for BEAUTIFUL THING
NONFICTION
Released: March 6, 2012
Kirkus Star BEAUTIFUL THING: INSIDE THE SECRET WORLD OF BOMBAY'S DANCE BARS
by Sonia Faleiro
"Gritty, gripping and often heartbreaking--an impressive piece of narrative nonfiction."
A harsh, cinematic look at the international sex trade. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE PATAGONIAN HARE
NONFICTION
Released: March 13, 2012
Kirkus Star THE PATAGONIAN HARE: A MEMOIR
by Claude Lanzmann, translated by Frank Wynne
""I am neither indifferent to, nor weary of, this world; had I a hundred lives, I know I would not tire of it," he writes. Intelligent readers will find it hard to argue."
Love and death go hand in hand in the life of journalist and filmmaker Lanzmann, who at 84 delivers his first book (originally published in France in 2009): a beautifully written memoir driven by both the writer's passion for living and his memories of lost friends. Read full book review >
Cover art for WILD
NONFICTION
Released: March 20, 2012
Kirkus Star WILD: FROM LOST TO FOUND ON THE PACIFIC CREST TRAIL
by Cheryl Strayed
"A candid, inspiring narrative of the author's brutal physical and psychological journey through a wilderness of despair to a renewed sense of self."
Unsentimental memoir of the author's three-month solo hike from California to Washington along the Pacific Crest Trail. Read full book review >
Cover art for ARE YOU MY MOTHER?
NONFICTION
Released: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Star ARE YOU MY MOTHER?: A COMIC DRAMA
by Alison Bechdel, illustrated by Alison Bechdel
"Subtitled "A Comic Drama," the narrative provides even fewer laughs than its predecessor but deeper introspection."
A psychologically complex, ambitious, illuminating successor to the author's graphic-memoir masterpiece. Read full book review >
Cover art for HOW TO BE A WOMAN
NONFICTION
Released: July 17, 2012
Kirkus Star HOW TO BE A WOMAN
by Caitlin Moran
"Rapturously irreverent, this book should kick-start plenty of useful discussions."
A spirited memoir/manifesto that dares readers to "stand on a chair and shout ‘I AM A FEMINIST.' " Read full book review >