Comments on: It’s All About Me – Booking Through Thursday

By: Gentle Reader

Gentle Reader — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:34:16 +0000

I think I will seek out the Diana Athill. I read another memoir of hers, about the earlier part of her life, and I’d love to read more about her. Thanks for sharing

By: Roxane

Roxane — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:55:21 +0000

How appropriate that I should receive a note from my library today that the copy of Diana Athill’s “Somewhere Towards the End” is ready for me to be picked up. I had read your review and again I am reminded that how much I am looking forward to read this book. I enjoy cross references of biographies and autobiographies myself when I want to know more about someone as I have the impression to know the person from different angles that way. I do agree with you too that when a biographer takes liberties on assuming certain things it sounds to me more like gossip and a bit of a waste of my time to speculate.
It is going to be a first for me to read the memoir of an author before reading any of their other books. I usually go the other way around. It is all your fault Margaret. ahahha

By: pussreboots

pussreboots — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:23:08 +0000

I am a fan of the quirky memoir over biographies and autobiographies. My post is here.

By: JoAnn

JoAnn — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:21:56 +0000

Very thoughtful answer! I’ve been reading more autobiography lately, but have the Jane Austen bio on my nightstand.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:02:20 +0000

Great post Margaret…I lean more towards the autobiography myself. Mainly because I want to hear the story straight from the person who lived it. I recently listened to and reviewed Patrick Swayze’s new audiobook and LOVED it. It was made even better because he narrated it himself.

By: Lilian Nattel

Lilian Nattel — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:08:03 +0000

I like memoir when it’s the person’s reflections about life’s passages that is interesting. I prefer biography when it comes to people who’ve stood out in their fields.

By: Susan D

Susan D — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:27:36 +0000

I generally find them totally different animals. A biography is usually the world looking at the subject, while an autobiography is the subject looking at their world. I love to read about their life and times as they experienced it and remember it.

By: rhapsodyinbooks

rhapsodyinbooks — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:31:15 +0000

I was surprised, after reading a memoir that I liked quite a bit, to see all the reviews in which readers doubted the events described actually took place as reported by the author! But it seems to me that the point is *how* the memoirist remembers is just as important because it represents reality for that person. It’s an interesting subject!

By: Amy Reads Good Books

Amy Reads Good Books — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:54:07 +0000

I love that Austen biography as well!