This humorous, heartfelt book takes a unique approach to memoir writing. Through hilarious anecdotes about his family and colorful storytelling, the author presents his unconventional worldview with a sharp tongue and generous heart. From impersonations of a nervous child to a Kerouac-inspired journey with a quadriplegic companion, this book is an entertaining and poignant exploration of life, death, and everything in between.

Naked

In "An Abbreviated Life," Ariel Leve shares her candid and poignant memoir of growing up without boundaries. Raised by an unstable mother, Leve learned to become her own parent and survive in a world of conditional love. Her coping mechanisms later incapacitated her as an adult, until she was able to emancipate herself from the past and build a better life. This haunting story explores the impact of chronic psychological maltreatment on a child's developing brain, and the possibility of an unabbreviated life.

A Memoir

An Abbreviated Life

This classic novel follows the Bundren family as they make a harrowing journey to bury their wife and mother, Addie, in the Mississippi countryside. Narrated by each family member, including Addie herself, the book ranges from dark comedy to deep pathos. A true 20th-century classic, As I Lay Dying is considered one of the most influential novels in American fiction, and this edition features the corrected text as established in 1985 by Noel Polk.

The Corrected Text

As I Lay Dying

A poignant and timely memoir, In the Country We Love sheds light on the struggles faced by undocumented immigrants and their families in America. Written by a well-known television actress, the book details her personal experience of losing her parents to deportation at a young age, and the challenges she faced in building a new life without them. With millions of undocumented immigrants living in the US, this gripping memoir highlights the urgent need for change in a system that fails countless families.

My Family Divided (Updated With New Material)

In the Country We Love

Experience the journey of a barefoot farm girl who became a college president and foundation executive in this captivating childhood memoir. Little Shirley Hershey's upbringing on a family farm, country school, and in Lititz Mennonite Church shaped her into the woman she became. Discover her story of leaving the church, but finding another way.

A Mennonite Girl Meets a Glittering World

Blush

Colonel Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, a member of the Apollo 11 crew, tells about his adventures on the moon, and about the aftermath when, as an international celebrity, he has to face the consequences of sudden fame, its rewards and its penalties....

Return to Earth

Discover a compelling memoir about life in a commune based on the teachings of an Indian guru. Tim Guest was just six years old when his mother took him to live in a community that advocated Eastern mysticism, chaotic therapy, and sexual freedom. Dressing entirely in orange and given a new Sanskrit name, Tim navigated a world of misguided neglect as his mother worked tirelessly for their new family's cause. Read as Tim details the collapse of the movement and the heartbreaking experience of being left alone on earth while his mother hunted heaven.

Growing Up with the Guru

My Life in Orange

In "Happy Days," Shana Alexander reflects on her own life and unconventional family in a raw, unapologetic memoir. With honesty and vulnerability, Alexander shares her personal and professional experiences, including her career as a 60 Minutes commentator. The book is illustrated with 37 photos, making it a captivating read.

Happy Days

A hilarious and heartrending novel exploring the complexities of family relationships and the struggle to forge one's own identity amidst a backdrop of unconventional performance art. When siblings Annie and Buster Fang return home after years away, they must confront their eccentric and demanding artist parents, Caleb and Camille. A New York Times bestseller, this book has been called "brilliant" by Ann Patchett and a "total blast" by Hannah Pittard. It's also been adapted into a major motion picture starring Nicole Kidman, Jason Bateman, and Christopher Walken.

A Novel

The Family Fang

This memoir tells the story of Frank McCourt's upbringing in Depression-era Brooklyn and the slums of Limerick, Ireland. Despite poverty, near-starvation, and the casual cruelty of his surroundings, Frank's survival relies on his father's beguiling stories and his own hunger for storytelling. Angela's Ashes is a luminous and classic book, written with elegance and remarkable compassion.

Angela's Ashes

This memoir by a Yale Law School graduate explores white working-class Americans, a demographic slowly disintegrating over 40 years. Vance tells the true story of his family, who escaped poverty in Kentucky’s Appalachia region to raise a middle-class family in Ohio. Despite upward mobility, the family’s struggle with abuse, alcoholism, poverty, and trauma remained. A deeply moving memoir with humor and vividly colorful figures, Hillbilly Elegy is an urgent meditation on the loss of the American dream for a large segment of this country.

A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

Hillbilly Elegy

Cider with Rosie

This powerful memoir by Jesmyn Ward explores the stories of five black men she lost in her life in just five years, to accidents, drugs, suicides, and poverty. Through her own experiences, Ward brings to light the effects of racism, economic struggle, and addiction on families in rural Mississippi. Her bravery in telling her story sheds light on the pressures and challenges young black men face in society.

Men We Reaped

Experience the enduring gothic masterpiece that has amassed an international cult following. A perfect family's world shatters after a heartbreaking tragedy. In order to secure their future inheritance, the four children are hidden away in their grandmother's mansion attic, isolated and alone. As they grow ever closer, they must rely on one another to survive this world of family, greed, murder, and forbidden love. Flowers in the Attic is the first unputdownable novel in the Dollanganger saga, including Petals in the Wind, If There Be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday, Garden of Shadows, Beneath the Attic, and Out of the Attic.

40th Anniversary Edition (1) (Dollanganger)

Flowers in the Attic

A captivating tale set in a planned suburb where a seemingly perfect family, the Richardsons, lives by strict rules. However, when an enigmatic artist and single mother, Mia Warren, and her daughter Pearl move in, their mysterious past and disregard for the status quo endangers the town’s careful order. Secrets are uncovered and a custody battle ensues, tearing the community apart. Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood - all while demonstrating the danger of following the rules too closely.

Little Fires Everywhere

All You Can Ever Know is a moving and insightful memoir about the experience of a transracial adoptee. Nicole Chung, who was born prematurely to Korean parents and raised by a white family in Oregon, shares her journey of finding her identity and searching for her biological roots. With candid and honest writing, Chung explores the themes of identity, family, and belonging. This book is a vital reading for anyone who has struggled to understand their place in the world. Finalist for National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography, and named Best Book of the Year by Washington Post, NPR, and other publications.

All You Can Ever Know

A touching coming-of-age story, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha follows the adventures of ten-year-old Padraic Clarke as he navigates the ups and downs of growing up. With a blend of humor and heart, this Booker Prize-winning novel by Roddy Doyle captures the confusion and wonder of childhood, earning praise from both readers and critics.

Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha

This true story follows one girl's coming-of-age in a polygamist cult, where authorities turn a blind eye to the community practices. Growing up on a rural farm without indoor plumbing or electricity, Ruth Wariner is the thirty-ninth of her father's 42 children. After her father is brutally murdered, her mother remarries and they move back and forth between Mexico and the United States for government assistance and odd jobs. Despite her love for her siblings, Ruth begins to doubt her family's beliefs and question her mother's choices, struggling to forge a better life for herself. This intimate and gripping tale of triumph, courage, and resilience is recounted from the perspective of a hopeful child.

Sound Of Gravel

This novel is a profound exploration of family dynamics in the rural South. At its core is Bone, a young girl who sees the world with a mercilessly keen eye. But as she navigates a vicious stepfather and a family triangle that tests the loyalty of her mother Anney, Bone finds herself caught in a harrowing tangle that leads to a final encounter from which there can be no turning back. Critically acclaimed and compared to the likes of To Kill a Mockingbird, this book is a must-read for fans of Southern literature.

Bastard Out of Carolina

This moving memoir chronicles the author's upbringing with unconventional, nomadic parents who pushed their four children to embrace life and learn fearlessly. As dysfunction and financial troubles escalate, Jeannette and her siblings must rely on each other to survive and ultimately escape their tumultuous home. Despite their flaws, the author deeply loves and respects her complex parents, making this an uplifting story of triumph against all odds and unconditional familial love.

The Glass Castle

This poignant memoir follows Maya and her brother as they are sent to live with their grandmother in a small Southern town, facing abandonment and prejudice. After a traumatic incident and years of struggle, Maya learns to liberate herself through self-love, the support of others, and great literature. Poetic and powerful, this book is a timeless standout in the genre of memoir.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

"Let Me Finish" by Roger Angell is a charming memoir that takes us back to the Prohibition-era New York, where the author reminisces about his eccentric family members, his love for baseball, and his long career as a writer and editor for the New Yorker. From Sunday roasts, ice skating, and radio broadcasts about the fall of Paris, to funny anecdotes and intimate portraits, this unsentimental autobiography is infused with pleasure and sadness, and a love for life's better moments.

Let Me Finish

This mesmerizing memoir by Kimberly Rae Miller reveals her experience growing up in a rat-infested home due to her father's painful hoarding disorder. Miller eloquently shares the emotional burden of hiding her father's shameful secret from her friends for years and the resulting suicide attempt. Despite the odds, Miller beautifully sheds light on her complicated yet loving relationship with her parents, recognizing where she comes from, and the power of recovery and redemption.

Coming Clean

"Abandon Me" by Melissa Febos is a stunning memoir that explores the nature of identity and art through the lens of love and loss. Febos weaves together her experiences reconnecting with her birth father, her relationship with the sea captain who raised her, and a passionate long-distance love affair, exploring the themes of compulsion, self-erasure, and obsession. With visceral, erotic prose, Febos captures the intense bonds of connection and the fear and exhilaration of losing oneself in another. This memoir is a fearless exploration of the deep truths of the human experience.

Memoirs

Abandon Me

A memoir of survival in the Canadian wilderness. Cea Sunrise Person recounts her upbringing in a counterculture commune, where her family lived without modern amenities and flourished in a carefree lifestyle. However, as she grows older, she begins to question her unusual upbringing and goes on a search for a more traditional life, leading to an unexpected and challenging journey. North of Normal is a captivating and inspiring story of self-discovery and resilience.

A Memoir of My Wilderness Childhood, My Unusual Family, and How I Survived Both

North of Normal

A lyrical and complex memoir that explores family history and the power of gossip to become legends. Follow the story of the Gibson women and the men who loved and abused them, as author Dorothy Allison uses vivid clarity to delve into the surprising nature of desire and the strength of her unique vision. Illustrated with personal photographs, Two or Three Things I Know for Sure is a brutally honest and eloquent read that expresses hard-won wisdom.

Two or Three Things I Know for Sure

This book dives into the life of a family struggling against poverty, ignorance, and the haunting effects of war. The author uses his Pulitzer Prize-winning talent for storytelling to craft a powerful narrative of a violent, alcoholic father and a determined mother who fought to shield her boys. Through his mother's belief and encouragement, the author managed to escape the cycle of hardship and make a life for himself.

All over but the Shoutin'

This award-winning memoir takes you on a hilarious yet heartbreaking journey through Mary Karr's childhood in an east Texas oil town, filled with darkly comedic characters and family secrets that threaten to tear them apart. Considered a masterpiece of the memoir genre, this book will leave you both deeply moved and unable to put it down.

The Glass Castle

A Memoir

Jeannette Walls