Good memoirs by ordinary people?

Parent Cafe
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<p>[Tracks</a> by Robyn Davidson - Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists](<a href=“Tracks: A Woman's Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback by Robyn Davidson | Goodreads”>Loading interface...)</p>

<p>also </p>

<p>[Amazon.com:</a> My Family and Other Animals (9780142004418): Gerald Durrell: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Family-Other-Animals-Gerald-Durrell/dp/0142004413/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Family-Other-Animals-Gerald-Durrell/dp/0142004413/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1)</p>

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<p>I highly recommend “Autobiography of a Face” along with Ann Patchett’s “Truth and Beauty: A Friendship.”</p>

<p>Lucy Grealy wrote “Autobiography” and Ann Patchett’s book is about Lucy Grealy and Patchett’s friendship with her.</p>

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<p>I’m reading Dead End Gene Pool by Wendy Burden. Hilarious, [Amazon.com:</a> Dead End Gene Pool: A Memoir: Wendy Burden: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Dead-End-Gene-Pool-Memoir/dp/B005DI88TE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316873454&sr=8-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Dead-End-Gene-Pool-Memoir/dp/B005DI88TE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316873454&sr=8-1)</p>

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<p>And speaking of hilarious, let’s not forget David Sedaris’ memoir books such as “Naked” and “Me Talk Pretty One Day” !</p>

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<p>Not along the serious lines, but Tina Fey’s Bossypants is hilarious!</p>

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<p>This list is great! I forgot about Bossypants - I want to read that. </p>

<p>I second Dave Eggers - I’m rereading A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius now actually.</p>

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<p>I can recommend two on the lighter side about growing up in the 1970s in somewhat dysfunctional families (like most!):</p>

<p>A Girl Named Zippy- by Haven Kimmel (small town Indiana- hilarious, laugh out loud, also has a sequel “She Got up off the Couch”)</p>

<p>Disaster Preparedness: A Memoir by Heather Havrilesky (Durham, NC, also very funny)</p>

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<p>“God, My Father, and the war that came between us”. For those who were old enough to remember , or just want a slant on, Viet Nam. Author, son of high ranking father, becomes priest, anti-war activist, etc.</p>

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<p>The Frog Pond by Joyce MacIver would be my favorite. It’s an autobiographical novel and maybe out of print but it is wonderful. NYC during WWII.</p>

<p>Another one is After Long Silence.</p>

<p>And Dreams of Trespass.</p>

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<p>An American Summer - Frank Deford. A 14 year old boy befriends a 23 year old with Polio and they have an unforgettable summer. One of the best books I have read in years.</p>

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<p>When I searched my memory for some of my favorite memoirs these came to the top of my list. They are both pretty dark though. They are both written about normal people dealing with extraordinary events.</p>

<p>Wild Swans: Three daughters of China by Juan Chang
Chang’s story of her life, her mother’s and her grandmother’s is also the story of China’s changing political history during the same period.</p>

<p>What is the What? by Dave Eggers
A memoir of one of the lost boys of Sudan. This was written by Dave Eggers (who is not one of the lost boys) and Eggers labels this as fiction but it is based on the recollections of one of the lost boys, Valentino Achak Deng, and written in his voice.</p>

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<p>The life and times of the thunderbolt kid by bill Bryson. Laugh out loud funny about growing up in the 50s.</p>