November 30, 2010 by Eric
Autobiography of Mark Twain
One of the really big books of the season. Stands to reason! Twain dictated this material (which will run to three volumes when publication is complete) in the last four years of his life- charging his executors with the instruction that it was to remain unpublished until he’d been dead a hundred years.
One of a handful of America’s greatest writers, handling material he’d been anxious to compile for three decades or more- during which time he’d made numerous false starts. Beginning in January 1906, however, he dictated to a stenographer almost daily, working in as well some of the earlier attempts, and declared the job done in December 1909. Here’s the first third, in all its glory!
Category: BooksTags: auto/biography & memoir, books, literature | Comments (0)
November 7, 2010 by Eric
Books for the holidays, and for the moment!
Patti Smith‘s new memoir about her youthful times with Robert Mapplethorpe, Just Kids, went to paperback in late September and won the National Book Award in mid-November. It’s been a moving and gratifying reading experience for dozens of people we’ve talked to in the shop.
And then there’s Keith Richards‘ biography, published last month in hardcover, called Life. Keith’s lived a baker’s dozen of them already – lives, that is – and writes about them with terrific narrative drive and humor.
Rock stars, both- and as it turns out, prose writers to the core. Keith had more help than Patti, we understand, but proved his mettle as an editor with this one.
Category: BooksTags: auto/biography & memoir, books, music | Comments (0)
