What are you reading?

[daisygrrl]

Originally Posted by nycfembbw

Can you tell I'm doing some catching up on this thread which took me awhile to find?

I don't know if I've mentioned to you before but I also love Susanna Kaysen's memoir as an adult: "The Camera My Mother Gave Me." Excellent!!!

I haven't read that yet, but I'm glad to hear that it's a worthwhile read (I've heard little, but negative about it--but figured the topic, not the text, was the reason).

Did you know that the title came from a a Buñuel movie, Viridiana; however, Kaysen remembered the quote wrong (it was the camera my father gave me). The scene is quite interesting--a parody of the Last Supper, some argue: at a drunken family reunion, a girl lifts her dress and to "take the picture."

Source 1; source 2

Originally Posted by nycfembbw

I loved Lucy Grealy's book and also truly adored the non-fiction book that Lucy's best friend, Ann Patchett, wrote about their relationship: "Truth and Beauty: A Friendship." Unexpectedly wonderful!

Ya know, I had mixed feelings about that one; but, generally, it was difficult for me to read. I felt, at some points, Patchet was exploiting Grealy or exaggerating...or something [I can't quite put my finger on it]. I've been in a couple of academic programs for creative writing, and I gotta tell anyone who hasn't that it's an odd environment. Suddenly, you have people who are in their twenties, thirties, forties, and up acting like they are jaded adolescents; for some reason, the drama is sky-high, jealousy is rampant, and there's even crying in workshop (not writing-related reasons)! So, I kinda wonder what Patchet's motives in writing were...(just sayin'). Luckily, I was able to meet Grealy during a writing workshop; gosh, she was gone way too soon.

Originally Posted by nycfembbw

I felt the same way about Gender Outlaw and also love her book: "Hello, Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks & Other Outlaws"

Ooh, I love that one too! I think it's an awesome book to gift to others, as well

Originally Posted by imadiva

The Hour I First Believed by Walley Lamb

I enjoy Lamb's writing style, but I haven't read that one. I really love Couldn't Keep It to Myself: Wally Lamb and the Women of York Correctional Institution (Testimonies from our Imprisoned Sisters).

Happy Readin', Ya'll!