Collection Development: Listen to My Life's Story, October 1, 2010
Oct 1, 2010Memoirs and autobiographies have been a wildly popular nonfiction genre for the past 20 years, ever since Frank McCourt and Mary Karr set the craze in motion with Angela's Ashes and The Liar's Club, respectively. Memoirs have drawn fiction readers to the nonfiction shelves and elbowed their way into book discussion groups. In our confessional age, where our every thought, mood, and opinion is communicated to strangers and friends through Twitter, Facebook, text messages, and blogs, the popularity of the memoir is no surprise.
If our patrons are reading memoirs in ever–increasing numbers, then they are listening to them, too. Every audio publisher's list is filled with wonderful memoirs and autobiographies. The challenge is how to decide which ones to buy, what formats to collect, and how to maintain them.
Some definitions
The terms memoir and autobiography are close relatives. Autobiography is a reflective, often detailed account of a person's life. In Nelson Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela starts with his childhood in an African village and takes the reader (or listener) down the long and fascinating road of his career to the present day. A memoir, on the other hand, covers a memorable or meaningful portion of the author's life, often in the context of the times. In Some Girls: My Life in a Harem, Jillian Lauren recounts the time she spent in Brunei in her late teens. While many famous people have written autobiographies, many others become well known upon publication of their memoirs.
The appeal of audio memoirs
Memoirs are rich in the appeal characteristics that sell fiction: fascinating characters, riveting stories, interesting settings, expressive writing, and distinctive moods. The audio memoirs listed here fall mainly into the "character" category of appeal. Many are read by the author, while others feature great narrators who provide that confiding, voice–in–my–ear personal listening experience.
The subjects of memoirs—coming–of–age, family relationships of every variety, illness, celebrity tell–alls, life–threatening trials, cultural boundaries, and love—are all included in the list below, all the wonderful, messy stories that keep us enthralled. This is one genre where the narrator's sensitive reading is critical: we want to feel that we're hearing the person who wrote those heartfelt words, lived that fascinating, funny, or spellbinding life. It's like reading fiction written in the first person: the narrator has to take the character off the page and place him/her into our hearts.
A memoir read by the author can be especially enjoyable since we know we're hearing the story with the original emphasis and intent. As not every author is a great reader, some performances are best left to professionals. The bottom line is that in the best readings, the memoir is recounted by or about a person we want to get to know.
Collection development/weeding
Audiobooks were once generally released after the print version, giving librarians time to gauge the popularity of a title before ordering the audiobook. Now, many audiobooks are released simultaneously with print/ebook editions, sometimes as audio exclusives. Even if a title is popular in print, we need to know if the narrator and production values bring the book to life, so review sources that evaluate these features are -critical.
Decisions about which format to purchase are important, too. Do we buy versions on CD, on MP3–CD, on a preloaded digital device like Playaway, or as a digital download? Do we buy a popular title in multiple formats? It's a juggling act that requires understanding community demographics. For example, a memoir by a pop culture icon may be a hit with younger patrons who favor digital downloads to their MP3 players and iPods rather than older patrons who may be using CD players—or even cassette players. Alternately, a memoir by an elder statesman might not circulate heavily as a digital download but could be a winner on CD.
"Get 'em when they're hot, weed 'em when they're not" is useful general advice for most of the audio collection, but there are many memoirs that deserve to be retained and suggested to our patrons. Tobias Wolff's This Boy's Life, a classic in the memoir genre, was published in 1989 but didn't appear on CD until 2010. Don't forget to monitor the circulation statistics from your digital download vendors; those collections should also be weeded and updated as contracts allow. (For a rundown of offerings from the major distributors of digital audiobooks to libraries—OverDrive, Ingram Digital, and NetLibrary—see "The Lowdown on Digital Downloads," LJ 5/15/10, p. 26–29.)
Listen up
The audiobooks annotated below were well reviewed, won awards (e.g., Audie Award, LJ Best Audio), or are read by excellent narrators. There is a mix of recent and older titles, popular and first–time authors, hot personalities and topics, and memoirs of lasting interest. Many are suitable for teen listeners. Starred [
] titles are particularly noteworthy. Other notable publishers of audio memoirs whose titles aren't featured here include Brilliance Audio, Macmillan Audio, Naxos AudioBooks, Christianaudio, and Shambhala Audio.
Celebrities
Agassi, Andre. Open: An Autobiography. 15 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 18 hrs. Books on Tape. 2009. ISBN 9781415965436. $100; 15 CDs. retail ed. Random Audio; 5 CDs. retail ed. abridged. 6½ hrs.; Playaway digital; digital download.
Agassi endured his father's rage-filled obsession to make him a tennis superstar. Actor/narrator Erik Davies's breathy, edge-of-the-seat delivery brings to life the near disaster of Agassi's childhood as well as his desire that his life could have been different. [Audio, LJ 3/15/10, starred review]
Fisher, Carrie. Wishful Drinking. 3 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 3 hrs. Recorded Bks. 2009. ISBN 9781440728327. $36.75; 3 CDs. retail ed. S. & S. Audio; Playaway digital; digital download.
Mining the funny and heartbreaking parts of her tumultuous life with gusto, actress/comedian Fisher uses her throaty voice well to reveal her alcohol/drug abuse, manic depression, and failed relationships with raunchy humor, self-deprecating tartness, and zingy one-liners. [LJ Best Audio of 2009]
Swayze, Patrick & Lisa Niemi. The Time of My Life. 5 CDs. retail ed. abridged. 6 hrs. S. & S. Audio. 2009. ISBN 9780743598309. $29.99; digital download
Recording this shortly before his death from pancreatic cancer, Swayze sounds like a friend confiding a story; his wife, Niemi, adds her part about their long, often turbulent marriage. Knee injuries sidelined the Texas-born Swayze's ballet career, and he began acting, achieving fame with roles in Dirty Dancing and Ghost. [APA Audiobook of the Year nominee]
Memoirs of Growth & Change
Braestrup, Kate. Here If You Need Me: A True Story. 5 CDs. retail ed. unabridged. 5½ hrs. Hachette Audio. 2007. ISBN 9781594839290. $29.98; digital download.
Braestrup's warm, inviting voice highlights the spirituality of her memoir. After her husband Drew's death, she became a chaplain for the Maine fish and game wardens. She tells of missing children, suicides, and snowmobile accidents, muses about religion's answers to life's important questions, and makes her own journey from grief to faith.
Gilbert, Elizabeth. Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage. 7 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 9 hrs. Books on Tape. 2010. ISBN 9780307715357. $100; 7 CDs. retail ed. Penguin Audio; digital download.
Readers of Gilbert's best-selling Eat, Pray, Love will remember Felipe. Despite their commitment, they are reluctant to marry, but Felipe is unable to enter the United States unless they tie the knot. Gilbert spends a year studying and thinking about marriage in all its varieties, telling her story in a revealing, vibrant voice. [Audio, LJ 5/1/10]
Thompson-Cannino, Jennifer & Ralph Cotton with Erin Torneo. Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption. 7 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 8 hrs. Tantor Audio. 2009. ISBN 9781400141524. $59.99. 7 CDs. retail ed.; 1 MP3-CD. retail ed.; Playaway digital; digital download.
After college student Thompson-Cannino was raped at knifepoint, she identified her attacker in a lineup. Ronald Cotton spent 11 years in jail until DNA testing exonerated him. The author, in a remarkable healing gesture, asked to meet him, and they became friends. Narrators Richard Allen and Karen White ably bring to life the powerful emotions that propel this compelling memoir. [LJ Best Audio of 2009]
Survival & Adventure
Beah, Ishmael. A Long Way Gone: Memoir of a Boy Soldier. 7 CDs. retail ed. unabridged. 8½ hrs. Audio Renaissance. 2007. ISBN 9781427202307. $34.95; digital download.
Beah was a carefree preteen when rebels in Sierra Leone destroyed his village, murdering most of his friends and family. At 12, he was recruited as a child soldier, drugged, and trained to kill. Actor Dominic Hoffman's restrained voice, edged with sadness and poignancy, conveys Beah's difficult emotional state. [An alternate edition, read by the author, is available from Macmillan Audio]
Phillips, Richard with Stephen Talty. A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS and Dangerous Days at Sea. 7 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 9 hrs. Tantor Audio. 2010. ISBN 9781400146864. $59.99; 7 CDs. retail ed.; 1 MP3-CD. retail ed.; Playaway digital; digital download.
Phillips's cargo vessel was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden by Somali pirates in 2009, and he endured four days tied up in a small boat. Narrator George K. Wilson ramps up the emotion and pace of narration as the pirates board the ship and Phillips's plans to thwart the hijacking go awry.
Rawicz, Slavomir. The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom. 8 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 9½ hrs. Blackstone Audio. 2007. ISBN 9780786100385. $72;
8 CDs. retail ed.; 1 MP3-CD. library ed.; digital download.
In 1939, Rawicz was arrested by the Russians as a spy and sent to a labor camp in Siberia. He escaped with six other prisoners, heading south to India, across the Gobi Desert and the Himalayas. British actor John Lee's forceful narration, perfectly matched to the text's pace, expresses the strength and defiance that kept Rawicz alive.
A Slice of History
Gies, Miep with Alison Leslie Gold. Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman Who Helped Hide the Frank Family. 8 CDs. retail ed. unabridged. 9 hrs. Springwater: Oasis Audio. 2008. ISBN 9781598595239. $29.99; Playaway digital; digital download.
Gies cared for the Frank family and their friends while they hid in the attic, risking her life to bring them food, news, and comfort. Actress/singer Barbara Rosenblat's (see Behind the Mike, LJ 5/1/10) quiet, understated delivery and slight accent are just right to convey Gies's warmth, generosity, and dignity. [Audie Award; LJ Best Audio of 2009]
Kennedy, Edward. True Compass: A Memoir. 17 CDs. library ed. unabridged.
19 hrs. Hachette Audio from AudioGO. 2009. ISBN 9781600249907. $124.99; 17 CDs. retail ed. Hachette Audio; Playaway digital; digital download.
Narrator John Bedford Lloyd has the appropriate gravitas and intensity for this autobiography that recaps so much history from the last half of the 20th century and humanizes the man who became "the lion of the Senate." [Audie Award; Audio, LJ 1/10]
Mandela, Nelson. Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela.
5 CDs. library ed. abridged. 6 hrs. Recorded Bks. 2004. ISBN 9781586216887. $40.75; 5 CDs. retail ed. Hachette Audio; digital download.
Mandela's devotion to the eradication of apartheid in South Africa brought him the Nobel Peace Prize but only after terrible years of struggle. Actor Danny Glover conveys Mandela's strength and integrity.
Coping with Mental Illness
Greenberg, Michael. Hurry Down Sunshine. 5 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 6½ hrs. Books on Tape. 2008. ISBN 9781415954942. $50; 5 CDs. retail ed. Random Audio; digital download.
One night Greenberg's daughter Sally had a psychotic break and became a stranger to her father. Confusion, anguish, sadness, and guilt are palpable in his voice as Greenberg narrates his attempts to hold his family together and understand Sally's disease.
Oxnam, Robert. A Fractured Mind: My Life with Multiple Personality Disorder. 8 CDs. retail ed. unabridged. 9½ hrs. Listen & Live Audio. 2005. ISBN 9781593160708. $34.95; digital download.
In midlife, Oxnam developed destructive behaviors, including alcoholism and bulimia. A psychiatrist diagnosed him with multiple personality disorder. Narrator William Dufris ably distinguishes the 11 voices of Oxnam's varied and unusual personalities as he learned how to integrate and live with them.
Robison, John Elder. Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's. 8 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 9¾ hrs. Books on Tape. 2007. ISBN 9781415942451. $100; 8 CDs. retail ed. Random Audio; 5 CDs. retail ed. abridged. 6 hrs.; digital download.
The older brother of Augusten Burroughs (who provides an introduction) tells how his inability to read and recognize normal social cues and emotions caused serious problems in school and social situations. There was no help from his abusive, alcoholic father and mentally ill mother. Narrator Mark Deakins's straightforward, unemotional tone brings Robison's struggles into stark relief.
Growing Up
Fuller, Alexandra. Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood. 9 CDs. unabridged. 10¼ hrs. Recorded Bks. 2004. ISBN 9781402578106. $102.75; Playaway digital; digital download.
Fuller grew up in southern Africa in the 1970s at a time of political upheaval. Her family's eccentric lifestyle, coupled with her mother's outrageous, alcohol-fueled behavior, is told from a child's wide-eyed point of view with humor and insight. South African–born narrator Lisette Lecat seamlessly creates a full cast of characters, capturing every ounce of drama and poetry in Fuller's evocative writing.
Lauren, Jillian. Some Girls: My Life in a Harem. 7 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 8½ hrs. Tantor Audio. 2010. ISBN 9781400148783. $71.99; 7 CDs. retail ed.; 1 MP3-CD. retail ed.; Playaway digital; digital download.
Lauren quit college to work as a call girl. She agreed to spend two weeks in Brunei livening up a prince's parties but stayed on for a year to become part of his harem of international party girls. Audio producer/narrator Tavia Gilbert is a passionate and unflinching reader.
Li Cunxin. Mao's Last Dancer. 14 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 17 hrs. Bolinda Audio. 2005. ISBN 9781742145280. $118.95; Playaway digital; digital download.
Li escaped a life of rural poverty in China when he was chosen for Madame Mao's ballet academy. On a cultural exchange program with the Houston Ballet, he fell in love with America and defected. Award-winning narrator John Lee skillfully mines the drama and emotion in this rags-to-riches memoir (now a movie) with accents, pacing, and tone that change as Li grows and matures. [LJ Best Audio of 2004]
Wolff, Tobias. This Boy's Life: A Memoir. 9 CDs. retail ed. unabridged. 10 hrs. HighBridge Audio. 2010. ISBN 9781615730889. $34.95; 2 MP3-CDs. retail ed.; Playaway digital; digital download.
Novelist Wolff writes about his teenage years under the thumb of an abusive stepfather, desperately trying to preserve his identity and survive intact. Actor/narrator Oliver Wyman brings Wolff's gorgeous prose to life, with a careful reading that illuminates the vivid set pieces and subtleties of this classic memoir.
Web Addendum
Ferguson, Craig. American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot. 6 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 6¾ hrs. Blackstone Audio. 2009. ISBN 9781433294990. $55; 1 MP3-CD. library ed.; 7 CDs. retail ed. HarperAudio; Playaway digital; digital download.
Comic and late-night TV host Ferguson reveals the highs and lows of his life from childhood near Glasgow to early days doing stand-up comedy, problems with alcohol, and love affair with America. No one else could render his ironic, cheeky, slightly raunchy mockery with such affability. Bernstein, Harry. Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers. 8 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 9½ hrs. Blackstone Audio. 2007. ISBN 9780786160808. $72; 8 CDs. retail ed.; 1 MP3-CD. library ed.; Playaway digital; digital download.
Bernstein grew up near Manchester in the early 1900s on a street where Jews lived on one side, Christians on the other. Few were willing to cross the invisible wall of ignorance and prejudice until a romance united the two sides. Narrator John Lee registers the tensions of Bernstein’s nuanced memoir, setting scene and delineating character with changes in tone, pacing, and accent.
Jamison, Kay Redfield. Nothing Was the Same: A Memoir. 5 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 5½ hrs. Tantor Audio. 2009. ISBN 9781400143061. $49.99; 5 CDs. retail ed.; 1 MP3-CD. retail ed.; Playaway digital; digital download.
Jamison suffered from serious manic depressive illness and believed that she would never marry, so her late romance with Richard was a cherished gift, cut short by his death from cancer. Jamison’s tribute to Richard and their years together is luminous and heartbreaking in actress/narrator Renée Raudman’s subtle, sensitive reading.
Macdonald, Sarah. Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure. 9 CDs. retail ed. unabridged. 10½ hrs. Bolinda Audio. 2004. ISBN 9781433296413; Playaway digital; digital download.
Kate Hosking’s fast-paced, lively narration captures the manic energy and mood swings of journalist Macdonald’s relationship with India. She embarked on a spiritual journey, experiencing all the varieties of religious experience India had to offer. Hosking distinguishes Macdonald’s encounters with an engaging variety of accents. Walls, Jeannette. The Glass Castle: A Memoir. 10 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 11¼ hrs. Recorded Bks. 2002. ISBN 9781419339790. $123.75; 8 CDs. retail ed. S. & S. Audio; Playaway digital; digital download.
Walls had a desperate, vagabond childhood with an alcoholic father and a self-absorbed mother. There was rarely food to eat and they were often close to homelessness. Narrator Julia Gibson reads the story in a straightforward manner that makes their outrageous family life more unbelievable, just the way Walls wrote it, without pity or blame.
| Author Information |
| Rosalind Reisner writes about memoirs and narrative nonfiction on her website–cum–blog www.areadersplace.net and for NoveList Plus. She is the author of Read On...Life Stories: Reading Lists for Every Taste, a guide to the memoir genre, and Jewish American Literature: A Guide to Reading Interests, both published by Libraries Unlimited |
