My childhood was absolutely normal. Plain vanilla. I don't have anything like “A Christmas Story” in my background: no leg lamps, no licking lamp posts, no ruined Christmas dinners. It's a downright mystery how I grew up to be so quirky. I do, however, enjoy reading other people's humorous memoirs. These three will have you laughing so hard you’ll be embarrassed to read them in public.
Ever since I read her essay about being trapped in a fitting room after trying on a shirt which turned out to be too small to take off again, I have known Laurie Notaro and I are spirit-sisters. Although that essay is in her excellent book "It Looked Different on the Model", I also recommend “An Idiot Girl’s Christmas: True Tales from the Top of the Naughty List”, a collection of holiday anecdotes. Notaro, Arizona native and former newspaper columnist, is bound to make readers feel better about their own holiday stresses, if only by comparison.
David Sedaris, whose autobiographical works feature his cynical mother, artistic friends, and peculiar siblings, began his career on talk radio, so he truly shines as the narrator of the audio versions of his books. I recommend “Me Talk Pretty One Day”, which chronicles his failed career in the arts, his failure to understand restaurant menus, and his failed attempts to learn French. Another of his books, a collection of Christmas stories called “Holidays on Ice”, will make you laugh until you cry as Sedaris describes the horrors of working as an elf in Santa’s village at Macy’s.
Jenny Lawson, a freelance writer who collects taxidermied animals and almost makes it sound normal, entertains readers on her blog at thebloggess.com, but in her #1 New York Times Bestselling memoir “Let's Pretend This Never Happened”, Jenny describes her childhood in Texas, her awkward teenage years, and her struggles with depression. While this summary may sound harmless enough, Jenny is like that one friend we all have who says exactly what she’s thinking without considering the consequences, making her memoir both irreverent and refreshing, though not appropriate for polite conversation.
If stories of your own childhood are equally inappropriate, check out the new release “Writing Your Life: A Guide to Writing Autobiographies” by Mary Borg. You might have a bestselling memoir on your hands. Just be sure to mention the Andover Public Library in your dedication.
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