Writing Your Memoir
The books are doing half the teaching

Reading list

Do a module's reading before you start the module. Check each one off as you go.

Module 1Finding Your Focus
The Situation and the Story — Vivian Gornick
The first half, on the personal essay, where she defines the terms (FSG paperback, through ~p. 90).
The Art of Memoir — Mary Karr
Ch. 6, “Sacred Carnality,” and Ch. 7, “How to Choose a Detail.”
This Boy's Life — Tobias Wolff
The first four parts (Grove paperback, approx. pp. 3–178).
The Art of the Personal Essay — Phillip Lopateessayists
The Introduction.
Module 2The Two Selves
Notes of a Native Son — James Baldwin
The title essay of the collection.
Memory and Imagination — Patricia Hampl
The essay from I Could Tell You Stories.
This Boy's Life — Tobias Wolff
Finish the last three parts (approx. pp. 181–288).
Module 3Gathering Your Material
Speak, Memory — Vladimir Nabokov
“Chapter One.”
No Name Woman — Maxine Hong Kingston
The opening chapter of The Woman Warrior.
Module 4Structure
The Year of Magical Thinking — Joan Didion
The whole book (numbered chapters 1–22; Vintage paperback, ~227 pp.).
Fun Home — Alison Bechdel
Ch. 1, “Old Father, Old Artificer.”
In the Dream House — Carmen Maria Machado
Begin it now: from “Dream House as Overture” through roughly the midpoint (~p. 120, Graywolf paperback). You'll finish it in Module 6.
Module 5Scene vs. Summary
Shitty First Drafts — Anne Lamott
The chapter from Bird by Bird (Part One).
The Glass Castle — Jeannette Walls
Part One, and the opening of Part Two (the stove-fire scene opens Part Two).
Angela's Ashes — Frank McCourt
The opening chapter.
Module 6Finding Your Voice
The Liars' Club — Mary Karr
Chapter 1.
Me Talk Pretty One Day — David Sedaris
The title essay of the collection.
In the Dream House — Carmen Maria Machado
Finish the second half (to “Dream House as Epilogue”).
Module 7Revision
The Art of Memoir — Mary Karr
Ch. 21, “Why Memoirs Fail,” and Ch. 24, “Against Vanity: In Praise of Revision.”
Module 8Truth and Other People
The Art of Memoir — Mary Karr
Ch. 2, “The Truth Contract Twixt Writer and Reader,” and Ch. 12, “Dealing with Beloveds.”
Hunger — Roxane Gay
The opening section (Part I).
The Autobiographical Pact — Philippe Lejeune
The essay from On Autobiography, read alongside the Frey case.
Module 9Feedback, Polish & Finish
A sample query letter and book proposal — Craft reference
Widely available online or in any reputable craft guide.
A short line-editing piece — Your choice
Any solid treatment of sentence-level editing.
The anchor shelf

The whole course pulls from these seven. Worth owning if a title speaks to your subject.

The Situation and the Story— Vivian GornickCraft. The source of the situation-vs-story idea.
The Art of Memoir— Mary KarrCraft. Assigned by chapter across Modules 1, 7, and 8.
This Boy's Life— Tobias WolffMemoir. Modules 1–2.
The Year of Magical Thinking— Joan DidionMemoir. Module 4.
In the Dream House— Carmen Maria MachadoMemoir. Begun in Module 4, finished in Module 6.
The Art of the Personal Essay— Phillip Lopate, ed.Essay craft and anthology. Especially if you're writing essays.
Tell It Slant— Brenda Miller & Suzanne PaolaOptional. A systematic creative-nonfiction companion.
Going furtherThis list is a foundation, not a boundary. To widen it with more recent voices, add a contemporary memoir or essay collection that speaks to your own subject — for instance, Ta-Nehisi Coates's Between the World and Me. Treat any such book as a complement to the anchored readings, not a replacement.