Memoir Book Club
Join us for a craft chat about successful memoirs in the marketplace
Have you ever wanted to join a book club focused on the craft of writing memoir?
That’s what this is. It’s a book club for writers who want to discuss what makes a memoir work (or not) and why. We’ll nerd out on all the craft elements, such as voice, structure, characterization, themes, dialogue, and plot. We’ll look at the elements of story — drive, conflict, stakes, etc. — and we’ll meet in community to learn from each other.
Each month, we'll discuss a different memoir, pulling from classics, critically acclaimed or otherwise successful books, as well as a diverse group of authors.
OUR GOALS
We’re reading to learn. To study the craft of writing is to learn to become better writers ourselves. For some, this might mean reading the book twice. Once for the story and once for the craft. We commit to reading the book with a critical eye, paying attention to the choices the author made when writing it. What works? What doesn’t work?
We’re discussing to remember. Talking about books with friends helps us better retain the lessons they hold for us.
We’re gathering to create community. This is a safe place to connect, share, and learn.
April 30th at 5:00 p.m. PST
We’ll read and discuss Hysterical by Elissa Bassist.
“Hysterical is staggeringly good. … This is one of the most intelligent, painful, ridiculous, awesome, relevant things I've ever read.” –Roxane Gay
“…an impressive debut. Elissa Bassist wrote it like a motherfucker."–Cheryl Strayed
Acclaimed humor writer Elissa Bassist shares her journey to reclaim her authentic voice in a culture that doesn't listen to women in this medical mystery, cultural criticism, and rallying cry.
Between 2016 and 2018, Elissa Bassist saw over twenty medical professionals for a variety of mysterious ailments. She had what millions of American women had: pain that didn’t make sense to doctors, a body that didn’t make sense to science, and a psyche that didn’t make sense to mankind. Then an acupuncturist suggested that some of her physical pain could be caged fury finding expression, and that treating her voice would treat the problem.
It did.
Growing up, Bassist's family, boyfriends, school, work, and television shows had the same expectation for a woman’s voice: less is more. She was called dramatic and insane for speaking her mind. She was accused of overreacting and playing victim for having unexplained physical pain. She was ignored or rebuked (like so many women throughout history) for using her voice “inappropriately” by expressing sadness or suffering or anger or joy. Because of this, she said “yes” when she meant “no”; she didn’t tweet #MeToo; and she never spoke without fear of being "too emotional." She felt rage, but like a good woman, she repressed it.
In her witty and incisive debut, Bassist explains how girls and women internalize and perpetuate directives about their voices, making it hard to “just speak up” and “burn down the patriarchy.” But then their silence hurts them more than anything they could ever say. Hysterical is a memoir of a voice lost and found, a primer on new ways to think about a woman’s voice—about where it’s being squashed and where it needs amplification—and a clarion call for readers to unmute their voice, listen to it above all others, and use it again without regret.
Get the book at your local library, independent bookshop, or support Bookshop.org.
Want to be notified of future book clubs?
Sign up below and I’ll keep you in the loop!