Books like Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year
12 books with a reading profile close to Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year by Anne Lamott. Inward-looking, contemplative and clear-cut; an easy read.
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1
All Over But the Shoutin'
by Rick Bragg
Also inward-looking and clear-cut · memoir, narrative
Rick Bragg recounts his transition from the poverty of the rural Alabama foothills to his career as a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist at The New York Times.
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2
Stitches: A Memoir
by David Small
Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative
David Small’s graphic memoir recounts his childhood in 1950s Detroit, living in a household defined by emotional withdrawal and medical negligence.
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4
The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother
Also inward-looking and contemplative · memoir, narrative
James McBride alternates between his own upbringing in a Brooklyn housing project and the oral history of his mother, Ruth Jordan.
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5
Truth & Beauty
by Ann Patchett
Also inward-looking and contemplative · memoir, narrative
Ann Patchett narrates the decades-long friendship between herself and the writer Lucy Grealy, beginning at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
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6
Wat ik nooit eerder heb gezegd
by Celeste Ng
Also inward-looking and contemplative · memoir, narrative
Set in 1970s Ohio, the narrative begins with the death of Lydia Lee, the favorite daughter of a mixed-race couple.
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7
Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl
Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative
Carrie Brownstein chronicles her development from a fan in the Pacific Northwest underground music scene to the guitarist of Sleater-Kinney.
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8
When All Is Said
by Anne Griffin
Also inward-looking and contemplative · memoir, narrative
Maurice Hannigan, an elderly Irish farmer, sits in a pub in a small town one evening and orders five drinks, one for each person who has been important in his life.
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9
All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me
Also inward-looking and contemplative · memoir, narrative
After the sudden death of his older brother, Patrick Bringley left his high-pressure job at The New Yorker to work as a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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10
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood
Also inward-looking and contemplative · memoir, narrative
Alexandra Fuller outlines her upbringing in 1970s and 80s Rhodesia, Malawi, and Zambia during a period of violent decolonization.
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11
Just Kids
by Patti Smith
Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative
Just Kids chronicles the relationship between Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe, beginning with their chance meeting in Brooklyn in 1967.
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12
Moab Is My Washpot
by Stephen Fry
Also inward-looking and contemplative · memoir, narrative
In this memoir, Stephen Fry recounts his first twenty years, focusing on his turbulent education at various English boarding schools and his eventual imprisonment.
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