Karr breaks down the key elements of great literary memoir, opening our concepts of memory and identity, and illuminating the cathartic power of reflecting on the past; anybody with an inner life or complicated history, whether writer or reader, will relate.

Learn how to record interesting stories from the lives of real people.

Introduces the main elements of nonfiction and describes and offers examples of such genres, including informational materials, how-to books, biographies, adventure and historical nonfiction.

"Everyone has a story to tell. Learn how to write your memoir and get published with the help of two well-known publishing professionals. Your Life is a Book guides budding writers though the transformative process of memoir writing to publication. In addition to exploring the unique elements of crafting a memoir--story arc, point of view, dialogue, where to start (not the beginning!)-Your Life is a Book also focuses on the self-exploration, awareness,...

Rich, funny, and moving personal narratives depend on a few key moments in time to anchor the story and give it impact. Shimmering Images teaches the aspiring memoirist how to locate key memories using Lisa's technique for finding, linking, and fleshing out those vibrant recollections of important moments and situations. Shimmering Images will address: *the difference between memoir and autobiography *how to claim your voice *the art of storytelling *honesty,...

"What moves memoirists to make their most personal stories public? In Why We Write About Ourselves, twenty of America's most successful memoirists answer this question -- and share the nuts and bolts of how they do it. Exploring such issues as the reliability of memory, the ethics of disclosure, and how to protect others' privacy without self-censoring, these bestselling memoirists reveal what keeps them going during the tough times and what they...

"Nature's design magic is a balancing act found in its perfect ratios. The sections of this sketchbook - Star, Branch, Spiral, and Fan - focus on four of those disceptively simple design principles and why they work"--

Michael Kowalewski is Assistant Professor of English at Carleton College. "Violent scenes in American fiction are not only brutal, bleak, and gratuitous," writes Michael Kowalewski. "They are also, by turns, comic, witty, poignant, and sometimes, strangely enough, even terrifyingly beautiful." In this fascinating tour of American fiction, Kowalewski examines incidents ranging from scalpings and torture in The Deerslayer to fish feeding off human...

A slyly fun picture book for kids and adults alike! Anyone who says, You can't please everybody, isn't trying hard enough. At least, that's what the cheeky narrator of this meta picture book thinks! A good book may have a spaceman or a ninja or a cowboy, but Everybody's Favorite Book has something better: a Space Ninja Cow. And that's only the beginning. You like princesses? We got 'em. Prefer a mystery? No sweat. Want the definition of gallimaufry...