Amanda Bennett's Blog - Posts Tagged "memoir"
WHO IS THIS MAN? IS HE A SPY?
I started the book The Cost of Hope to try to find out the cost of my husband's cancer care, and whether I did the right thing in trying to save him. Along the way, though, the book turned into a memoir of a strange, elusive, brilliant and maddening man, and our life together ...... a life that began in China, with a lie.
Memoirs and story telling
My book The Cost of Hope is partly investigative journalism. But it is also a memoir.... a memoir of a rambunctious marriage that -- in retrospect -- was a lot like the kind of old movies that Terence loved to watch. You know, like "It happened One Night" where two people clash and clash and clash until they recognize the inevitable -- and fall in love. Or realize they've been in love all along.
People have been asking me whether it wasn't painful to write-- since this book was written after Terence died. My answer is always: Absolutely not. Quite the opposite. Writing a memoir was like giving me permission to spend another year with him. To spend some luxurious time going over all my favorite memories, to turn those memories into stories, to spend time going over pictures and home movies. It was actually great.
People have been asking me whether it wasn't painful to write-- since this book was written after Terence died. My answer is always: Absolutely not. Quite the opposite. Writing a memoir was like giving me permission to spend another year with him. To spend some luxurious time going over all my favorite memories, to turn those memories into stories, to spend time going over pictures and home movies. It was actually great.
Sarah Brokaw - Fortytude
Here's a blog I wrote for Sarah Brokaw's Fortytude project...
http://www.sarahbrokaw.com/august-aut...
http://www.sarahbrokaw.com/august-aut...
Denial.....
Why is denial good?
In this article I talk about it.... Here's an excerpt:
"I’d say that you have to realize that denial is a two-edged sword. Denial is unbelievably positive. To call it “denial” is almost ridiculously understating what it is. .... We absolutely refused to believe he was going to die, and as a result we never did act like he was going to die. And with everything we went through, we had glorious, happy, event-filled lives almost to the last minute.
(Denial).... helped us to be normal. It gave him the ability not even three weeks before he died to tell somebody, "I’ve had a wonderful, wonderful life."
http://www.nextavenue.org/article/201...
In this article I talk about it.... Here's an excerpt:
"I’d say that you have to realize that denial is a two-edged sword. Denial is unbelievably positive. To call it “denial” is almost ridiculously understating what it is. .... We absolutely refused to believe he was going to die, and as a result we never did act like he was going to die. And with everything we went through, we had glorious, happy, event-filled lives almost to the last minute.
(Denial).... helped us to be normal. It gave him the ability not even three weeks before he died to tell somebody, "I’ve had a wonderful, wonderful life."
http://www.nextavenue.org/article/201...
