Tell Me True: Memoir, History, and Writing A Life

by Patricia Hampl (Editor), Elaine Tyler May (Editor)

In this landmark collection, Patricia Hampl and Elaine Tyler May have gathered fourteen original essays from award-winning memoirists and historians. They are all storytellers, wrestling with a fascinating gray area where memory intersects with history and where the necessities of narrative collide with mundane facts. and whether the record emerges from archival sources or from personal memory, these writers show how to make the leap to telling a good story—while also telling us true.

"reading each of these superb and provocative essays, readers understand history in the memoir and memoir in the history. What all the writers recognize?is that they and their disciplines all deal with the vagaries of memory and how humans construct meaning in the present through memory, however expressed. a superb book. Highly recommended." —Choice

Genres: Memoir, Writing, Essays, History, Nonfiction, Biography

252 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2008

About the author

Patricia Hampl is an American memoirist, writer, lecturer, and educator. She teaches in the MFA program at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and is one of the founding members of the Loft Literary Center.

Reviews

[Elizabeth W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The quotation from "Choice": "Reading each of these superb and provocative essays, readers understand history in the memoir and memoir in the history. What all the writers recognize is that they and their disciplines all deal with the vagaries of memory and how humans construct meaning in the present through memoir, however expressed."

Deep into writing a memoir, I find this collection of essays moving and challenging. I found myself thinking, "Better get on with telling your story, E. If you don't, you may find yourself being a character in someone else's story!" The writing of a memoir in these times of uprootedness and depersonalizing forces running wild affirms the dignity and value of an individual's experience.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

More encouragement for continuing with my writing.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting insights into the place of memoir in non fiction

[Giovanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting collection of essays about writing memoir, which came about from a 2007 U of Minnesota conference called 'Who's Got the Story--Memoir as History/History as Memoir' (you can see video of the panel discussions there). Includes essays by Patricia Hampl, Carlos Eire, D.J. Waldie, and many more. I imagine I'll return to this...

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read most of the essays in this book--most interested in the one by Carlos Eire, because my father knew him. Interested also in the discussions of how history and memoir influence each other, the complexity of time in memoir, how past influenced present. Not actually finished, but will not read all of the essays in this book. Have a couple more I want to read.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the authors' reflections on what it meant to them to create a memoir--some of them were redundant, though, and almost none really shed much technical light on how to structure a memoir, something that I was hoping for when I picked up the book.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

A couple of the essays in this book were interesting, but overall, it did not grab my attention.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good collection of essays...something for everyone interested in memoir as a genre.

[Zen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to follow :)

[Patricia N. McLaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of essays contains a treasure trove of tips for writing memoir—especially how to tell a good story while remaining “loyal to the truth” and “true to the facts”—written by award-winning memoirists and historians. Each of the 14 essays is prefaced by an excerpt from the author’s memoir. The editors’ Introduction provides an enlightening overview of the memoir genre, a review of its recent controversies (e.g., James Frey), and a summary of the 2007 panel discussion on memoir as intersection of history and fiction that prompted the book’s publication.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be frank, I only read the chapter that Patricia Hampl wrote. Oooooooooooooooooooooh I absolutely love Patricia Hampl.

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writers reference lots of regional authors & great titles.