Touch and Go
By Studs Terkel, with Sydney Lewis, read by Norman Dietz
Tantor Media
Last May, Chicago legend Louis “Studs” Terkel turned 95. Six months later, he published this memoir, in which he joyfully covers his life as an oral historian, author, actor and radio broadcaster. As interesting as Terkel’s own life has been, his memoir is also a fascinating homage to the passage of time in Chicago. Terkel has a particular knack for telling colorful stories of the people he has met over the years, from the big names to the commoners. Here are a few more excellent memoirs from 2007:
My Father’s Secret War
By Lucinda Franks, read by Joyce Bean
Tantor Media
The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist learns that her reserved, elderly father had once been a courageous spy for the Allies during World War II.
Brother, I’m Dying
By Edwidge Danticat, read by Robin Miles
Recorded Books
The author tells the harrowing story of her childhood in turbulent Haiti and her uncle’s unfortunate attempt to rejoin his family in America years later.
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
By Ishmael Beah, read by the author
Macmillan Audio
This sad story showed millions of people how a child can be forced by unbearable conditions to take up arms in Africa.
