“Memoir: A History”
By Ben Yagoda
Riverhead, 304 pages, $25.96
As a memoirist, is Sarah Palin closer to St. Augustine or James Frey?
Sarah Palin’s “Going Rogue” may be a loony score settler, but it does inspire questions about the memoir genre. Fortunately, Ben Yagoda’s engaging, thoughtful — and fun — book provides a way to think about the memoir, from St. Augustine to the recent six-word memoir fashion. (The classic example: for sale: baby shoes, never worn.)
“Memoir: A History” is attentive to the trends in memoirs, the burst of books about dogs, adventure and that gift that keeps on giving: the dysfunctional family. In a reality television, “Real Housewives” series world of faux self-revelation, where self-absorption is revealed at the expense of insight, where bookshelves sag from the latest self-justifying revelations from politicians and celebrities, “Memoir: A History” provides a context for understanding Palin’s book, and it suggests that our own delusions may be the most dangerous of all.
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