Ah, and if anyone is looking for memoir-adjacent entertainment, I recommend 2 podcasts: Wiser than Me by Julia Louis Dreyfus and Sam Bee's Choice Words. The latter has Bee asking guests about a choice they made that changed their life. The former consists of interviews with women who are older (and thus wiser) than JLD. Easily the best addition to my listening recently.
I can't think of many memoirs that I've read, but I listened the episode of You're Wrong About that covered Jessica Simpson's and it left me wanting more.
From a writing perspective, I'm working on one that covers the time I lived in Spain, and it's in Spanish because what's funny is how much of a ding dong 17yo Claire was when she arrived, but only to Spaniards.
Some (I think excellent) advice I've gotten:
- don't worry about who's in it. Just write it and worry when you have a publisher. So few memoirs get finished that adding another reason to not do it is wrong.
- remember your truth and your story and write it for you. Maybe you want people to find solace or relate, but you don't control that. This one is for you.
- if you can call people and talk through what happened, do it. I'm writing this comment from Spain where I'm with my host family, friends, and teachers, and it's blowing my mind hearing things that I didn't remember, and they are really loving when I remind them of the ridiculous shit I did (like the time I mistook the word for "begging" to be "lemonade" and yelled at a shop owner for not giving an old lady anything when he had "a whole machine full of begging right there on the counter." Have you ever had a person begging and a shop owner laugh at you so hard that they both cry while you die slowly of embarrassment and confusion?
I am a big fan of memoirs (and posthumously published diaries/journals or letters), sometimes way more so than of the particular writer/artist/public figure's actual work. I think it's because I'm really a voyeur at heart (not in a sexual way, just in an everything-else way)...
I probably don’t seek out memoirs as a go-to genre unless the person is part of my hyper-focus areas (cults, extreme beliefs, niche pop-culture - you know the besties.) When I land a good one though, I’m totally lost in that thing until I put it down.
I’m currently using MY Substack to compile all of my daily writing into a book that I hope to finished writing by this time next year. It won’t be memoir necessarily but I’d call it memoir adjacent lol. And I’m not using your comment section to link to my stuff. I have Internet manners!
Please check out and maybe appear on Chelsea Devantez’s Glamorous Trash podcast (formerly known as Celebrity Book Club). On it Chelsea and a guest discuss a different female celebrity memoir. Also congrats on appearing on Fem Freq as I am a fan of their work as well. 🥂
I think the most recent memoir I read was Alex Trebek’s. He had Ken Jennings read most of it for the audiobook. It was fun to hear stories from someone I’ve always enjoyed seeing on tv but not knowing much about.
Oh and Bono’s audiobook was a treat. He was charming AF on that recording.
I’ve started listening to so many memoirs at your recommendation of the genre! Viola Davis is maybe my favorite so far and her reading of it was so good. I think I associate you so much with the genre now that I had a dream after reading Matthew Perry’s that he announced the two of you were dating. He was understandably excited and Paul was understandably sad :(
Oh no! Poor Paul! Mathew Perry is total peice of shit compared to Paul. No one in their right mind would make that swap. What a crazy and unbelievable dream. 😜
Ah, and if anyone is looking for memoir-adjacent entertainment, I recommend 2 podcasts: Wiser than Me by Julia Louis Dreyfus and Sam Bee's Choice Words. The latter has Bee asking guests about a choice they made that changed their life. The former consists of interviews with women who are older (and thus wiser) than JLD. Easily the best addition to my listening recently.
I can't think of many memoirs that I've read, but I listened the episode of You're Wrong About that covered Jessica Simpson's and it left me wanting more.
From a writing perspective, I'm working on one that covers the time I lived in Spain, and it's in Spanish because what's funny is how much of a ding dong 17yo Claire was when she arrived, but only to Spaniards.
Some (I think excellent) advice I've gotten:
- don't worry about who's in it. Just write it and worry when you have a publisher. So few memoirs get finished that adding another reason to not do it is wrong.
- remember your truth and your story and write it for you. Maybe you want people to find solace or relate, but you don't control that. This one is for you.
- if you can call people and talk through what happened, do it. I'm writing this comment from Spain where I'm with my host family, friends, and teachers, and it's blowing my mind hearing things that I didn't remember, and they are really loving when I remind them of the ridiculous shit I did (like the time I mistook the word for "begging" to be "lemonade" and yelled at a shop owner for not giving an old lady anything when he had "a whole machine full of begging right there on the counter." Have you ever had a person begging and a shop owner laugh at you so hard that they both cry while you die slowly of embarrassment and confusion?
I am a big fan of memoirs (and posthumously published diaries/journals or letters), sometimes way more so than of the particular writer/artist/public figure's actual work. I think it's because I'm really a voyeur at heart (not in a sexual way, just in an everything-else way)...
I probably don’t seek out memoirs as a go-to genre unless the person is part of my hyper-focus areas (cults, extreme beliefs, niche pop-culture - you know the besties.) When I land a good one though, I’m totally lost in that thing until I put it down.
I’m currently using MY Substack to compile all of my daily writing into a book that I hope to finished writing by this time next year. It won’t be memoir necessarily but I’d call it memoir adjacent lol. And I’m not using your comment section to link to my stuff. I have Internet manners!
Also, can’t wait for more watch-a-longs someday. And for the movie overloads to give ya’ll what you deserve.
Please check out and maybe appear on Chelsea Devantez’s Glamorous Trash podcast (formerly known as Celebrity Book Club). On it Chelsea and a guest discuss a different female celebrity memoir. Also congrats on appearing on Fem Freq as I am a fan of their work as well. 🥂
Hi Patrick! I was just a guest last month and would love to share the episode with you. It can be found here: https://weekendwater.substack.com/p/are-you-into-celebrity-memoirs
Oh gosh. I’m sorry. Geena Davis. I heard that one and everything. My brain is fully broken.
Internal Mind Journeys would be a good title for something...
My memoir!!?
💯
I think the most recent memoir I read was Alex Trebek’s. He had Ken Jennings read most of it for the audiobook. It was fun to hear stories from someone I’ve always enjoyed seeing on tv but not knowing much about.
Oh and Bono’s audiobook was a treat. He was charming AF on that recording.
I’ve started listening to so many memoirs at your recommendation of the genre! Viola Davis is maybe my favorite so far and her reading of it was so good. I think I associate you so much with the genre now that I had a dream after reading Matthew Perry’s that he announced the two of you were dating. He was understandably excited and Paul was understandably sad :(
Oh no! Poor Paul! Mathew Perry is total peice of shit compared to Paul. No one in their right mind would make that swap. What a crazy and unbelievable dream. 😜
Oh yeah, dream me was very confused. But dream me also didn’t know how I ended up in my jr high auditorium with any of them!