Memoir

Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China  by Fuchsia Dunlop, W. W. Norton & Company, 2009.  Chengdu A colorfully written memoir of an Englishwoman learning the art of Chinese cooking in Chengdu. Chengdu is the capital of the province of Sichuan, in the interior of China. She also spent time in Chongqing, which is the eastern neighbor of Sichuan. At the time of the author’s visit, in the 1990s, Westerners were rare in Sichuan. Dunlop writes very e

In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom  by Qanta Ahmed, Sourcebooks, 2008. Pakistani Doctor The author of this memoir is a Pakistani Muslim doctor. While living in New York City, she completed residencies and fellowships in Internal Medicine, Pulmonology, Critical Care and Sleep Disorders.  Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia’s oil wealth has allowed many of its men to travel abroad and become more cosmopolitan and liberal. The educated, professi

Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey Of A Desert Nomad by Waris Dirie, William Morrow, 1998.

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover, Random House, 2021.

H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald, Grove Press, 2016.

Out of Egypt: A Memoir by André Aciman, Picador, 2007.

House of Sticks: A Memoir by Ly Tran, Scribner, 2022.

Homage to Catalonia  by George  Orwell, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (1969)

Never Grow Up  by Jackie Chan with Zhu Mo, Simon & Schuster, 2018.

My Grandfather’s Son: A Memoir  by Clarence Thomas, Harper Perennial, 2008.  Grandfather Clarence Thomas was brought up by his mother’s father, because his own father abandoned him. He was raised Roman Catholic. Clarence Thomas called this grandfather “Daddy”. Daddy raised Clarence and his brother Myers strictly. They were required to work on the farm and study hard. Daddy subscribed to the self-help philosophy of Booker T. Washington, where colored people tried to get ahead

Radical Son: A Generational Odyssey  by David Horowitz, Touchstone, 1997.  David Horowitz Freedom Center David was a prominent champion of academic freedom and political diversity on college campuses through his organization, the David Horowitz Freedom Center. Paternal Ancestors Morris (Moishe) Horowitz, David's Paternal grandfather was a tailor in Mozir in Western Ukraine. Morris and his wife Anna left Russia 1905 and emigrated to the United States. In New York City Morris w

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance, Harper, 2016.

Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class by Rob Henderson, Gallery Books, 2024. In this memoir of growing up in...

All About Me! My Remarkable Life in Show Business  by Mel Brooks, Ballantine Books, 2021.

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother  by Amy Chua, Penguin, 2011.  Chinese-American parents are in general much more strict with their children than most other ethnicities. The author describes how she raised her two daughters to become excellent musicians. The elder daughter, Sophia, studied piano, the younger daughter, Lulu, studied the violin. She restricted how her daughters spent their time, giving maximum priority to studying their chosen instrument. The girls were required

Nomad: From Islam to America: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations  by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Atria, 2010.  She writes about...

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban  by Malala Yousafzai, Little, Brown and Company, 2013.  Malala Yousafzai and her family were Pashtuns living in the Swat Valley in Pakistan. He father was names Ziauddin Yousafzai, her mother was named Toor Pekai, and Khushal was her younger brother. Punjabis dominate Pakistan’s bureaucracy and army. Malala’s father opened a school in his village. The school admitted both boys and girls. Malala was o

Infidel  by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Free Press, 2007.  Ayaan Hirsi Ali was born in Somalia in 1969. Ayaan’s ancestors were desert nomads of the...

Fifty Miles from Tomorrow: A Memoir of Alaska and the Real People  by William L. Iġġiaġruk Hensley, Sarah Crichton Books, 2008.  The...

Leaving Mother Lake by Yang Erche Namu and Christine Mathieu, Hachette Book Group, 2007.  This book by a Moso woman living near the border between Sichuan and Yunnan is the most beautiful memoir that I have ever read.