From: HUMMINGRK at aol.com <HUMMINGRK>
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 11:30:35 EDT

This month's discussion of author autobiographies has given me a list of great books to check out of the library.

One of my favorite author memoirs is A SPYING HEART--Katherine Paterson published this collection of essays ten years ago. In the first piece, "The Story of My Lives," she explains why she has never published an autobiography, as such. On page 8 she says:

"...my life is based on a true story, but rarely does it have...a satisfying plot line.... In a sense, I am constantly writing autobiography, but I have to turn it into fiction in order to give it credibility."

I thought this was an insightful comment, and it may explain the various formats writers create to share their lives with readers. Lois Lowry chose a photo album approach, others use series of stories. It's hard to sit down and write the story of a life, with all its twists and turns, in a linear form.
Received on Thu 22 Apr 1999 10:30:35 AM CDT