RTW: Memories and Memoirs

Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors and followers post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on their blogs. You can hop from destination to destination through the YA Highway site and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This week's topic: NAME THIS LIFE: What would your memoir be called?

I was glad to see that other RTWers had a hard time with this one--I've never really thought about if I would ever write a memoir, let alone what it would be called. And I only had about ten minutes for this post before I was due to run out the door, so I kept coming up with stupid ones like "Teched By an Angel" or ripoffs of songs and song titles like "I Get Knocked Down But I Get Up Again" or "The Banana Boat Song".

So I think this space could be better used instead to bring attention to two obscure books:



In case you can't read that full title, it's Horseback Honeymoon: The Vanishing Old West of 1907 Through the Eyes of Two Young Artists in Love Isn't that a great title? Newlyweds Ella and Quincy Scott set out from St. Paul, Minnesota to Seattle, Washington on horseback during the waning days of horses as a main form of transportation. I believe it's out of print, but I would highly recommend checking your library for it.

The other book is still available through the University of Nebraska's Bison Books line:



I read this book in my 20s and was so blown away by the voice and events that I wanted to do a novelization of it (I don't even remember why I thought it needed changing, except that I was a professional storyteller at the time and was very practiced at reinterpreting stories). But in one of my first writing lessons, once I studied the book I discovered there was very little to improve on--it was best left to its natural state and in the author's own voice. This book is a great portrait of a young girl's experience of the Dust Bowl and wider events, and another must-read.

What about you? Have a title in mind for your memoir, or a good biography, diary, autobiography or memoir to recommend? Don't forget to go to the comments on the YA Highway RTW post to see everyone else's answers!

8 comments:

Miss Cole said...

I really like the title of the first book :)

Jennifer Hoffine said...

I love the title of that second one. They both sound interesting.

Jaime Morrow said...

I love super long titles for books (like the first one). Oh, and Teched By An Angel is pretty good too :)

Tracey Neithercott said...

Thanks for the recommendations. I've never heard of either of these books.

Also, I'd be very intrigued by a memoir titled The Banana Boat Song. :)

beck nicholas said...

These sound pretty interesting.
the Bannana Boat song title must have a story behind it. interesting!

Susan Oloier said...

I love book recommendations! I've actually written a memoir (not yet published), and it is tentatively called, "Our Life on the Road." We traveled for a year, visiting all the national parks in the lower 48. I found out I was pg on day five, and our youngest son was born while traveling. He was born with Trisomy 18, which was never found at my hard-to-come by prenatal appointments.
BTW...hop back over to my blog and leave your email address (maybe I can find it on your site), so I can send you the Smashwords coupon. Thanks for spreading the word!

Lora Palmer said...

Great potential titles for your memoirs! I especially liked the tubthumping song reference =)

Kimberlee Turley said...

For Y2K my whole family filled out Memoir Journals. It was hard since I had no idea what the price of gas was as a "child" and I didn't have any great recipes to pass down, or any significant life events that occurred outside of high school.

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