memoir
An American childhood in Haiti
Apricot Irving writes with love—and hurt—about her father's misplaced desire to be a savior to others.
Kate Bowler faces off against cancer and bad theology
Bowler’s memoir honestly confronts the pervasive idea that we get what we deserve.
Crisis of faith
First Erin White fell in love with Christ. Then she fell in love with Chris.
On forming clay and chipping marble
There’s something amazing about holding your own book in your hands. Like magic, all of those stories and thoughts have moved from fleeting, drifting notions in your mind into the stark reality of paper and ink.
The stubborn love and inflexible mercy of Dorothy Day
More than a memoir, Kate Hennessy's book about her grandmother is a participant biography written from the inside out.
Amy Tan on writing, family, and writing about family
Some parents are horrified when their children write books that air family secrets. Not Daisy Tan.
The rise and fall of Emmanuel Carrère’s faith
The Kingdom is a mess, but it refuses to be wholly dismissed.
Going offline to preserve the precious resource of attention
Yes, it's another year-of narrative. But Esther Emery offers a moving story about the possibility of change.
Dying—and living—with breast cancer
Nina Riggs's love of the world shines through her memoir, even as the ground shifts beneath her.
The personal is political—and universal—for Carter Heyward
Heyward was one of the first women priests. But her particular experiences aren't the heart of her memoir.
Refugee, poet, father
Kao Kalia Yang’s memoir of her family’s flight from Laos is devastating and lyrical.
The hero of Trevor Noah’s story
If you think the Daily Show host is funny, you should meet his mother.
Macy Halford’s two worlds
A New Yorker staffer investigates the evangelical book that will not let her go.
Pathologically moral
In her memoir, comedian Maggie Rowe lays bare a struggle with excessive guilt that rivals Martin Luther’s.
When theology fails
After Ruth Everhart was raped, she had to rebuild her beliefs about God’s will.
Inventing a voice for Louis Till
John Edgar Wideman counters the official record of Emmett Till’s father with a more empathetic version.
A do-gooder’s tale
D. L. Mayfield wanted to help Somali refugees. She ended up mostly baking them cupcakes.
Vulnerability and readability
Do women have to trade intimacy for trust in ways that men do not? If we do, should we stop? Are we playing into stereotypes? Are we inviting people to take us less seriously?
István to Steven to Stefánie
Susan Faludi’s memoir reveals the deep complexity of her father’s many identities.