LitQueuelitqueue

After

Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies

Tara Schuster2020

5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from

More like it

Same playful register, still memoir

1 more ↓

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • The Argonauts

    Maggie Nelson2015

    A memoir of the author's relationship with her partner and her pregnancy. It mixes personal narrative with academic theory on gender and family.

    playful → meditative, still memoir

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak0

  • The Gulag Archipeligo 1918-1956: An Experiment In Literary Investigation I - Ii.

    Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

    A history of the Soviet forced labor camp system based on survivor reports and the author's own imprisonment. It documents state-run repression.

    playful → bleak, still memoir

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+3

  • The Education of Henry Adams

    Henry Adams

    A man writes a sardonic third-person account of his life and his failure to adapt to the technological shifts of the late 19th century.

    playful → sardonic, still memoir

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak+2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • House to House: An Epic Memoir of War

    David Bellavia

    An American infantry sergeant provides a room-by-room account of the Second Battle of Fallujah. It focuses on close-quarters urban combat.

    playful → tense, still memoir

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Red Platoon: A True Story of American Valor

    Clinton Romesha

    A Medal of Honor recipient provides a tactical account of the 2009 Battle of Kamdesh at Combat Outpost Keating.

    playful → propulsive, still memoir

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Lions of Kandahar: The Story of a Fight Against All Odds

    Rusty Bradley

    A Special Forces officer recounts the 2006 battle for Sperwan Ghar. The focus is on tactical decisions during a multi-day engagement.

    playful → propulsive, still memoir

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • The Education of Henry Adams

    Henry Adams

    A man writes a sardonic third-person account of his life and his failure to adapt to the technological shifts of the late 19th century.

    playful → sardonic, still memoir

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak+2

  • No Archive Will Restore You

    Julietta Singh2018

    The author examines the history of her own body through the lens of race, desire, and pain. It is a collection of fragments and academic theory.

    playful → meditative, still memoir

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1

  • M Train

    Patti Smith2015

    A musician travels to various cafes and gravesites around the world. She reflects on her late husband, her favorite books, and her daily rituals.

    playful → elegiac, still memoir

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

Heavier

playful → bleak, still memoir

3 more ↓

  • Wasted

    Marya Hornbacher1998

    A detailed memoir of the author's decade-long struggle with anorexia and bulimia. It documents hospitalizations and the physical decay of the body.

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+3

  • A House in the Sky

    Amanda Lindhout2013

    A freelance journalist is kidnapped in Somalia and held for fifteen months. The memoir details her captivity and the conditions she endured.

    playful → tense, still memoir

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+3

  • A River in Darkness

    Masaji Ishikawa2018

    A man describes his thirty-six years living in North Korea after moving there from Japan. He recounts extreme poverty and his eventual escape.

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+3