Lust & Wonder

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

Trevor Noah

Trevor Noah recounts his childhood in apartheid-era South Africa. He details his upbringing as a mixed-race child in a system where he was illegal.

sardonic → wry, still memoir

pace0·prose0·bleak0

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.

sardonic → meditative, still memoir

pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

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.

sardonic → bleak, still memoir

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

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.

Same sardonic register, still memoir

pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

Nuts

Alice Clayton2015

A private chef returns to her hometown to run a diner after a career disaster. She meets a local walnut farmer and navigates small-town life.

sardonic → playful

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Let's Pretend This Never Happened

Jenny Lawson2013

A collection of essays about growing up in a rural town with a taxidermist father. It focuses on social anxiety and strange family incidents.

sardonic → playful, still memoir

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible

A.J. Jacobs

A journalist spends one year attempting to follow every rule and commandment in the Bible as literally as possible.

sardonic → playful, still memoir

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster

Jon Krakauer

A journalist recounts the 1996 Everest disaster. He details the logistical failures and the storm that killed several climbers.

sardonic → tense, still memoir

pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

The Sun and Her Flowers

Rupi Kaur2017

A collection of short, illustrated poems organized into five stages of growth. It covers themes of loss, trauma, and self-healing.

sardonic → earnest

pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

Pillow Thoughts

Courtney Peppernell2016

A collection of short poems and prose pieces organized by emotional state. It focuses on themes of heartbreak, healing, and loneliness.

sardonic → tender

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

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.

Same sardonic register, still memoir

pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

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.

sardonic → meditative, still memoir

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

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.

sardonic → elegiac, still memoir

pace-2·prose+1·bleak0

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+1·bleak+2

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.

sardonic → tense, still memoir

pace0·prose0·bleak+2

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·prose0·bleak+2