My Fight / Your Fight

QB: My Life Behind the Spiral

Steve Young

An NFL quarterback recounts his career from college to the Hall of Fame. He focuses on his performance anxiety and his time as a backup player.

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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.

earnest → meditative, still memoir

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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.

earnest → bleak, still memoir

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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.

earnest → sardonic, still memoir

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Talking to GOATs: The Moments You Remember and the Stories You Never Heard

Jim Gray

A sports broadcaster recounts his interviews and interactions with famous athletes. He provides behind-the-scenes anecdotes from his career.

Same earnest register, still memoir

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You Can't Make This Up: Miracles, Memories, and the Perfect Marriage of Sports and Television

Al Michaels

A veteran broadcaster recounts his fifty-year career in sports television. He provides behind-the-scenes anecdotes of major games and colleagues.

earnest → warm, still memoir

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The Score

Elle Kennedy2016

A college senior has a one-night stand with a hockey player to get over a breakup. They continue the arrangement as graduation approaches.

earnest → playful

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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.

earnest → tense, still memoir

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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.

earnest → propulsive, still memoir

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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.

earnest → propulsive, still memoir

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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.

earnest → sardonic, still memoir

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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.

earnest → meditative, still memoir

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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.

earnest → elegiac, still memoir

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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.

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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.

earnest → tense, still memoir

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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.

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