Outside of a Dog, #5

"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx

We recommend books to library users and sometimes they generously share good reads with us. A woman who stops by the library frequently suggested we give the book “Blindsided: Lifting a Life above Illness: A Reluctant Memoir” by Richard Cohen a try.
This particular library patron often reads biographies, memoirs, and personal narratives, so we knew we were in for a good read. The book didn’t disappoint. Richard Cohen is married to television personality Meredith Vieira. His slim book gives us an intimate and honest look at his continuing struggles with MS and cancer.
Bio Cohen WCV

In response to her recommendation let us suggest some other good biographies and memoirs.

Too Soon to Say Goodbye by Art Buchwald
Bio Buchwald WCV
Mr. Buchwald is diagnosed with a terminal condition. Convinced by his doctors he only has weeks to live, he enters a hospice. A year later he is still there!

Birdhouse Chronicles: Surviving the Joys of Country Life by Cathleen Miller
974.853 M SHL
Deciding to leave their ad age jobs in San Francisco a husband and wife discover there is much more trauma and drama in adjusting to life in rural Pennsylvania then they ever could have anticipated.

Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp
Bio Knapp WAM WMB WDB
A young woman faces the difficult realization that she is an alcoholic. Her struggle to come to terms with her family history, her difficult romantic relationships, her ambitions, and ultimately her drinking makes an engrossing story. Knapp wrote several books after this one, each are equally fascinating.

Slow Motion: A True Story by Dani Shapiro
Bio Shapiro SHL TPL
At 23 years of age Shapiro’s life in is chaos. She is a college dropout, having a difficult affair with a married man, and indiscriminately using a variety of illegal drugs. When a family tragedy occurs she is forced to face the many flawed decisions she has made. She takes readers along on the arduous journey of rebuilding her life.

Hidden Power: Presidential marriages that shaped our recent history by Kati Marton
973.173 M WCV WAM
Not exactly a biography but rather an inquisitive and entertaining look at some recent political presidential couples. The NYT called the book “an entertaining shot of history”

Wake Up, I’m Fat! by Camryn Manheim
Bio Manheim WCV WAM WMB
Probably best known for raising her Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama series, and dedicating it triumphantly to “all the fat girls!”, Manheim, activist and actress, tells a story of growing up fat, being the “Acid Queen,” and beating David E. Kelley (creator of her hit show “The Practice”) at Cribbage.

On Writing by Stephen King
Audio Bio King ARM
Part autobiography of the humorous sort, part wake up call to aspiring writers, King’s nonfiction is as riveting as his fiction.