not sure how to go about it, and looking for suggestions, recommendations, directions, anything! has anyone done this and did it well? Was it an interesting read, did it keep you wanting to turn the page?
You have read all of Sampiro’s threads about his family right? He’s an example of someone who’s done this and done it well.
Yep, Sampiro does it excellently. Check out David Sedaris as well.
Pendgwen and elelle,
thanks for pointing to Sampiro, as well as D. Sedaris! I’ve been reading someof Sampiro’s tonight, now will search out David’s.
many thanks!
In a darker vein, anything by Pat Conroy is heavily based on his family.
Thanks for the compliments. Pardon me for being self-referential, but this is the largest thread in which my family’s mentioned.
Authors whose family memoirs I like a lot are Jeanette Walls (The Glass Castle), Augusten Burroughs (Running With Scissors [soon to be a major motion picture and a $2 million lawsuit]), Sedaris (again), Lewis Grizzard (Southern author, dead for a decade but still in print), Fannie Flagg (Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe is based, at times very closely, on her favorite aunt and other people from her childhood) and Truman Capote’s Trilogy. I’m almost convinced that all families are fascinating.
Pace. You username is my last name. Is it yours as well? If so, that family name has an interesting geneology.
Thanks for the link to the thread! Really looking forward to reading through it and learning all I can from your style, as well as others who were recommended.
Have you published yet?
APPLECIDER, thanks for pointing me to Pat Conroy… I KNOW i’ll be leaning towards a darker vein, too.
No, my username is not my last name. “pace” is “peace” in Italian… but now I’m curious about your last name… care to share?
ciao 
Scylla has written quite a lot about his family, but in a positive vein.