Whil I am continuing to enjoy reading memoirs written by women in rock ‘n roll, I’ve also found myself expanding my subject matter to other areas of interest in the memoir field. As we hit the Top 10, I’ve chosen a pair of memoirs, one in the women in rock vein, the other focusing on a subject whose got several connections to my interest: comics, birds, and the fact that he’s gay.
#11 – Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World by Christian Cooper (2023)
With my recent renewed interest in birding, combined with my somewhat less recent interest in memoirs, Christian Cooper’s autobiography as a gay, black man who is both an avid birder, but also spent a stint working at Marvel Comics, seemed a perfect fit for me. And I did enjoy it. Cooper does a good job weaving the story of his upbringing by activist parents, the challenges of being a gay man as well as a black man, a behind-the-scenes look at the Marvel bullpen, and the not-so flattering look at racial strife in America (something he is also extremely well-known for personally) into an entertaining and compelling read. Oh yeah, he travels the world a bit too – so his experiences birding and searching for himself in Brazil, the Himalayas, and the Galapagos are chronicled as well.
However, as I continue to read more and more memoirs, unless they are exceptional, most come across as fairly self-involved and somewhat annoying at times. I suppose that seems like a silly thing to say, as they are autobiographies, and they are inherently people talking about themselves, but the best memoirs don’t come across that way, and while I enjoy this book, I did find it occasionally a bit too self-involved to make it great.
#10 – Book of Life by Deborah Conway (2023)
I’m a big fan of Deborah Conway’s music, for which I thank my Australian pen pal and the Internet, otherwise I would have heard very little of it, being largely unreleased in the U.S. Deborah got started in the 80’s in an Australian band called Do Re Mi, that achieved success after the release of their first single Man Overboard. I believe I first became aware of them at 1985’s Oz for Africa concert that was broadcast across the world. Deborah’s voice certainly stood our, and as her memoir reveals, she knows how to use her voice and her words in more ways than singing.
An outspoken person who followed up her career with Do Re Mi as a solo artist. Her solo career started strong, but hit some stumbles after her first couple of albums, and she and her husband, guitarist/song-writer Willy Zygier eventually went independent, releasing their albums on their own. Deborah also dabbled in acting, appearing on stage as Patsy Cline, and in Peter Greenaway’s film, PROSPERO’S BOOKS.
Because of how much I enjoy Deborah’s music, I was hoping to enjoy her memoir just as much. Sadly, this was not the case. While it kept my attention, and Deborah is certainly an interesting subject, it didn’t reach the heights of challenging moments that her music did. Still, It was entertaining, and I did learn about her very full life. And I realized that I didn’t own her most recent two albums, which i promptly remedied by purchasing them.