Interview with Marya Hornbacher: Author of the Pulitzer-Nominated Memoir, “Wasted” (Part 2)
April 11, 2010
Photo: Marya Hornbacher
No more babbling, I’m getting right to the good stuff. Here’s part of my interview with author Marya Hornbacher from this past Wednesday.
How do you define memoir?
Literary truth telling. Memoir is not autobiography. It’s about a specific period or thing in someone’s life. My life is not terribly interesting, but a couple of interesting things have happened to me.
Why did you write “Wasted?”
Photo: Kevin Scanlon for The New York Times
Although memoir is the genre I read most often, I hardly ever read memoirs by celebrities. Since I’m home for the holiday weekend, I’ve been searching my room for all the memoirs I’ve read, but not a single one was a celebrity memoir.
So I was surprised when I read Dave Itzkoff’s article, “A Touch for Funny Bones and Earlobes,” from Wednesday’s New York Times from beginning to end. Itzkoff interviewed legendary television actress, Carol Burnett, about her second memoir, “This Time Together: Laughter and Reflection,” which goes on sale this Tuesday.
famemoir: fame + memoir 