Ep. 110: Memoir / Essays 101 with Mary Laura Philpott (Author of Bomb Shelter) + Book Recommendations
Sarah's Bookshelves Live
Sarah Dickinson
4.9 • 732 Ratings
🗓️ 20 April 2022
⏱️ 54 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In Episode 110, Mary Laura Philpott (author of Bomb Shelter) joins me for a deep dive into the memoir & essays genre, including the differences between a memoir and an essay collection, the level of involvement from editors and publishers, and how she personally approaches writing a memoir or essays.
This post contains affiliate links, through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!).
Highlights
- Mary Laura talks about her latest book, Bomb Shelter.
- Where memoirs and essay collections fall on a spectrum.
- The fluidity of genre-labeling books.
- A bit about cover design and subtitles.
- How Mary Laura feels about the “Literary” label.
- The planning of an essay collection and their overarching themes.
- Balancing living life for its own sake and living life for good book content.
- How Mary Laura handles telling personal stories and the real people they feature.
- How Mary Laura handles memory and recall in her work.
- The fact-checking process for memoirs and essays.
Mary Laura’s Book Recommendations [32:31]
Two OLD Books She Loves
- Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell | Amazon | Bookshop.org
[32:47]
- Notes on a Silencing by Lacy Crawford | Amazon | Bookshop.org [34:57]
Two NEW Books She Loves
- Let’s Not Do That Again by Grant Ginder | Amazon
| Bookshop.org [38:49]
- Marrying the Ketchups by Jennifer Close (April 26) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [40:30]
The CURRENT READING TREND She DOESN’T Love
One NEW RELEASE She’s Excited About
- This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub (May 17) | Amazon | Bookshop.org
Last 5-Star Book Mary Laura Read
- Left on Tenth by Delia Ephron | Amazon
Other Books Mentioned
- I Miss You When I Blink by Mary Laura Philpott [1:02]
- Raven Rock by Garrett Graff [30:14]
- The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett Graff [30:20]
- A Million Little Pieces by James Frey [32:23]
- The Hopefuls by Jennifer Close [42:03]
- Little Women by Louisa May Alcott [47:42]
- Siracusa by Delia Ephron [51:24]
About Mary Laura Philpott
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Mary Laura Philpott is the author of the brand-new memoir, Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives, which has been named an Indie Next pick by booksellers nationwide, an Amazon Editor’s Choice selection, and a best book of the spring or most anticipated book of the year by publications ranging from the Washington Post to TODAY.com, among others. She is also the author of the national bestseller I Miss You When I Blink — which was named one of NPR’s Favorite Books of 2019 and a finalist for the Southern Book Prize. Her writing has been featured by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and other publications. Additionally, Mary Laura (yes, she goes by both names) is a former bookseller and was an Emmy-winning co-host of A Word on Words, the literary interview program on Nashville Public Television. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her family.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Sarah's Bookshelves Live. I'm Sarah of the blog Sarah's Bookshelves. Each week I'm |
| 0:15.5 | talking with one bookish guest about two old books they love, two new books they love, one book they don't love, and one new |
| 0:22.7 | release they're excited about. We're going to get real, and sometimes a bit snarky, about all |
| 0:27.9 | things books. If you like the show, I'd really love your support. Spread the word to your |
| 0:32.9 | reader friends, subscribe to the show, rate and review it wherever you listen to podcasts. Let's get rolling. |
| 0:39.7 | Hey, everyone. We debuted a new episode series in the fall of 2021 called Genre 101 Deep Dives. |
| 0:47.3 | Kimberly McCreet, author of Friends Like These, joined me to talk about the mystery thriller genre. |
| 0:52.3 | And today we have our second genre 101 deep dive, |
| 0:56.5 | featuring Mary Laura Philpott, answering your questions about memoirs and essays. Mary Laura |
| 1:02.5 | first joined me on the show way back in spring of 2019 when she published her debut collection, |
| 1:07.5 | I Miss You When I Blink, which was one of my best books of 2019. Her sophomore |
| 1:12.4 | collection, Bomb Shelter, Love, Time, and Other Explosives came out on April 12th. I absolutely |
| 1:18.5 | adored this one too, and I shared my detailed thoughts about it on the spring book preview. |
| 1:24.8 | Mary Laura's writing has been featured frequently by the New York Times and also appears in the |
| 1:28.9 | Washington Post, The Atlantic, and other publications. Across her work, Mary Laura examines the |
| 1:33.5 | overlap of the absurd and the profound in life, literature, and culture. Additionally, she is a former |
| 1:39.0 | bookseller and worked at Parnassas Books in Nashville, Tennessee, and she still lives in Nashville |
| 1:43.2 | with her family. |
| 1:45.3 | Welcome back, Mary Laura. |
| 1:46.3 | Hey, Sarah. |
| 1:47.4 | Thank you for having me. |
| 1:48.8 | Thank you so much for being here. |
... |
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