There’s a new genre of personal memoir in town, called in publishing circles the prescriptive memoir. Unlike earlier literary cries of suffering that began the memoir vogue — i.e., Angela’s Ashes, The Liar’s Club, Running with Scissors — the emphasis has shifted to the wisdom and specific life hacks learned within stories of seemingly insurmountable problems. It is as if the genre has matured out of the inward gaze identified with first-person writing and now reaches out to take the reader’s hand, a seasoned mentor inviting the student into a private laboratory where transformative discoveries can be observed in immediacy, intimacy, alive, hands on.
Almudena Konrad has the perfect pitch for this new type of memoir. Instead of giving us just the formulaic story of the American immigrant who survives through courage and triumphs through unshakable ambition, she offers a quiet and practical book, neither sentimental nor exaggerated.
I’ve read hundreds of memoirs and worked with bestselling memoirists to prep their books for publication, but none have helped me in my own life as this book has. Today, when I face discouragement, a depressing problem or overwhelming challenge, I think how Almudena faced and overcame such incidents in her life to achieve happiness. Reading this memoir has infused me with courage and a belief that we each have unbeatable resilience once shown how to use it. This is what her memoir demonstrates and implants in the reader. Empowered happiness, with steps specific to each life situation. A priceless gift.
