As a literary genre, a memoir (from the French: mémoire from the Latin memoria, meaning "memory"), or a reminiscence, forms a subclass of autobiography, although it is an older form of writing. Memoirs, also called Legacy Writing, may appear less structured and less encompassing than formal autobiographical works as they are usually about part of a life rather than the chronological telling of a life from childhood to adulthood/old age. Traditionally, memoirs usually dealt with public matters, rather than personal, and many older memoirs contain little or no information about the writer, and are almost entirely concerned with other people. They tended to be written by politicians or people in court society, later joined by military leaders and businessmen, and often dealt exclusively with the writer's careers rather than their private life. Modern expectations have changed this, even for heads of government. Like most autobiographies, memoirs are generally written from the first person point of view. For other uses, see Literature (disambiguation). ... A genre [], (French: kind or sort from Greek: γένος (genos)) is a loose set of criteria for a category of literary composition; the term is also used for any other form of art or utterance. ... For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ... Cover of the first English edition of 1793 of Benjamin Franklins autobiography. ...

Gore Vidal, in his own memoir Palimpsest, gave a personal definition: "a memoir is how one remembers one's own life, while an autobiography is history, requiring research, dates, facts double-checked." It is more about what can be gleaned from a section of one's life than about the outcome of the life as a whole. Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (born October 3, 1925) (pronounced and , ) is an American author of novels, stage plays, screenplays, and essays, and the scion of a prominent political family. ... A palimpsest is a manuscript page, scroll, or book that has been written on, scraped off, and used again. ...

A "Memoirist" is the author who writes a memoir.

History

Memoirs have often been written by politicians or military leaders as a way to record and publish an account of their public exploits. In the eighteenth century, "scandalous memoirs" were written (mostly anonymously) by prostitutes or libertines: these were widely read in France for their vulgar details and gossip. In another vein, the pagan rhetor Libanius framed his life memoir as one of his orations, not the public kind, but the literary kind that would be read aloud in the privacy of one's study. This kind of memoir refers to the idea in ancient Greece and Rome, that memoirs were like "memos," pieces of unfinished and unpublished writing which a writer might use as a memory aid to make a more finished document later on. Prostitution is the sale of sexual services (typically manual stimulation, oral sex, sexual intercourse, or anal sex) for cash or other kind of return, generally indiscriminately with many persons. ... Libertine has come to mean one free from restraint, particularly from social and religious norms and morals. ... Pagan may refer to: A believer in Paganism or Neopaganism Bagan, a city in Myanmar also known as Pagan Pagan (album), the 6th album by Celtic metal band Cruachan Pagan Island, of the Northern Mariana Islands Pagan Lorn, a metal band from Luxembourg, Europe (1994-1998) Pagans Mind, is... Rhetoric (from Greek ρητωρ, rhêtôr, orator) is one of the three original liberal arts or trivium (the other members are dialectic and grammar). ... Libanius (Greek Libanios) (ca 314 AD - ca 394) was a Greek-speaking teacher of rhetoric of the later Roman Empire, an educated pagan of the Sophist school in an Empire that was turning aggressively Christian and publicly burned its own heritage and closed the academies. ... Orator is a Latin word for speaker (from the Latin verb oro, meaning I speak or I pray). In ancient Rome, the art of speaking in public (Ars Oratoria) was a professional competence especially cultivated by politicians and lawyers. ... The term ancient Greece refers to the periods of Greek history in Classical Antiquity, lasting ca. ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ...

The term "memoir" has begun to replace "autobiography" in its popular use. Recently, several American professional writers such as David Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs have become famous almost solely for writing interesting or amusing memoirs. David Sedaris (born December 26, 1957) is a Grammy Award-nominated American humorist and radio contributor. ... Augusten Xon Burroughs (born Christopher Robison on October 23, 1965 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American writer noted for his New York Times best-selling memoir Running with Scissors (2002), which spawned a feature film of the same name written and directed by Ryan Murphy and starring Joseph Cross as...

Women writers have been in the forefront of combining the memoir form with historical non-fiction writing, which can be seen in Helen Epstein's Czech-based Where She Came From: A Daughter's Search for her Mother's History and Jung Chang's Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China. Maxine Hong Kingston's well known book The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts is also an example of a memoir that combines factual material with fictional material as it tells the author's story and the story of her family. Another category of memoir is the eyewitness account to history by private citizens; Slave narratives fall into this category as do purple memoirs, such as by Primo Levi, Heda Kovaly, and Elie Wiesel. Jung Chang (Traditional Chinese: 張戎, Simplified Chinese: 张戎, Wade-Giles: Chang Jung, Pinyin: Zhāng Róng; born March 25, 1952) is a Chinese-born British writer, best known for her family autobiography Wild Swans, selling over 10 million copies worldwide, but banned in mainland China. ... Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China is an autobiographical family history by Chinese writer Jung Chang. ... Maxine Hong Kingston Maxine Hong Kingston (湯婷婷; born October 27, 1940) is an American writer. ... The cover of the Vintage International hardcover edition of The Woman Warrior. ... Primo Michele Levi (July 31, 1919 – April 11, 1987) was a Jewish Italian chemist, Holocaust survivor and author of memoirs, short stories, poems, and novels. ... Elie Wiesel (born Eliezer Wiesel on September 30, 1928)[1] is a Hungarian-French-Jewish novelist, political activist, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor. ...

Famous authors of memoirs (listed alphabetically)

• Martin Amis
• Mitch Albom
• Augustine of Hippo
• Augustus, the First Roman Emperor (Res Gestae Divi Augusti)
• Russell Baker
• Ishmael Beah
• Alexander Berkman
• Napoleon Bonaparte
• Anthony Bourdain
• Carol Burnett
• Augusten Burroughs
• Julius Caesar (On the Civil Wars)
• Roger Caron
• Giacomo Casanova
• Bill Clinton
• Philippe de Commines
• Frank Conroy
• Jill Ker Conway
• Annie Dillard
• Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen)
• Alexandre Dumas, pere
• Bob Dylan
• Margaretta Eagar
• Dave Eggers
• Marianne Faithfull
• James Frey
• Mahatma Gandhi
• Vincent Golphin
• Ulysses S. Grant
• Basil Liddell Hart
• Homer Hickam
• Mary Karr
• Maxine Hong Kingston
• Miklós Horthy
• Alphonse de Lamartine (Les Confidences, Nouvelles confidences, Mémoires Politiques)
• Primo Levi
• Mary McCarthy
• Frank McCourt
• Brian Mulroney
• Pervez Musharraf
• Anais Nin
• Vladimir Nabokov
• Richard Nixon
• George Orwell
• Jan Chryzostom Pasek
• Harvey Pekar
• William Alexander Percy
• Kelly Perkins
• Andrew X. Pham
• Sylvia Plath
• Pyrrhus of Epirus (On the Art of War)
• Louis de Rouvroy, Duc de Saint-Simon
• Anthony Rapp
• Siegfried Sassoon
• David Sedaris
• Isaac Bashevis Singer (In My Father's Court)
• Albert Speer (Inside the Third Reich)
• Władysław Szpilman (The Pianist)
• Leon Trotsky
• Voltaire (Mémoires pour servir à la vie de M. de Voltaire, écrits par lui-même)
• Elie Wiesel
• Tobias Wolff
• Elizabeth Wurtzel
• William Butler Yeats

Photo of Martin Amis by Robert Birnbaum Martin Amis (born August 25, 1949) is an English novelist. ... Mitchell David Albom (born May 23, 1958 in Passaic, New Jersey) is a U.S. novelist and newspaper columnist for the Detroit Free Press, radio host, and TV commentator. ... Augustinus redirects here. ... Russell Wayne Baker (born August 14, 1925) is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning writer known for his satirical commentary and self-critical prose. ... Cover of Beahs book, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Ishmael Beah (b. ... Alexander Berkman together with Emma Goldman in 1917 Alexander Berkman (November 21, 1870 - June 28, 1936) was a Russian immigrant who became an American writer, radical anarchist, and would-be assassin. ... Bonaparte as general Napoleon Bonaparte ( 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general of the French Revolution and was the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from November 11, 1799 to May 18, 1804, then as Emperor of the French (Empereur des Français... Anthony Michael Tony Bourdain (born June 25, 1956) is an American author and the Chef-at-Large of Brasserie Les Halles, based in New York City with locations in Miami, Florida, and Washington, D.C.[1] Bourdain is also host of the Travel Channels culinary and cultural adventure program... Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933 in San Antonio, Texas) is an Emmy Award-winning actress, comedian, singer, dancer, and writer. ... Augusten Xon Burroughs (born Christopher Robison on October 23, 1965 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American writer noted for his New York Times best-selling memoir Running with Scissors (2002), which spawned a feature film of the same name written and directed by Ryan Murphy and starring Joseph Cross as... For other uses, see Julius Caesar (disambiguation). ... Roger Mad Dog Caron is a Canadian bank robber and the author of the influential 1978 prison memoir Go-Boy: Memories of a Life Behind Bars. ... Casanova redirects here. ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III[1] on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... Philippe de Commines (or de Commynes or Philip de Comines) (1447-1511) was a French-speaking Fleming in the courts of Burgundy and France, a diplomat, and a writer, and he has been called the first truly modern writer (Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve) and the first critical and philosophical historian... Frank Conroy (January 15, 1936 - April 6, 2005) was an American author, born in New York, New York. ... Jill Ker Conway (born 9 September 1934) is an Australian-American author, best known for her autobiographies, in particular her first memoirs The Road from Coorain. ... Annie Dillard (born 30 April 1945 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author, best known for her narrative nonfiction. ... Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke (April 17, 1885 – September 7, 1962), née Karen Dinesen, was a Danish author also known under her pen name Isak Dinesen. ... Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke (April 17, 1885 – September 7, 1962), née Karen Dinesen, was a Danish author also known under her pen name Isak Dinesen. ... Alexandre Dumas redirects here. ... This article is about the recording artist. ... Margaretta Alexandra Eagar, also known as Margaret Eagar, (August 12, 1863 - 1936), was a nurse for the four daughters of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra. ... Dave Eggers at the 2005 Hay Festival Dave Eggers (born March 12, 1970) is an American writer, editor, and publisher. ... Marianne Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress whose career spans over four decades. ... For other persons named James Frey, see James Frey (disambiguation). ... “Gandhi” redirects here. ... Vincent F. A. Golphin Award-winning writer and journalist. ... Ulysses S. Grant,[2] born Hiram Ulysses Grant (April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885), was an American general and the eighteenth President of the United States (1869–1877). ... The military historian Basil Liddell Hart. ... Homer Hadley Hickam, Jr. ... The poet Mary Karr has received acclaim for her literary work from The New Yorker, Time, People, Entertainment Weekly, Us, and reader/reviewers at Amazon. ... Maxine Hong Kingston Maxine Hong Kingston (湯婷婷; born October 27, 1940) is an American writer. ... Horthy redirects here. ... Portrait of Alphonse de Lamartine Lamartine in front of the Hôtel de Ville de Paris, on the 25 February 1848, by Philippoteaux Alphonse Marie Louise Prat de Lamartine (Alphonse-Marie-Louis de Prat de Lamartine) (October 21, 1790 - February 28, 1869) was a French writer, poet and politician, born... Primo Michele Levi (July 31, 1919 – April 11, 1987) was a Jewish Italian chemist, Holocaust survivor and author of memoirs, short stories, poems, and novels. ... Mary Therese McCarthy (June 21, 1912 – October 25, 1989) was an American author and critic. ... Frank McCourt Colum McCann, unknown, Christopher Cahill and Frank McCourt Francis Frank McCourt (born August 19, 1930) is an Irish-American teacher and author. ... Martin Brian Mulroney PC CC GOQ (predominantly known as Brian Mulroney) (born March 20, 1939), was the eighteenth Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. ... Pervez Musharraf (Urdu: ) (born 11 August 1943, Delhi) is the current President of Pakistan, Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army. ... Ana s Nin (February 21, 1903 - January 14, 1977) was a French author who became famous for her self-published diaries, which span a period of forty years, beginning when she was twelve years old. ... Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (Russian: Влади́мир Влади́мирович Набо́ков, pronounced ) (April 22 [O.S. April 10] 1899, Saint Petersburg – July 2, 1977, Montreux) was a Russian-American, Academy Award nominated author. ... Nixon redirects here. ... Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 [1] [2] – 21 January 1950), better known by the pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist. ... image goes here Noble Family Pasek Coat of Arms Doliwa Parents  ? Consorts unknown Children  ? Date of Birth 1636 Place of Birth Węgrzynowice Date of Death 1 August 1701 Place of Death Niedzieliszki Jan Chryzostom Pasek (1636-1701) was a nobleman (szlachcic) and writer in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. ... Harvey Pekar on the cover of American Splendor: Portrait of the Author in his Declining Years Harvey Pekar (pronounced /ar-vay pea-kar/) (born October 8, 1939 in Cleveland, Ohio) is a U.S. underground comic book writer. ... William Alexander Percy (1885-1942) is a poet from Greenville, Mississippi. ... Andrew X. Pham (1967 - ) is a Vietnamese American author. ... Sylvia Plath (October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. ... Pyrrhus of Epirus Pyrrhus (318-272 BC) (Greek: Πύρρος) was one of the most successful ancient Greek generals of the Hellenistic era. ... Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon (January 16, 1675 - March 2, 1755), French soldier, diplomatist and writer of memoirs, was born at Versailles. ... Anthony Dean Rapp (b. ... Siegfried Loraine Sassoon, CBE MC (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English poet and author. ... David Sedaris (born December 26, 1957) is a Grammy Award-nominated American humorist and radio contributor. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... For the son of Albert Speer, also an architect, see Albert Speer (the younger). ... Inside the Third Reich is a memoir written by Albert Speer, the Nazi Minister of Armaments from 1942 to 1945. ... WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Szpilman (1942) WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Szpilman (also spelled Vladislav Szpilman in English) (December 5, 1911–July 6, 2000) was a Polish pianist, composer, and memoirist. ... The Pianist is a memoir written by the Polish musician of Jewish origins Władysław Szpilman. ... Leon Trotsky (Russian:  , Lev Davidovich Trotsky, also transliterated Leo, Lyev, Trotskii, Trotski, Trotskij, Trockij and Trotzky) (November 7 [O.S. October 26] 1879 – August 21, 1940), born Lev Davidovich Bronstein (), was a Ukrainian-born Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist theorist. ... For the singer of the same name, see Voltaire (musician). ... Elie Wiesel (born Eliezer Wiesel on September 30, 1928)[1] is a Hungarian-French-Jewish novelist, political activist, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor. ... Tobias Jonathan Ansell Wolff (born June 19, 1945, in Birmingham, Alabama) is a writer of fiction and nonfiction. ... Elizabeth Lee Wurtzel (born July 31, 1967 in New York City) is an American writer and journalist famous for her work in the confessional memoir genre. ... William Butler Yeats, 1933. ...

See also

• List of American political memoirs
• MemoryArchive, a wiki collecting memories
• Fake memoirs