A review of “Modern American Memoirs” in 100 words by Catherine Stover
This collection of excerpts from memoirs by 35 American writers gave me a chance to discover the work of Frederick Buechner (1926-2022). He was a novelist and a Presbyterian minister who wrote several “spiritual autobiographies.” Here is a taste of his description of our relationship with those who have died: “If they had things to say to us then, they have things to say to us now too, [but] not always things we expect.” He believes they “carry something of us on their way as we assuredly carry something of them on ours.” In his view, the living and the dead collaborate.
Work cited:
Buechner, Frederick. “The Sacred Journey.” Modern American Memoirs, edited by Annie Dillard and Cort Conley, Harper Perennial, 1996, pp. 80-81.