{"product_id":"how-our-lives-become-stories-9780801485985","title":"How Our Lives Become Stories","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe popularity of such books as Frank McCourt''s \u003ci\u003eAngela''s Ashes\u003c\/i\u003e, Mary Karr''s \u003ci\u003eThe Liars'' Club\u003c\/i\u003e, and Kathryn Harrison''s controversial \u003ci\u003eThe Kiss\u003c\/i\u003e, has led columnists to call ours the age of memoir. And while some critics have derided the explosion of memoir as exhibitionistic and self-aggrandizing, literary theorists are now beginning to look seriously at this profusion of autobiographical literature. Informed by literary, scientific, and experiential concerns, \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHow Our Lives Become Stories\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e enhances knowledge of the complex forces that shape identity, and confronts the equally complex problems that arise when we write about who we think we are.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUsing life writings as examples—including works by Christa Wolf, Art Spiegelman, Oliver Sacks, Henry Louis Gates, Melanie Thernstrom, and Philip Roth—Paul John Eakin draws on the latest research in neurology, cognitive science, memory studies, developmental psychology, and related fields to re\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eHow Our Lives Become Stories\u003c\/i\u003e, Paul John Eakin explains why he prefers 'to think of self less as an entity and more as a kind of awareness in process.'... Eakin makes the ethics of reading integral to his project.... Eakin attends to those who are repelled by the 'urge to confess' and he talks about telling all as a cultural imperative that may, for example, be costly to the families of memoirists despite the therapeutic value such confessions might have. The ethics of privacy, the fact of relational lives, and the moral strictures that shadow autobiographical tellings bring Eakin to ask, 'What is right and fair?'.\u003c\/p\u003e * Canadian Literature *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this intriguing book, Paul John Eakin problematizes the notion of autobiography as 'the story of the self' and argues that in the act of narration one is engaged in a process of making a self.... \u003ci\u003eHow Our Lives Become Stories\u003c\/i\u003e is a concise and engaging synopsis of the state of the art for anyone interested in the subject.\u003c\/p\u003e * Modern Fiction Studies *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis fascinating new book... offers an engaging introduction to identity and narrative.... This is a well-written, timely, and progressive book—a surprisingly rare mix.\u003c\/p\u003e * Virginia Quarterly Review *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen we write about our lives, the complex work of constructing the story is intertwined with all that constitutes the process of identity formation. In this book, Eakin expertly guides us through the thorny terrain of research in neurology, developmental psychology, and memory theory and revisits philosophy and literary theory. By the end of the journey, we have a far richer understanding of how individuals construct their lives and how they tell the story of that construction, as well as a sense of the dynamic interplay between the two processes.\u003c\/p\u003e * Literature and Medicine *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreface1. Registers of Self2. Relational Selves, Relational Lives: Autobiography and the Myth of Autonomy3. Storied Selves: Identity through Self-Narration4. \"The Unseemly Profession\": Privacy, Inviolate Personality, and the Ethics of Life Writing\u003ci\u003eWorks Cited\u003cbr\u003e Index\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cornell University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49405168976215,"sku":"9780801485985","price":23.74,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780801485985.jpg?v=1730488965","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/how-our-lives-become-stories-9780801485985","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}