We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. Unix: A History and a Memoir. Since its creation in a Bell Labs attic in 1969, the Unix operating system has spread far beyond anything its creators could have imagined. It has led to the development of a great deal of innovative software, influenced myriad programmers, and changed the path of computer technology. A memoir is a narrative, written from the perspective of the author, about an important part of their life. It’s often conflated with autobiography, but there are a few important differences. An autobiography is also written from the author’s perspective, but the narrative spans their entire life. I’m a software engineer in New York City. My writing has appeared in the New York Times, Longreads, and Vice. My debut memoir, Acceptance, follows my journey from foster care and homelessness to the Ivy League and Big Tech.
This chapter assesses the meaning of the slippery term “memoir” and why it has become the preferred term for literary life writing. It locates memoir within the context of a media constellation that represents the lives of actual human beings: portraiture, both painted and photographic; documentary films and biopics; oral anecdotes and family lore; blogs and electronic diaries; social media like Facebook; the obituary and death notice; the scrapbook, and so on. Unlike the novel, memoir is the literary face of a very common and fundamental human activity: the narration of our lives in our own terms. It is rooted in deep human needs, desires, and habitual practices. Nearly everyone engages in some form of this. So while it is not well understood as a literary enterprise, it is found all around us, all the time.
Keywords:memoir, life writing, narratives, documentary films, biopics
Sales of the confessional book, Beautiful Things, penned by President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, crashed after just one week despite a relentless public relations push, positive media coverage, an early surge, and the author’s tour with a friendly press.
If the famous maxim ‘any press is good press’ applied to Hunter, his book should have been a tremendous success. Hunter talked about his book with prominent “news” outlets and late-night talk show hosts. The memoir received overall positive reviews from corporate media critics. Moreover, the Daily Mail published a report that brought the “laptop from hell” back to haunt Hunter, with revelations on how he squandered millions on his salacious and drug-addled lifestyle, a part of his life covered by his memoir.
However, Showbiz411 reported Friday that Beautiful Things turned out to be a “flop after one week,” adding:
NPD Book Scan says [in] the book … Hunter whines about being a drug addict who slept around and has no memory of fathering a child, has sold just 10,000 copies [emphasis added] in its first week. For a celebrity book with so much PR, TV appearances, etc, that’s not a lot.
On Amazon, Beautiful Things is ranked at number 130.
Nevertheless, an early surge of sales based on Biden’s appearance on CBS Sunday Morning puts Beautiful Things at number 4 on the New York Times Bestseller list that comes out today. But that will be short lived.
Upon the April 6 release, the memoir did make Amazon’s Top 15 Best-Sellers list after receiving generally positive reviews from various literary critics linked to Democrat-allied mainstream media outlets.
Newsweeknoted on the day the book came out:
Biden’s memoir climbed quickly to the top of Amazon’s best sellers list upon its release. It held the 15th spot on the site’s overall literary ranking as of Tuesday morning. Beautiful Things also earned a position among Barnes and Noble’s Top 100 best selling books and was ranked 32nd on the day of its debut.
However, Roger Friedman from Showbiz411 was right about the early surge in sales: it was short-lived.
Hunter’s book was no longer on Barnes and Noble’s Top 100 best-selling books as of Friday.
Showbiz411 acknowledged:
Hunter has a sad story, certainly: when he was a child his mother and sister were killed in a car accident. As an adult, his brother died from cancer. So Hunter turned to crack cocaine, slept with his sister-in-law, and fathered a child with a woman he doesn’t remember. Forget about his questionable business life. The guy is a creep. Instead of honoring his family, he brought them disgrace. … Hunter should have called his book, “Oh the Places I Went!”
Memoir Is A Book Of
Not everyone in the media was happy with Hunter’s memoir. Grace Curley, wrote a damning editorial published by the Boston Herald, bashing the book and the response it received from the media:
I never thought I’d see a more inappropriate, tone-deaf book tour than Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s. Unfortunately, I was wrong. … Like his book, the press tour has fluctuated from painfully honest to blatantly misleading. And while these sit-down interviews are sometimes cringe-worthy for Hunter, they are far more embarrassing for the American media.
She described the liberal media as “enablers,” criticizing them for ignoring the conservative news reports about the infamous laptop that Hunter now says could be his after the media attempted to censor the information, alleging it was Russian disinformation.
Using information obtained from the laptop, the New York Post shed light on Hunter’s overseas business dealings and suggested that the now sitting president knew about them.
Memoir Is An Autobiography
Joe has repeatedly denied talking to his disgraced son about his business dealings abroad.