A personal account by Ireland's first female president and the former United Nations High Commissioner traces her childhood in a deeply Catholic family, her landmark wins as an activist lawyer and her struggles to advocate on behalf of human rights throughout the world. 50,000 first printing.

Credited with sparking the current memoir explosion, Mary Karr’s The Liars’ Club spent more than a year at the top of the New York Times list. She followed with two other smash bestsellers: Cherry and Lit, which were critical hits as well. For thirty years Karr has also taught the form, winning teaching prizes at Syracuse. (The writing program there produced such acclaimed authors as Cheryl Strayed, Keith Gessen, and Koren Zailckas.) In The Art of Memoir, she synthesizes her expertise as professor and therapy patient, writer and spiritual seeker, recovered alcoholic and “black belt sinner,” providing a unique window into the mechanics and art of the form that is as irreverent, insightful, and entertaining as her own work in the genre. Anchored by excerpts from her favorite memoirs and anecdotes from fellow writers’ experience, The Art of Memoir lays bare Karr’s own process. (Plus all those inside stories about how she dealt with family and friends get told— and the dark spaces in her own skull probed in depth.) As she breaks down the key elements of great literary memoir, she breaks open our concepts of memory and identity, and illuminates the cathartic power of reflecting on the past; anybody with an inner life or complicated history, whether writer or reader, will relate. Joining such classics as Stephen King’s On Writing and Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, The Art of Memoir is an elegant and accessible exploration of one of today’s most popular literary forms—a tour de force from an accomplished master pulling back the curtain on her craft.

As humans, our names should remain in everyone’s minds as the real heroes in present in future generations. During a time when surrounding nations were looking into travelling to the moon and space, Pariya Rostami was looking for shelter to hide or a piece of bread for survival. Can people in countries where freedom reigns ever be aware of the hardships, suffering, and dreams buried below the earth that other people have to face? What do they think about the millions of poor and malnourished people that live in other countries? In a country like Iran, you can have the best and look forward to tomorrow, but still have no rights as a woman to live freely. But Rostami has become an angel of salvation to many through the knowledge she’s acquired through pain and suffering. She has a powerful touch that can heal many wounds and words to light a path to living free. She will continue to fight to defend humanity and her rights as a woman, even though writing these truths about her past could dig her own grave. About the Author Pariya Rostami has much love to give. She believes the world would be much more beautiful if we learned how to be kind and give happiness as a free gift to others without judgments or expectations. She learned to respect people’s beliefs and love them as a human first rather than rely on what they own, where they live, how much money they have, or what their race is. Her greatest desire is to put a smile on people’s faces who deserve it.

"An urgent call to arms by one of the most important voices in the international fight against climate change, sharing inspiring stories and offering vital lessons for the path forward." -- From book jacket.