Out this Tuesday, buy this from a real human being near you!
I'm beginning to come around to memoirs. More subjective than biography, subject to the author's own fitful memory, the narrative is able to spring loose from chronological constraints.
T Kira Madden's shatters her life story and glues it back together, with phenomenal results. Her memoir circles back and skips forward, illustrating her complicated relationship with her parents, her friends, and with herself. There are heroes and villains in this life, they're often the same person we love, and Madden found a way to express that truth in a surprising and effective way.
Kira's life is complicated. She grows up neglected, spoiled, cherished, and is witness to the good and the bad of her parent's choices. This isn't a story about a harsh childhood and later success - though that is part of it - but it is a beautiful examination of family ties, adult relationships, excess and forgiveness. I couldn't put it down. This is Madden's first book and it is wonderful.