{"id":1946792,"date":"2026-05-21T10:12:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T07:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1946792"},"modified":"2026-05-21T10:12:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T07:12:00","slug":"11-memoirs-to-read-if-you-enjoyed-famesick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1946792","title":{"rendered":"11 memoirs to read if you enjoyed Famesick"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/198-0-1620-1080\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445363.png&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"main-article longread\">\n<div class=\"article-main-content article-wrapper has-media-but-its-an-image\" data-status=\"loaded\" data-primary-article=\"true\" data-url=\"\/life-culture\/article\/70264\/1\/11-memoirs-to-read-if-you-enjoyed-famesick-julia-fox-joan-didion-annie-lord\" data-article-id=\"70264\">\n<header class=\"article-header has-landscape-image no-media\">\n<div class=\"wrapper dg-max-width\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<figure class=\"main-img has-figcaption\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.78\" data-template=\"Longread Article\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Editorial Header - Best Books Spring 16x9\" class=\"img\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1400\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445363.png\" width=\"1920\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"inner\"><span class=\"credit\">Harvey Wood<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"inner\"><time datetime=\"2026-05-21T10:12:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"21 May 2026\"><span class=\"month\">DateInMeta<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"21\">21,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"titles\">\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical vertical - life-culture\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\">Life &amp; Culture<\/a><br \/>\n\/<br \/>\n<a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/lists\">Lists<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span>11 memoirs to read if you <span class=\"nowrap\">enjoyed Famesick<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"standfirst\">\n<h2>Tore through Lena Dunham\u2019s candid new memoir? Here are our top picks for your next <span class=\"nowrap\">autobiographical read<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-05-21T10:12:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"21 May 2026\"><span class=\"month\">May<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"21\">21,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - life-culture\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\">Life &amp; Culture<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/lists\">Lists<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-05-21T10:12:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"21 May 2026\"><span class=\"month\">May<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"21\">21,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"providers\">\n<div class=\"contributors\"><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Text\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Text<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/SerenaSmith\"><br \/>\nSerena Smith<br \/>\n<\/a><span class=\"contributor-separator\">, <\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/HabiDiallo\"><br \/>\nHabi Diallo<br \/>\n<\/a><span class=\"contributor-separator\">, <\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/Alex\"><br \/>\nAlex Peters<br \/>\n<\/a><span class=\"contributor-separator\">, <\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/ThomWaite\"><br \/>\nThom Waite<br \/>\n<\/a><span class=\"contributor-separator\">, <\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/EmilyDinsdale\"><br \/>\nEmily Dinsdale<br \/>\n<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body-container\">\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>You\u2019ve probably noticed that <\/span><em><span>everyone<\/span><\/em><span> is reading Lena Dunham\u2019s new memoir <\/span><em><span>Famesick. <\/span><\/em><span>Dunham\u2019s second memoir \u2013 her first, <\/span><em><span>Not That Kind of Girl<\/span><\/em><span>, was published back in 2014 \u2013 unpacks how a toxic convergence of chronic illness, bad relationships, global fame, and burnout came to shape her twenties and thirties.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>She details the whirlwind of media attention she received after creating and starring in <\/span><em><span>Girls<\/span><\/em><span> at 24, positioning this as a catalyst for the innumerable illnesses and conditions that wreaked havoc on her body and brain thereafter: from OCD, to endometriosis, to addiction. It\u2019s everything you\u2019d want from a memoir \u2013 equal parts candid, gripping, and comprehensive \u2013 providing a pretty much exhaustive account of the young adulthood of one of the foremost writers of our generation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>If you\u2019ve read <\/span><em><span>Famesick <\/span><\/em><span>and are looking for another memoir to read \u2013 or you\u2019re simply in the market for a good book \u2013 we\u2019ve compiled a list of our favourites below: from a revered meditation on grief by the late, great Joan Didion, to an action-packed autobiography by the inimitable director Werner Herzog.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"e312329c-bf4e-4736-ba63-b44e0114db75\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1080\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445442.png\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"square\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"square\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"websitecovertemplate-209\" class=\"img\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1080\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445442.png\" width=\"1080\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">THE YEAR OF <span class=\"nowrap\">MAGICAL THINKING<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1>JOAN DIDION, <em><span>THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING<\/span><\/em><\/h1>\n<p><em><span>The Year of Magical Thinking <\/span><\/em><span>charts the year following the death of Joan Didion\u2019s husband, John Gregory Dunne. In this memoir, <\/span><span>Didion throws some of the less understood aspects of grief into painfully sharp relief: notably, she recounts how her thoughts are yet to catch up to her new reality, and in one particularly affecting moment she recalls the instinct to keep hold of Dunne\u2019s shoes because \u201c<\/span><span>he would need shoes if he was to return\u201d<\/span><span> (the kind of irrational, \u2018magical\u2019 thinking referred to in the title). <\/span><span>The memoir was almost immediately acclaimed as one of the most affecting works on grief and mourning ever written, but I\u2019d recommend it to anyone, regardless of whether you\u2019ve experienced loss or not (and, besides, as Didion writes: \u201c<\/span><span>it will happen to you. The details will be different, but it will happen to you.\u201d)<\/span><em> (SS)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"3331afdc-5737-4ac8-a969-b44e011510e1\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1400\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445443.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.65\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"61u7w5wlf7L\" class=\"img\" height=\"2138\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1400\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445443.jpg\" width=\"1400\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">NOTES ON HEARTBREAK<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1>ANNIE LORD, <em><span>NOTES ON HEARTBREAK<\/span><\/em><\/h1>\n<p><em><span>Notes on Heartbreak <\/span><\/em><span>is a memoir\u00a0<\/span><span>by\u00a0<em>British Vogue\u00a0<\/em>dating columnist Annie Lord that<\/span><span> details the aftermath of a five-year relationship. Billed as \u201ca love story told in reverse\u201d, the narrative opens with Lord being unceremoniously dumped outside King\u2019s Cross station, before going on to delve into the anatomy of heartbreak: from the crushing, soul-razing lows to the occasional moments of clarity and peace. Sentimental and warm without ever veering into saccharine, <\/span><em><span>Notes on Heartbreak <\/span><\/em><span>should be required reading for anyone in their twenties. <em>(SS)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"73d40712-fba9-40d4-81f4-b45001014f42\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/662\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445636.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.66\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"81REx5G7CfL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_\" class=\"img\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/662\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445636.jpg\" width=\"662\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">DOWN THE DRAIN<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1><span>JULIA FOX,<em> DOWN THE DRAIN<\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span>I first read Julia Fox\u2019s memoir <\/span><em><span>Down the Drain<\/span><\/em><span> on a trip to New York City and found myself audibly gasping on the subway. From running away from home and travelling across the world to working as a dominatrix in a New York dungeon, every few pages are packed with anecdotes that seem to contain more life than some people experience in a lifetime.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>What struck me most was Fox\u2019s ability to be brutally honest with herself. There is no sugarcoating the chaos of her experiences, which makes the more touching moments \u2013 like the friendships she finds with women who become her anchors \u2013 all the more affecting. You cannot help but cheer her on as she continuously finds the strength to reset, time and time again. Every time I meet someone who thinks Julia Fox is just another celebrity, I make it my life\u2019s mission to get them to read her book<\/span><span>. <\/span><em>(HD)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"3fa380a1-1a36-476a-86a0-b45001016f9a\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/893\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445637.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.66\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"71fqNcGHY-L-2\" class=\"img\" height=\"1360\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/893\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445637.jpg\" width=\"893\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">PROZAC NATION<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1><span>ELIZABETH WURTZEL, <em>PROZAC NATION<\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span>Before it was developed into a film starring Christina Ricci, <\/span><em><span>Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America<\/span><\/em><span> by Elizabeth Wurtzel was a memoir that divided a nation. An account of her experiences with clinical depression and addiction, Wurtzel does not shy away from the ugly reality of debilitating illness. Written in her early to mid-20s, the book has a sense of fleeting promise that perfectly captures losing the alleged \u201cbest years\u201d of your life to your own mind.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>While Wurtzel\u2019s writing itself has mostly been praised, many critics took issue with how she comes across. The term \u201cself-indulgent\u201d was, and continues to be, used time and time again to describe the book. In some ways, there is truth to that. But in others, the moments that might be deemed shallow or whiny are what feel most real about it. Wurtzel perfectly demonstrates how a mental spiral can make a person\u2019s world close in on itself. As she says in the book, \u201cmental illness is so much more complicated than any pill that any mortal could invent\u201d. <\/span><em>(HD)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"6bc37927-f2e5-4443-a04a-b44e01146539\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/662\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445440.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.66\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"91Cq-dyowSL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_\" class=\"img\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/662\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445440.jpg\" width=\"662\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">HIJAB BUTCH BLUES<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1><span>LAMYA H, <em>HIJAB BUTCH BLUES\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span>I picked up <\/span><em><span>Hijab Butch Blues<\/span><\/em><span> at Aesop\u2019s annual pride initiative, Queer Library, last year because I wanted to learn and understand more about the queer lives that don\u2019t often get represented (\u201cA book is not supposed to be a mirror. It\u2019s supposed to be a door,\u201d as Fran Lebowitz says). Lamya H grew up as part of a Muslim family in a Middle Eastern country, experiences completely different to my own non-religious London upbringing. And yet her writings about her relationship with her sexuality, struggles with queer dating, and efforts to allow herself to be vulnerable enough to form real connections with people resonated with me more so than almost any other book I\u2019ve read. I wasn\u2019t expecting to relate so strongly to Lamya or to feel so seen. The fact that I did shows how powerful memoirs are, and how magical reading is \u2013 once you\u2019re through the door you never know who, or what, you\u2019re going to find.<em> (AP)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"2e932850-d36e-4582-81e6-b44e0113cd12\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1613\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445437.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.65\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"9781250191250\" class=\"img\" height=\"2475\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1600\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445437.jpg\" width=\"1613\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">THE VANITY FAIR <span class=\"nowrap\">DIARIES 1983-1992<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1><span>TINA BROWN, <em>THE VANITY FAIR DIARIES 1983-1992<\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span>All the celebrity gossip you will ever need from a memoir! If you are interested in magazines, especially when they were at the height of their decadent heyday, this is the book for you. Following Tina Brown during her years as editor-in-chief of <\/span><em><span>Vanity Fair<\/span><\/em><span>, the diaries are a fascinating insight into what it takes to create a successful magazine, the cutthroat politics of Cond\u00e9 Nast, and the cultural and political milieu of 80s New York when money was absolutely flying around. Anyone who was anyone at the time makes an appearance in the diaries \u2013 Brown mingled with them all and recorded her amusing judgements for posterity. If you enjoy this, I would also recommend Graydon Carter\u2019s <\/span><em><span>When the Going Was Good<\/span><\/em><span> and Dana Brown\u2019s <\/span><em><span>Dilettante<\/span><\/em><span>. (And Griffin Dunne\u2019s <\/span><em><span>The Friday Afternoon Club,<\/span><\/em><span> which isn\u2019t about magazines, but does include some fun celebrity anecdotes \u2013 and his father was a high-profile contributor to <\/span><em><span>Vanity Fair,<\/span><\/em><span> so I\u2019m sneaking it in). <em>(AP)\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"8b49ca61-6bf4-4066-adfe-b44e0113f8b7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1524\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445438.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.65\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"91HOWWlUO8L\" class=\"img\" height=\"2339\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1524\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445438.jpg\" width=\"1524\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">MODERN NATURE<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1><span>DEREK JARMAN, <em>MODERN NATURE<\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span>Despite covering a similar time period, Derek Jarman\u2019s diaries couldn\u2019t be more different to Tina Brown\u2019s. Shortly after being diagnosed with Aids in 1987, the filmmaker and artist bought a little fisherman\u2019s cottage next to a nuclear power plant in Dungeness and began planting a garden. As he chronicles the fate of each new plant and the struggles to grow anything in such barren land, he weaves in details of his past, his own increasingly sick body, the art he was still making until the end, and the rising number of friends dying around him. <em>(AP)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"e05bb3dd-6816-48c0-9780-b44e01149f9b\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1725\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445441.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.63\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Hold-Still-Sally-Mann\" class=\"img\" height=\"2741\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1600\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445441.jpg\" width=\"1725\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">HOLD STILL<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1><span>SALLY MANN, <em>HOLD STILL<\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span>I\u2019ve lost count of how many times I\u2019ve recommended photographer Sally Mann\u2019s memoir, <\/span><em><span>Hold Still<\/span><\/em><span>. It\u2019s one of the most inspiring, poetic, thoughtful and intelligent books I\u2019ve read (and reread), and I always find solace in Mann\u2019s wisdom. While there\u2019s no celebrity gossip here, her family history is filled with enough salacious incidents to satisfy the memoir-reader\u2019s itch for something juicy. But alongside that are explorations into the creative process, photography (and its ability to be both transcendent and harmful), the landscape and troubled history of the American South, motherhood, and the international controversy her work has caused over the years. <em>(AP)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"4ca243a4-f2bf-4883-b072-b4500102399f\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/664\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445638.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.66\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"81ZXXAS1FeL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_\" class=\"img\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/664\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445638.jpg\" width=\"664\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF AGAINST GOD <span class=\"nowrap\">AND ALL<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1>WERNER HERZOG, <em><span>EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF AGAINST GOD AND ALL<\/span><\/em><\/h1>\n<p><span>A lot of Werner Herzog\u2019s memoir reads like fiction, or&#8230; a Werner Herzog film. Yes, there are life-threatening journeys through the jungle with crazed actor Klaus Kinski and descents into active volcanoes, but moments from his \u2018normal\u2019 life are equally bizarre. From playing with a cache of Nazi weapons in the forest as a child, to the time he was almost snatched away by a witch, to his time as a rodeo clown and smuggler, it\u2019s unclear what actually 100 per cent happened and what\u2019s an \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/60144\/1\/werner-herzog-lessons-of-darkness-ecstatic-truth-eye-filmmuseum-amsterdam\"><span>ecstatic truth<\/span><\/a><span>\u201d. Even the more banal moments are delivered in a deadpan style that only Herzog could achieve, conjuring up his deep Bavarian voice. \u201cI can still milk a cow, and I recognise others who can as well.\u201d <em>(TW)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"2db07a79-3ecf-4c1c-be09-b45100ad635a\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/652\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445652.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.65\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"619BeUPMSIL._UF1000,1000_QL80_\" class=\"img\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/652\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445652.jpg\" width=\"652\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">THE COST <span class=\"nowrap\">OF LIVING<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1><span>DEBORAH LEVY, <em>THE COST OF LIVING<\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span>I\u2019m at a point where I am generally quite tired of men\u2019s voices. For me, there is often more value and pleasure in reading about women\u2019s lives, especially when they are older and can share some wisdom for the road ahead. <\/span><em>The Cost of Living<\/em><span> is the second \u2013 and my favourite \u2013 in a trio of memoirs by renowned writer Deborah Levy. It doesn\u2019t necessarily need to be read in conjunction with the other two; it\u2019s a self-contained story written by the author in the wake of her divorce. That might sound unrelatable, but really, at its heart, it\u2019s about a woman trying to establish a new model of living from the one she imagined would be hers. Amid the autobiographical passages, she takes many fascinating tangents into the experiences of other writers and artists, and reflects on selfhood, friendship, family, home, love, writing, and more. It\u2019s a book that really stays with you. I\u2019ve read it more than once and, each time, it feels a bit like becoming embroiled in an engrossing conversation with a stranger in a bar or at a dinner or wherever, and being captivated as she tells you about her life. <em>(ED)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"fe0658cc-931e-4c4a-89c1-b45100ad978d\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/624\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445653.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.62\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"91120DExuRL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_\" class=\"img\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/624\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445653.jpg\" width=\"624\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">LOVE NINA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1><span>NINA STIBBE, <em>LOVE NINA<\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span>Nina Stibbe was 20 when she moved from Leicester to London in the 1980s to work as a live-in nanny for Mary-Kay Wilmers,\u00a0the longtime editor of the <\/span><em>London Review of Books<\/em><span>. Looking after the two sons of Wilmers and her ex-husband, film director Stephen Frears, Stibbe found herself in the heart of Primrose Hill\u2019s literary intelligentsia. <\/span><em>Love, Nina<\/em><span>, is composed of the less-than-starry-eyed letters she wrote home to her sister during these years, dryly narrating the eccentric comings and goings of family life in this brilliant and unconventional household. This is one of the most charming and deeply comforting books I\u2019ve ever read. It\u2019s also hilarious. I return to it whenever I feel like I need to read something restorative and it never fails to make me feel happier. <em>(ED)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<footer class=\"article-footer\">\n<div class=\"article-series header tags\"><span class=\"heading\">More on these topics:<\/span><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\">Life &amp; Culture<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/lists\">Lists<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/lena-dunham\">Lena Dunham<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/joan-didion\">Joan Didion<\/a><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<div class=\"grid split-list__header\">\n<div class=\"section-header\">\n<div class=\"section-header__link\">\n<h2 class=\"section-header__title\">Trending<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"split-list-scene\" data-split-scene>\n<section class=\"split-list\" id=\"trending\" data-split>\n<div class=\"split-list__layout\" aria-label=\"Trending\">\n<div class=\"split-list__feature\"><a class=\"split-hero\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/70274\/1\/kristina-rozhkova-unbewitched-photo-book-russia-united-vagabonds\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"split-hero__media\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Unbewitched\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/640\/0-533-1987-1324\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445329.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"split-hero__panel\">\n<div class=\"split-hero__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"split-hero__title\">Kristina Rozhkova\u2019s uncanny photos of young Russians<\/h3>\n<p class=\"split-hero__summary\">In her latest project, Unbewitched, the photographer \u2018conjures fairytale realities\u2019 to help cope with political instability in the region<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"split-hero__category\">Art &amp; Photography<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"split-list__rail\" data-split-rail>\n<div class=\"split-list__railInner\"><a class=\"split-rail-card card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/70269\/1\/7-raw-and-realistic-films-about-sex-work-sam-levinson-euphoria-anora-tangerine\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__img-wrapper card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"cam1-superJumbo\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/640\/120-0-1443-962\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445224.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__content card-latest__content\"><span class=\"split-rail-card__ribbon card-latest__ribbon\">Film &amp; TV<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"split-rail-card__title card-latest__title\">7 sex worker-approved films about sex work<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"split-rail-card card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/70233\/1\/how-on-and-loewe-are-shaping-the-future-of-footwear\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__img-wrapper card-latest__img-wrapper\">\n<p class=\"split-rail-card__campaign optional-paragraph\">On<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"On x Loewe&#039;s LightSpray Cloudmonster\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/640\/0-0-1080-720\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445120.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__content card-latest__content\"><span class=\"split-rail-card__ribbon card-latest__ribbon\">Fashion<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"split-rail-card__title card-latest__title\">How On and Loewe are shaping the future of footwear <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"split-rail-card card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/article\/57454\/1\/10-of-the-hottest-instagram-accounts-fusing-art-sex-and-erotica\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__img-wrapper card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"sexiest hottest art erotica Instagram\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/640\/0-98-687-458\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1340\/4\/1344209.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__content card-latest__content\"><span class=\"split-rail-card__ribbon card-latest__ribbon\">Beauty<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"split-rail-card__title card-latest__title\">10 of the hottest Instagram accounts fusing art, sex and erotica<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"split-rail-card card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/70285\/1\/friends-love-bomb-us-toxic-friendship-dating\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__img-wrapper card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Ladybird (2017)\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/640\/0-0-2212-1474\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445468.png\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__content card-latest__content\"><span class=\"split-rail-card__ribbon card-latest__ribbon\">Life &amp; Culture<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"split-rail-card__title card-latest__title\">Have you ever been friend-bombed?<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"split-rail-card card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/event\/article\/70240\/1\/what-went-down-at-maison-margiela-s-the-scentsorium-collection-launch\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__img-wrapper card-latest__img-wrapper\">\n<p class=\"split-rail-card__campaign optional-paragraph\">Maison Margiela Fragrances<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The Scentsorium Collection\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/640\/0-480-1595-1063\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/4\/1444909.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__content card-latest__content\"><span class=\"split-rail-card__ribbon card-latest__ribbon\">Event<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"split-rail-card__title card-latest__title\">What went down at Maison Margiela\u2019s \u2018The Scentsorium Collection\u2019 launch<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"split-rail-card card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/70291\/1\/kutt-idea-books-lesbian-magazine-oos-chloe-sevigny-collier-schorr\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__img-wrapper card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"KUTT\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/640\/128-274-1190-793\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445486.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__content card-latest__content\"><span class=\"split-rail-card__ribbon card-latest__ribbon\">Art &amp; Photography<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"split-rail-card__title card-latest__title\">Inside KUTT, the cult lesbian 00s magazine<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"split-rail-card card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/70283\/1\/why-are-celebrities-obsessed-with-taste-letterboxd-charli-xcx-criterion-closet\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__img-wrapper card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"7AeignavvoWyiAT9onv45jcCtZwfaE_original\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/640\/136-0-2025-1350\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445433.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__content card-latest__content\"><span class=\"split-rail-card__ribbon card-latest__ribbon\">Life &amp; Culture<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"split-rail-card__title card-latest__title\">Why have celebrities become obsessed with taste signalling? <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"split-rail-card card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/70288\/1\/21-drake-albums-ranked-iceman-take-care-habibti-maid-of-honour\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__img-wrapper card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Copy of Untitled Design (2)\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/640\/0-0-1620-1080\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445478.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__content card-latest__content\"><span class=\"split-rail-card__ribbon card-latest__ribbon\">Music<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"split-rail-card__title card-latest__title\">All 21 of Drake\u2019s albums, ranked<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"image-navigation\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/news\/\" class=\"image-navigation__img one\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">News<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/\" class=\"image-navigation__img two\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">Fashion<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/\" class=\"image-navigation__img three\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">Music<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/\" class=\"image-navigation__img four\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">Film &amp; TV<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/70264\/1\/11-memoirs-to-read-if-you-enjoyed-famesick-julia-fox-joan-didion-annie-lord#features\" class=\"image-navigation__img five\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">Features<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/\" class=\"image-navigation__img six\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">Beauty<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/\" class=\"image-navigation__img seven\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">Life &amp; Culture<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/\" class=\"image-navigation__img eight\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">Art &amp; Photography<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>You\u2019ve probably noticed that <\/span><em><span>everyone<\/span><\/em><span> is reading Lena Dunham\u2019s new memoir <\/span><em><span>Famesick. <\/span><\/em><span>Dunham\u2019s second memoir \u2013 her first, <\/span><em><span>Not That Kind of Girl<\/span><\/em><span>, was published back in 2014 \u2013 unpacks how a toxic convergence of chronic illness, bad relationships, global fame, and burnout came to shape her twenties and thirties.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>She details the whirlwind of media attention she received after creating and starring in <\/span><em><span>Girls<\/span><\/em><span> at 24, positioning this as a catalyst for the innumerable illnesses and conditions that wreaked havoc on her body and brain thereafter: from OCD, to endometriosis, to addiction. It\u2019s everything you\u2019d want from a memoir \u2013 equal parts candid, gripping, and comprehensive \u2013 providing a pretty much exhaustive account of the young adulthood of one of the foremost writers of our generation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>If you\u2019ve read <\/span><em><span>Famesick <\/span><\/em><span>and are looking for another memoir to read \u2013 or you\u2019re simply in the market for a good book \u2013 we\u2019ve compiled a list of our favourites below: from a revered meditation on grief by the late, great Joan Didion, to an action-packed autobiography by the inimitable director Werner Herzog.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"e312329c-bf4e-4736-ba63-b44e0114db75\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1080\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445442.png\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"square\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"square\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"websitecovertemplate-209\" class=\"img\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1080\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445442.png\" width=\"1080\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">THE YEAR OF <span class=\"nowrap\">MAGICAL THINKING<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1>JOAN DIDION, <em><span>THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING<\/span><\/em><\/h1>\n<p><em><span>The Year of Magical Thinking <\/span><\/em><span>charts the year following the death of Joan Didion\u2019s husband, John Gregory Dunne. In this memoir, <\/span><span>Didion throws some of the less understood aspects of grief into painfully sharp relief: notably, she recounts how her thoughts are yet to catch up to her new reality, and in one particularly affecting moment she recalls the instinct to keep hold of Dunne\u2019s shoes because \u201c<\/span><span>he would need shoes if he was to return\u201d<\/span><span> (the kind of irrational, \u2018magical\u2019 thinking referred to in the title). <\/span><span>The memoir was almost immediately acclaimed as one of the most affecting works on grief and mourning ever written, but I\u2019d recommend it to anyone, regardless of whether you\u2019ve experienced loss or not (and, besides, as Didion writes: \u201c<\/span><span>it will happen to you. The details will be different, but it will happen to you.\u201d)<\/span><em> (SS)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"3331afdc-5737-4ac8-a969-b44e011510e1\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1400\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445443.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.65\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"61u7w5wlf7L\" class=\"img\" height=\"2138\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1400\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445443.jpg\" width=\"1400\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">NOTES ON HEARTBREAK<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1>ANNIE LORD, <em><span>NOTES ON HEARTBREAK<\/span><\/em><\/h1>\n<p><em><span>Notes on Heartbreak <\/span><\/em><span>is a memoir\u00a0<\/span><span>by\u00a0<em>British Vogue\u00a0<\/em>dating columnist Annie Lord that<\/span><span> details the aftermath of a five-year relationship. Billed as \u201ca love story told in reverse\u201d, the narrative opens with Lord being unceremoniously dumped outside King\u2019s Cross station, before going on to delve into the anatomy of heartbreak: from the crushing, soul-razing lows to the occasional moments of clarity and peace. Sentimental and warm without ever veering into saccharine, <\/span><em><span>Notes on Heartbreak <\/span><\/em><span>should be required reading for anyone in their twenties. <em>(SS)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"73d40712-fba9-40d4-81f4-b45001014f42\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/662\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445636.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.66\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"81REx5G7CfL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_\" class=\"img\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/662\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445636.jpg\" width=\"662\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">DOWN THE DRAIN<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1><span>JULIA FOX,<em> DOWN THE DRAIN<\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span>I first read Julia Fox\u2019s memoir <\/span><em><span>Down the Drain<\/span><\/em><span> on a trip to New York City and found myself audibly gasping on the subway. From running away from home and travelling across the world to working as a dominatrix in a New York dungeon, every few pages are packed with anecdotes that seem to contain more life than some people experience in a lifetime.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>What struck me most was Fox\u2019s ability to be brutally honest with herself. There is no sugarcoating the chaos of her experiences, which makes the more touching moments \u2013 like the friendships she finds with women who become her anchors \u2013 all the more affecting. You cannot help but cheer her on as she continuously finds the strength to reset, time and time again. Every time I meet someone who thinks Julia Fox is just another celebrity, I make it my life\u2019s mission to get them to read her book<\/span><span>. <\/span><em>(HD)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"3fa380a1-1a36-476a-86a0-b45001016f9a\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/893\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445637.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.66\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"71fqNcGHY-L-2\" class=\"img\" height=\"1360\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/893\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445637.jpg\" width=\"893\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">PROZAC NATION<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1><span>ELIZABETH WURTZEL, <em>PROZAC NATION<\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span>Before it was developed into a film starring Christina Ricci, <\/span><em><span>Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America<\/span><\/em><span> by Elizabeth Wurtzel was a memoir that divided a nation. An account of her experiences with clinical depression and addiction, Wurtzel does not shy away from the ugly reality of debilitating illness. Written in her early to mid-20s, the book has a sense of fleeting promise that perfectly captures losing the alleged \u201cbest years\u201d of your life to your own mind.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>While Wurtzel\u2019s writing itself has mostly been praised, many critics took issue with how she comes across. The term \u201cself-indulgent\u201d was, and continues to be, used time and time again to describe the book. In some ways, there is truth to that. But in others, the moments that might be deemed shallow or whiny are what feel most real about it. Wurtzel perfectly demonstrates how a mental spiral can make a person\u2019s world close in on itself. As she says in the book, \u201cmental illness is so much more complicated than any pill that any mortal could invent\u201d. <\/span><em>(HD)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"6bc37927-f2e5-4443-a04a-b44e01146539\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/662\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445440.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.66\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"91Cq-dyowSL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_\" class=\"img\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/662\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445440.jpg\" width=\"662\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">HIJAB BUTCH BLUES<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1><span>LAMYA H, <em>HIJAB BUTCH BLUES\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span>I picked up <\/span><em><span>Hijab Butch Blues<\/span><\/em><span> at Aesop\u2019s annual pride initiative, Queer Library, last year because I wanted to learn and understand more about the queer lives that don\u2019t often get represented (\u201cA book is not supposed to be a mirror. It\u2019s supposed to be a door,\u201d as Fran Lebowitz says). Lamya H grew up as part of a Muslim family in a Middle Eastern country, experiences completely different to my own non-religious London upbringing. And yet her writings about her relationship with her sexuality, struggles with queer dating, and efforts to allow herself to be vulnerable enough to form real connections with people resonated with me more so than almost any other book I\u2019ve read. I wasn\u2019t expecting to relate so strongly to Lamya or to feel so seen. The fact that I did shows how powerful memoirs are, and how magical reading is \u2013 once you\u2019re through the door you never know who, or what, you\u2019re going to find.<em> (AP)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"2e932850-d36e-4582-81e6-b44e0113cd12\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1613\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445437.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.65\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"9781250191250\" class=\"img\" height=\"2475\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1600\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445437.jpg\" width=\"1613\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">THE VANITY FAIR <span class=\"nowrap\">DIARIES 1983-1992<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1><span>TINA BROWN, <em>THE VANITY FAIR DIARIES 1983-1992<\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span>All the celebrity gossip you will ever need from a memoir! If you are interested in magazines, especially when they were at the height of their decadent heyday, this is the book for you. Following Tina Brown during her years as editor-in-chief of <\/span><em><span>Vanity Fair<\/span><\/em><span>, the diaries are a fascinating insight into what it takes to create a successful magazine, the cutthroat politics of Cond\u00e9 Nast, and the cultural and political milieu of 80s New York when money was absolutely flying around. Anyone who was anyone at the time makes an appearance in the diaries \u2013 Brown mingled with them all and recorded her amusing judgements for posterity. If you enjoy this, I would also recommend Graydon Carter\u2019s <\/span><em><span>When the Going Was Good<\/span><\/em><span> and Dana Brown\u2019s <\/span><em><span>Dilettante<\/span><\/em><span>. (And Griffin Dunne\u2019s <\/span><em><span>The Friday Afternoon Club,<\/span><\/em><span> which isn\u2019t about magazines, but does include some fun celebrity anecdotes \u2013 and his father was a high-profile contributor to <\/span><em><span>Vanity Fair,<\/span><\/em><span> so I\u2019m sneaking it in). <em>(AP)\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"8b49ca61-6bf4-4066-adfe-b44e0113f8b7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1524\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445438.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.65\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"91HOWWlUO8L\" class=\"img\" height=\"2339\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1524\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445438.jpg\" width=\"1524\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">MODERN NATURE<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1><span>DEREK JARMAN, <em>MODERN NATURE<\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span>Despite covering a similar time period, Derek Jarman\u2019s diaries couldn\u2019t be more different to Tina Brown\u2019s. Shortly after being diagnosed with Aids in 1987, the filmmaker and artist bought a little fisherman\u2019s cottage next to a nuclear power plant in Dungeness and began planting a garden. As he chronicles the fate of each new plant and the struggles to grow anything in such barren land, he weaves in details of his past, his own increasingly sick body, the art he was still making until the end, and the rising number of friends dying around him. <em>(AP)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"e05bb3dd-6816-48c0-9780-b44e01149f9b\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1725\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445441.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.63\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Hold-Still-Sally-Mann\" class=\"img\" height=\"2741\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1600\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445441.jpg\" width=\"1725\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">HOLD STILL<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1><span>SALLY MANN, <em>HOLD STILL<\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span>I\u2019ve lost count of how many times I\u2019ve recommended photographer Sally Mann\u2019s memoir, <\/span><em><span>Hold Still<\/span><\/em><span>. It\u2019s one of the most inspiring, poetic, thoughtful and intelligent books I\u2019ve read (and reread), and I always find solace in Mann\u2019s wisdom. While there\u2019s no celebrity gossip here, her family history is filled with enough salacious incidents to satisfy the memoir-reader\u2019s itch for something juicy. But alongside that are explorations into the creative process, photography (and its ability to be both transcendent and harmful), the landscape and troubled history of the American South, motherhood, and the international controversy her work has caused over the years. <em>(AP)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"4ca243a4-f2bf-4883-b072-b4500102399f\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/664\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445638.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.66\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"81ZXXAS1FeL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_\" class=\"img\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/664\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445638.jpg\" width=\"664\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF AGAINST GOD <span class=\"nowrap\">AND ALL<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1>WERNER HERZOG, <em><span>EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF AGAINST GOD AND ALL<\/span><\/em><\/h1>\n<p><span>A lot of Werner Herzog\u2019s memoir reads like fiction, or&#8230; a Werner Herzog film. Yes, there are life-threatening journeys through the jungle with crazed actor Klaus Kinski and descents into active volcanoes, but moments from his \u2018normal\u2019 life are equally bizarre. From playing with a cache of Nazi weapons in the forest as a child, to the time he was almost snatched away by a witch, to his time as a rodeo clown and smuggler, it\u2019s unclear what actually 100 per cent happened and what\u2019s an \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/60144\/1\/werner-herzog-lessons-of-darkness-ecstatic-truth-eye-filmmuseum-amsterdam\"><span>ecstatic truth<\/span><\/a><span>\u201d. Even the more banal moments are delivered in a deadpan style that only Herzog could achieve, conjuring up his deep Bavarian voice. \u201cI can still milk a cow, and I recognise others who can as well.\u201d <em>(TW)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"2db07a79-3ecf-4c1c-be09-b45100ad635a\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/652\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445652.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.65\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"619BeUPMSIL._UF1000,1000_QL80_\" class=\"img\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/652\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445652.jpg\" width=\"652\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">THE COST <span class=\"nowrap\">OF LIVING<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1><span>DEBORAH LEVY, <em>THE COST OF LIVING<\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span>I\u2019m at a point where I am generally quite tired of men\u2019s voices. For me, there is often more value and pleasure in reading about women\u2019s lives, especially when they are older and can share some wisdom for the road ahead. <\/span><em>The Cost of Living<\/em><span> is the second \u2013 and my favourite \u2013 in a trio of memoirs by renowned writer Deborah Levy. It doesn\u2019t necessarily need to be read in conjunction with the other two; it\u2019s a self-contained story written by the author in the wake of her divorce. That might sound unrelatable, but really, at its heart, it\u2019s about a woman trying to establish a new model of living from the one she imagined would be hers. Amid the autobiographical passages, she takes many fascinating tangents into the experiences of other writers and artists, and reflects on selfhood, friendship, family, home, love, writing, and more. It\u2019s a book that really stays with you. I\u2019ve read it more than once and, each time, it feels a bit like becoming embroiled in an engrossing conversation with a stranger in a bar or at a dinner or wherever, and being captivated as she tells you about her life. <em>(ED)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"fe0658cc-931e-4c4a-89c1-b45100ad978d\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/624\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445653.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.62\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"91120DExuRL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_\" class=\"img\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/624\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445653.jpg\" width=\"624\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">LOVE NINA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1><span>NINA STIBBE, <em>LOVE NINA<\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span>Nina Stibbe was 20 when she moved from Leicester to London in the 1980s to work as a live-in nanny for Mary-Kay Wilmers,\u00a0the longtime editor of the <\/span><em>London Review of Books<\/em><span>. Looking after the two sons of Wilmers and her ex-husband, film director Stephen Frears, Stibbe found herself in the heart of Primrose Hill\u2019s literary intelligentsia. <\/span><em>Love, Nina<\/em><span>, is composed of the less-than-starry-eyed letters she wrote home to her sister during these years, dryly narrating the eccentric comings and goings of family life in this brilliant and unconventional household. This is one of the most charming and deeply comforting books I\u2019ve ever read. It\u2019s also hilarious. I return to it whenever I feel like I need to read something restorative and it never fails to make me feel happier. <em>(ED)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/70264\/1\/11-memoirs-to-read-if-you-enjoyed-famesick-julia-fox-joan-didion-annie-lord&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/198-0-1620-1080\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445363.png&#8221;] Harvey Wood DateInMeta\u00a0 21,\u00a0 2026 Life &amp; Culture \/ Lists 11 memoirs to read if you enjoyed Famesick Tore through Lena Dunham\u2019s candid new memoir? Here are our top picks for your next autobiographical read May\u00a0 21,\u00a0 2026 Life &amp; CultureLists May\u00a0 21,\u00a0 2026 Text Serena Smith , Habi Diallo , Alex [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,76],"class_list":["post-1946792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1946792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1946792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1946792\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1946792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1946792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1946792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}