Besides enjoying the immersive experience of live music for the skill displayed and the atmosphere, I have always appreciated the spoken introductions by performers giving the source or inspiration to songs.
We recently saw Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman again at the Cathedral Lodge, Canterbury and their repertoire covers traditional folk and self-penned songs. We remember when they were away on tour for the first time leaving their twin daughters behind. Sean has mentioned protective stories about them before. They are now nineteen. Sean introduced a 17th century Devonshire song called “The Lusty Smith”, randy blacksmith, adding his daughters said they still exist in Devon. He was pleased to know apprenticeships for farriers are still available! You see, music chosen from lived experience.
You can enjoy “The Lusty Smith” performed here on Youtube…
“He light her fire and she made him glow”
Although it is not cool to comment on appearances, Kathryn’s auburn curls and flowing greek-goddess dress were neatly set-off by baseball boots! Go girl!
My story
I have been thinking about memoirs for a few months after reading three autobiographies last year by accident (Ref Withnail and I). Reading them provided an unintentional juxtaposition. One is by an author I had enjoyed a non-fiction book about photography and, less so, a couple of his contemporary novels. The second was a spontaneous “get-one half-price” pick-up and the third was an account I had wanted to read and popped up as an irresistible 99p Kindle version. Furthermore, I like to balance my consumption of made-up thrillers and crime mysteries with readable real-world stories.
Geoff Dyer wrote “The Ongoing Moment” which was profoundly influential in providing deep-thought about photography from its origins to the present day – and how we look at the wider world. See my page on photography [in a new tab] and my Flickr album based on the book [also in a new tab and look around while you are there].
I found his novels less satisfactory in false intellectualism such as indicated by the title “Jeff in Venice and Death in Varanasi”. His autobiography looked promising as it focused on growing-up in my own time and called “Homework: a memoir”, 2025. (It isn’t as strong or funny as Nigel Slater’s “Toast: The Story of A Boy’s Hunger”, 2004.) In places it is unnecessarily detailed and, possibly, unkind to various people he encounters. It is place-based and covers a sixties childhood, seventies adolescence and his own frailties. He is highly judgmental and critical.
I am more than mildly annoyed that I cannot remember my childhood in the forensic detail recorded by Geoff Dyer. I can put up with not being so sharp and witty but what seems like precise recollection is a faculty I lack. Some of the information, such as Airfix kits, can be researched but it dovetails with personal and family description seamlessly.
“Shattered” and others
I was familiar with “My Beautiful Launderette” which is semi-autobiographical but picking up “Shattered” was a chance decision. I don’t recall reading about Hanif Kureishi’s circumstances after a tragic accident beforehand but his book, which covers approximately one year, of coming to terms with a universal nightmare. Being incapacitated or paralysed is a frightening prospect and he details the physical and emotional journey. He doesn’t reveal the means of writing but it must have been painstaking dictation. It’s not an easy-read.
Rory Stewart’s “Politics On The Edge”, 2025, is a well-written and illuminating insight to the hard-work and disappointment of a brief period in politics. He now does “The Rest is Politics” podcast but I don’t follow it. He has distinct phases in his work and I identified with that.
I have read a number of musician biographies over the years. Philip Norman’s “Elton”, 1991, set an early high-standard for this genre. Keith Richards’ “Life”, 2010, is a riotous account as you might expect but with some candid wisdom, too. “Born To Run”, Bruce Springsteen on his career is very interesting. These accounts are different in they feature high-profile “stars”. Some of us have to be content with the more ordinary.
Family memory book
Over a couple of weekends recently with brother and sister we touched upon quite a few well-known, to us, family stories. They were not always remembered in quite the same way and there is difficulty in saving them in a coherent fashion or giving them a narrative arc. For example, the Alice Ascoli memoir, The Onlooker, [new tab] goes through the parents and siblings in order.
We shared an interest in a book written by a school-friend. Paul Bessel writes about the shenanigans of his father, Peter, “Finding Dad: a Son’s 50 Year Search For The Truth”, 2026. It hardly reflects well on any of the high-profile people mentioned and, spoiler alert, he doesn’t find it.
This Pannage site, and website structure generally, allows fragments linked together. I have handled this under the tabbed phases of my working life and the sub-headings of personal interests and hobbies. The blog has some categories and tags, too. There are also my Flickr albums and the photo-stream. I have written here about why I present my life in this way: Write On. And here about my experiment with journaling [will open in new tabs]
What next?
Well, it so happens there is a newly published book, Blake Morrison’s “On Memoir: an A to Z to Life-writing” and here’s an article about it by Megan Nolan. I hope to be further inspired in life-writing.
https://observer.co.uk/culture/books/article/blake-morrisons-guide-to-life-writing
Memoir’s detractors dismiss it as the genre of misery-porn opportunists and incurable narcissists
Megan Nolan
Morrison’s epigraph quotes James Baldwin: “You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.”
I am looking forward to reading the book. Watch this space for more snippets.
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