My Autobiography of Carson McCullers explained

Publisher:Tin House Books
Author:Jenn Shapland
Country:United States
Language:English
My Autobiography of Carson McCullers
Published:February 4, 2020
Media Type:Print (paperback, hardcover)
Isbn:9781947793286
Genre:Memoir, Biography

My Autobiography of Carson McCullers is a memoir by Jenn Shapland, published April 2, 2020 by Tin House Books. In 2021, the book won the Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction,[1] the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Memoir,[2] and the Phi Beta Kappa Christian Gauss Award.[3] Along with being longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction,[4] it was a finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction[5] and a Stonewall Book Award Honor Book.[6]

Reception

Reviews

Prior to publication, My Autobiography of Carson McCullers was named one of the most anticipated queer books of the year by Lit Hub,[7] Buzzfeed,[8] Forbes,[9] Electric Literature,[10] [11] and Oprah Magazine.[12]

Following publication, the book received positive reviews from Booklist,[13] Kirkus Reviews,[14] The New York Times Book Review,[15] The A.V. Club,[16] Los Angeles Review of Books,[17] The Times,[18] Full Stop,[19] The New York Review of Books,[20] The Georgia Review,[21] Star Tribune,[22] The Rumpus,[23] Lambda Literary,[24] Autostraddle,[25] Library Journal,[26] The New Yorker,[27] and Open Letters Review.[28]

In various reviews, the book was called "revelatory",[29] "stimulating",[15] "gorgeous, brilliant", and "a moving record of love at the margins".[27] The New York Review of Books referred to it as "part fan letter, part detective story, and part steely corrective".[15]

The Los Angeles Times[30] and The New Republic[31] offered mixed reviews.

The Guardian's Rachel Cook provided a poor review, saying, "My Autobiography of Carson McCullers, as its too-clever-by-half-sounding title implies, is neither memoir nor biography... such a declaration cannot disguise the fact that her (over) identification with McCullers takes us nowhere that is very productive."[32] In a similarly disappointed review, Publishers Weekly said, "Shapland’s intermingled autobiography and biography of McCullers’s life unsatisfyingly blurs what is real and what is imagined."[33]

Awards

YearAwardResultRef.
2020National Book Award for NonfictionFinalist[34]
2021Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian MemoirWinner
Stonewall Book AwardHonor
Publishing Triangle Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian NonfictionWinner
Phi Beta Kappa Christian Gauss AwardWinner
Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in NonfictionLonglist[35]
Over the Rainbow Book ListTop 10
Reading the West Book AwardHonor[36]
Southern Book PrizeFinalist[37]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction. 2022-01-10. The Publishing Triangle. en-US.
  2. Web site: Gentes. Brian. 2021-06-02. 2021 Lambda Literary Award Winners Announced. 2022-01-10. Lambda Literary. en.
  3. Web site: Phi Beta Kappa Book Awards. 2022-01-10. Phi Beta Kappa.
  4. Web site: Chapman. Monica. 2021-02-02. 2021 Over the Rainbow Book List features 48 titles for adult readers. 2022-01-10. American Library Association News and Press Center. en.
  5. Web site: 7 October 2020. National Book Awards 2020 shortlists announced. 2022-01-10. Books+Publishing. en-AU.
  6. Web site: Chapman. Monica. 2021-02-02. 2021 Barbara Gittings Literature Award and Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award of the Stonewall Book Awards Announced. 2022-01-10. American Library Association News and Press Center. en.
  7. Web site: 2020-01-14. Lit Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2020. 2022-01-10. Literary Hub. en-US.
  8. Web site: Rebolini. Arianna. 2020-01-07. 83 Books To Keep On Your Radar In 2020. 2022-01-10. BuzzFeed News. en.
  9. Web site: Bussel. Rachel Kramer. 2019-12-19. The 10 Most Anticipated Books Of 2020, According To Independent Bookstores. 2022-01-10. Forbes. en.
  10. Web site: Vitcavage. Adam. 2019-12-09. Get Ready for the 20 Most Anticipated Debuts of Early 2020. 2022-01-10. Electric Literature. en-US.
  11. Web site: Neilson. Sarah. 2019-10-24. 11 Highly-Anticipated Queer Books Coming Out This Winter. 2022-01-10. Electric Literature. en-US.
  12. Web site: Hart. Michelle. 2020-10-29. These Are the 42 Must-Read LGBTQ Books of 2020. 2022-01-10. Oprah Daily. en-US.
  13. Book: Bostrom, Annie. 2020-01-01. My Autobiography of Carson McCullers. 2022-01-10. Booklist.
  14. Web site: 2019-09-29. My Autobiography of Carson McCullers. 2022-01-10. Kirkus Reviews.
  15. News: O’Grady. Megan. 2020-02-04. She Found Carson McCullers's Love Letters. They Taught Her Something About Herself.. en-US. The New York Times. 2022-01-10. 0362-4331.
  16. Web site: Waite. Kelsey J.. 2020-02-03. An affecting new memoir frees Carson McCullers—and its writer—from the closet. 2022-01-10. The A.V. Club. en-us.
  17. Web site: Duke. Ellie. 2020-02-04. Rewriting McCullers. 2022-01-10. Los Angeles Review of Books. en.
  18. News: Reid. Melanie. 2021-04-24. My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shapland review — freed from the closet at last. . en. 2022-01-10. 0140-0460.
  19. Web site: Martins. Julia Irion. 2020-08-06. My Autobiography of Carson McCullers – Jenn Shapland. 2022-01-10. en.
  20. News: Marler. Regina. 2021-05-02. A Connoisseur of Yearning. en. 2022-01-10. 0028-7504.
  21. Web site: Enszer. Julie R.. Fall 2020. on My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shapland. 2022-01-10. The Georgia Review. en-US.
  22. Web site: Hewitt. Chris. 2021-01-03. REVIEW: 'My Autobiography of Carson McCullers,' by Jenn Shapland. 2022-01-10. Star Tribune.
  23. Web site: Possanza. Amelia. 2020-04-22. Queer Logic: Females and My Autobiography of Carson McCullers. 2022-01-10. The Rumpus.net. en.
  24. Web site: Neilson. Sarah. 2020-02-05. My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shapland. 2022-01-10. Lambda Literary. en.
  25. Web site: Gorton. Kate. 2020-01-07. Jenn Shapland Names What Needs Naming in "My Autobiography of Carson McCullers". 2022-01-10. Autostraddle. en-US.
  26. Web site: Kingsbury. Pam. 2020-01-01. My Autobiography of Carson McCullers. 2022-01-10. Library Journal.
  27. 2020-05-20. Briefly Noted Book Reviews. 2022-01-10. The New Yorker. en-US.
  28. Web site: Joyner. Hannah. My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shapland. 2022-01-10. Open Letters Review. 12 June 2020 . en-US.
  29. Web site: Shapl. Jenn. 2019-12-20. This Famous Author's Secret Love Letters Helped Me Realize Who I Am. 2022-01-10. Oprah Daily. en-US.
  30. Web site: 2020-04-10. Review: Queer authors reinvent the artist biography as revisionist memoir. 2022-01-10. Los Angeles Times. en-US.
  31. Alam. Rumaan. 2020-02-21. Finding Carson McCullers. The New Republic. 2022-01-10. 0028-6583.
  32. Web site: Cooke. Rachel. 2021-05-02. My Autobiography of Carson McCullers review – identity parade. 2022-01-10. the Guardian. en.
  33. Book: Nonfiction Book Review: My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shapland. Tin House, $22.95 (288p). 978-1-947793-28-6. 2022-01-10. PublishersWeekly.com. en. Shapland . Jenn . 2020 . National Geographic Books .
  34. Web site: My Autobiography of Carson McCullers. 2022-01-10. National Book Foundation. en-US.
  35. Web site: 2020-10-18. 2021 Winners. 2022-01-10. Reference & User Services Association (RUSA). en.
  36. Web site: Reading the West Book Award Winners. 2022-01-10. Reading the West. en-US.
  37. Web site: 2021 Southern Book Prize Finalists. 2022-01-10. Southern independent Booksellers Alliance.

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