An Abbreviated Life

Last updated
First edition (publ. Harper) An Abbreviated Life.jpg
First edition (publ. Harper)

An Abbreviated Life is a memoir by Ariel S. Leve. [1] In this book she tells the story of her childhood and her mother, American poet and feminist, Sandra Hochman. [2] She described the physical and emotional abuse she faced in her childhood, [3] and how she grew up in a dysfunctional family. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvia Plath</span> American poet and writer (1932–1963)

Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for The Colossus and Other Poems (1960), Ariel (1965), and The Bell Jar, a semi-autobiographical novel published shortly before her suicide in 1963. The Collected Poems was published in 1981, which included previously unpublished works. For this collection Plath was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 1982, making her the fourth to receive this honour posthumously.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Pelzer</span> American author (born 1960)

David James Pelzer is an American author of several autobiographical and self-help books. His 1995 memoir of childhood abuse, A Child Called "It": One Child's Courage to Survive, was listed on The New York Times Best Seller list for several years, and in 5 years had sold at least 1.6 million copies. The book brought Pelzer fame, and has also been a source of controversy, with accusations of several events being fabricated coming from both family members and journalists.

An autobiographical comic is an autobiography in the form of comic books or comic strips. The form first became popular in the underground comix movement and has since become more widespread. It is currently most popular in Canadian, American and French comics; all artists listed below are from the U.S. unless otherwise specified.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eve Ensler</span> American playwright, performer, feminist, and activist

V, formerly Eve Ensler, is an American playwright, author, performer, feminist, and activist. V is best known for her play The Vagina Monologues. In 2006 Charles Isherwood of The New York Times called The Vagina Monologues "probably the most important piece of political theater of the last decade."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shanelle Workman</span> American actress

Shanelle Workman is an American actress, producer and director. She is best known for playing the roles of Sarah "Flash" Roberts on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live and Gabriela 'Gaby' Moreno Forester on the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. She offers her voice of the character Larxene in the popular video game series, Kingdom Hearts. Workman lends her voice to "Wendy" in North American commercials for the fast food chain Wendy's.

<i>The Pillowman</i> Martin McDonagh play

The Pillowman is a 2003 play by British-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh. It received its first public reading in an early version at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 1995, also a final and completed version of the play was publicly read in 1998 and then finished and released as a book in some places in 1999. Production started in 2000 for the eventual 2003 performance. It tells the tale of Katurian, a fiction writer living in a police state, who is interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories and their similarities to a number of bizarre child murders occurring in his town. The play received the 2004 Olivier Award for Best New Play, the 2004-5 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best New Foreign Play, and two Tony Awards for production. It was nominated for the 2004 Evening Standard Award for Best New Play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ariel S. Leve</span>

Ariel S. Leve is an American author and award-winning journalist. She was a columnist for The Guardian and subsequently for the Sunday Times Magazine. Her memoir An Abbreviated Life was published by HarperCollins in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michelle Tea</span> American writer

Michelle Tea is an American author, poet, and literary arts organizer whose autobiographical works explore queer culture, feminism, race, class, sex work, and other topics. She is originally from Chelsea, Massachusetts and has identified with the San Francisco, California literary and arts community for many years. She currently lives in Los Angeles. Her books, mostly memoirs, are known for their exposition of the queercore community.

<i>Intensity</i> (novel) 1995 novel by Dean Koontz

Intensity is a 1995 novel by American author Dean Koontz. According to Koontz, he wrote the novel with the intention of subverting the commonly-held idea that thrillers must have periods of low action to move the pace along, instead opting to keep the tension high throughout the novel and moving from conflict to conflict without periods of released tension.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennette McCurdy</span> American filmmaker and former actress (born 1992)

Jennette Michelle Faye McCurdy is an American writer, filmmaker, former actress, and singer. McCurdy's breakthrough role as Sam Puckett in the Nickelodeon sitcom iCarly (2007–2012) earned her four Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. She reprised the character in the iCarly spin-off series Sam & Cat (2013–2014) before leaving Nickelodeon. McCurdy also appeared in the television series Malcolm in the Middle (2003–2005), Zoey 101 (2005), Lincoln Heights (2007), True Jackson, VP (2009–2010), and Victorious (2012). She produced, wrote, and starred in her own webseries, What's Next for Sarah? (2014), and led the science-fiction series Between (2015–2016).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minka Kelly</span> American actress (born 1980)

Minka Dumont Kelly is an American actress. She rose to fame for her role as Lyla Garrity on the NBC drama series Friday Night Lights (2006–2009). In 2011, Kelly starred in the films The Roommate and Searching for Sonny, had a recurring role as Gaby on NBC's family drama series Parenthood (2010–2011) and a main role as Eve French in the revival of ABC's action series Charlie's Angels (2011). Kelly portrayed Dawn Granger / Dove on the first three seasons of the DC Universe/Max superhero series Titans (2018–2021).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ariel Winter</span> American actress (born 1998)

Ariel Winter Workman is an American actress. She is best known for playing Alex Dunphy in the ABC sitcom Modern Family, for which she and her several co-stars won four consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series.

<i>Wonderful Today</i>

Wonderful Today, subtitled The Autobiography, is the 2007 autobiography by English former fashion model and photographer Pattie Boyd, written with journalist and broadcaster Penny Junor. It was published by Headline Review in Britain, on 23 August 2007, and by Harmony Books in the United States, where it was titled Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me. Beginning with her childhood in Kenya, the book covers Boyd's modelling career in London during the 1960s, her marriage to and divorce from Beatle George Harrison and later marriage and divorce of Harrison's best friend, Eric Clapton. The book's title is in reference to Clapton's 1977 song "Wonderful Tonight", which he wrote about Boyd.

Sandra Hochman is an American author, poet, screenwriter, lyricist and documentary film maker. Her first autobiographical novel Walking Papers was very well received and Philip Roth called it a masterpiece. She has published seven books of poetry; her first book won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition. She has also written for The New York Times, Life (magazine), People (magazine), New York (magazine) and many more. She created the Foundation You're an Artist Too, which was an after school program held weekly at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her film Year of The Woman was co-produced with Porter Bibb, the producer of The Rolling Stones documentary Gimme Shelter.

<i>Girl in a Band</i>

Girl in a Band: A Memoir is a 2015 autobiography written by former Sonic Youth bass guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Kim Gordon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tara Westover</span> American historian and author

Tara Westover is an American memoirist, essayist and historian. Her memoir Educated (2018) debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list and was a finalist for a number of national awards, including the LA Times Book Prize, PEN America's Jean Stein Book Award, and two awards from the National Book Critics Circle Award. The New York Times ranked Educated as one of the 10 Best Books of 2018. Westover was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of 2019.

<i>Small Fry</i> (book) 2018 memoir by Lisa Brennan-Jobs, daughter of Steve Jobs

Small Fry: A Memoir is a 2018 memoir by Lisa Brennan-Jobs, daughter of Steve Jobs.

Martin Lemelman is an American freelance illustrator and graphic memoirist.

Patricia Gucci is an Italian businesswoman and member of the Gucci family. She is the only daughter of Aldo Gucci and granddaughter of Guccio Gucci who founded the company in 1921.

<i>The Gaslight Effect</i>

The Gaslight Effect: How to spot and survive the hidden manipulation others use to control your life, is a book by psychologist Robin Stern which has been credited with popularizing the term "gaslighting".

References

  1. Sturges, Fiona (2016-07-27). "An Abbreviated Life by Ariel Leve review – memoir of a monstrous mother". the Guardian. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
  2. Senior, Jennifer (2016-06-26). "Review: In 'An Abbreviated Life,' Ariel Leve Escapes Her Mommie Dearest". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2016-07-28.
  3. "An Abbreviated Life: A Memoir by Ariel Leve". 2016-07-14. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
  4. "'An Abbreviated Life' Memoir Captures Lasting Impact Of Childhood Emotional Abuse". NPR.org. Retrieved 2016-07-28.