By chance, three of the books I borrowed last week touch upon the topic of amnesia:
- Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin
- Airhead by Meg Cabot
- Strange Piece of Paradise by Terri Jentz
Gabrielle Zevin's Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac is classified as a young adult novel, but I think a lot of older folks will like it, too. It's a love story about a boy and a girl, Will and Naomi, who work together on their yearbook staff as co-editors. This book is full of wonderful music references, plus, the theme of their yearbook is The White Album.
Meg Cabot's Airhead is a fluffy, girly read. If Airhead and Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac were movies, Airhead would be Mean Girls and Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesic would be Juno.Here is Amazon's description of the Terri Jentz memoir, Strange Piece of Paradise:
In the summer of 1977, Terri Jentz and her Yale roommate, Shayna Weiss, make a cross-country bike trip. They pitch a tent in the desert of central Oregon. As they are sleeping, a man in a pickup truck deliberately runs over the tent. He then attacks them with an ax. The horrific crime is reported in newspapers across the country. No one is ever arrested. Both women survive, but Shayna suffers from amnesia, while Terri is left alone with memories of the attack. Their friendship is shattered.Since the true crime books I reviewed last week left me feeling a bit depressed, I'm going to save Strange Piece of Paradise for another day. I know that once I start reading, I won't be able to put it down.
