As a teacher, I’m always looking for inspiration, particularly when it comes to the memoir classes I teach (both online with Teachable and in person with the Carrboro Arts Center near where I live). Using Theme to Focus a Memoir like Stanley Tucci’s Taste, is my latest inspiration.

How it Started

A few months ago, my good friend, artist Theresa Pastoriza-Tan, invited me to a very cool bookclub at a wine bar in Raleigh called Vita Vite. This past month, the book choice was Stanley Tucci’s memoir, Taste. At the Vita Vite gathering in Raleigh last night, Theresa, another good artist friend, Amy Jane Whitney, and I spent the evening chatting about life stories and the lens they can be told through. 

Tucci wove all the stories in his memoir around food. Turns out that many of his movies also center around food. He is a foodie, through and through, so it makes perfect sense that this is the theme he threaded through each of his stories.

What is a Memoir?

Remember, a memoir is not a life story written from beginning to end. It is not an autobiography. It is a series of stories centered around a life.

And the way I see it and teach it, centered around a theme similar to the way Tucci does it.

What’s Your Theme?

If you were going to write your memoir, what  would you choose as a central theme that could weave your stories together?

Stanley Tucci’s memoir, Taste, is so great! Highly recommend.

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