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Author	Message
Jim Bond	Post subject: Book Club Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2004 12:46 pm
Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2004 12:01 am Posts: 139 Location: Dallas, TX	Since the Clinton book came out I've seen it referred to in the press as both memoir and memoirs, and no mentions of autobiography. What's the distinction?<p>[ June 30, 2004: Message edited by: Jim Bond ]</p>
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Jolieblonde	Post subject: Re: Book Club Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2004 1:40 pm
Joined: Tue Feb 04, 2003 1:01 am Posts: 145 Location: Over by there	From what I understand a memoir is a type of autobiography that's more anecdotal in nature, though the terms are often used interchangeably .... Knopf is calling it a memoir, so I guess everyone else is following suit.
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Jim Bond	Post subject: Re: Book Club Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2004 2:08 pm
Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2004 12:01 am Posts: 139 Location: Dallas, TX	<blockquote><font size="1" face="TImes, TimesNR, serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by JJ: From what I understand a memoir is a type of autobiography that's more anecdotal in nature, though the terms are often used interchangeably .... Knopf is calling it a memoir, so I guess everyone else is following suit.<hr></blockquote><p>But *memoirs*?
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Matthew Grieco	Post subject: Re: Book Club Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2004 7:50 pm
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2003 1:01 am Posts: 2266 Location: New Jersey	Merriam-Webster's says that "memoir," when used to mean "autobiography," is usually plural, which is M-W code for "we have no idea how to use this word correctly and we wouldn't tell you if we did."
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CopyMonkey	Post subject: Re: Book Club Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2004 11:24 pm
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2004 1:01 am Posts: 69 Location: N.Y.	Wouldn't "memoir" come from "memory"? If so, "memoirs" would make more sense, 'cause it's a book of memories, not just one memory.
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paulwiggins	Post subject: Re: Book Club Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2004 11:51 pm
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2003 12:01 am Posts: 3137 Location: Homebush NSW Australia	The Macquarie is definitive though clumsy on this (what the entry really means is that it has an s in every instance). memoir noun 1. (plural) records of facts or events in connection with a particular subject, historical period, etc., as known to the writer or gathered from special sources. 2. (plural) records of one's own life and experiences. 3. biography 4. (plural) a collection of reports made to a scientific or other learned society. [F memoire, masc., memorandum, memorial, memoire, fem., MEMORY]-memoirist n. -memoirism n. <p>I had have to concur (with the confession that I have read many memoirs written in American English).<p>Webster's 1913 dictionary has this to say (note the or plural guidance: <p>Definition: \Mem"oir\, or pl. Memoirs \Mem"oirs\, n. [F. m['e]moire,<p> I'd say the Macquarie has correctly assesed that the plural has the firmest hold in English, wherever it is spoken.<p>[ July 01, 2004: Message edited by: Paul Wiggins ]</p>
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