Reviews for Inside Memory: Pages from a Writer's Workbook

The average rating for Inside Memory: Pages from a Writer's Workbook based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-05-08 00:00:00 Bernd Bell An excellent read. After having a copy of Not Wanted On The Voyage signed by T.F. I had given him a note about telling him how much I loved the book and had a very strong connection with it. I believe I asked what it was that he was feeling when he wrote it. Unfortunately, I could not read the inscription he wrote. In Inside Memory, one of his first comments was about how his writing is illegible at best and I had to agree. When I reached the section on my favourite book I immediately knew what it was he had written and checked the inscription to confirm. Indeed, there it was, clear and legible, agony and despair. That was how I had been feeling too at the time I read it. A very powerful insight into the workings of this writers mind.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-04-18 00:00:00 Pierce Dugan There are few things I enjoy more than a theatrical memoir, and the first part of this book delivers that in spades. Tiff had so many brushes with great stage thespians. Alec Guinness, Vivian Leigh, among them. He also knew character actor Wilfred Lawson and mentions his performance in the movie The Wrong Box as a must see performance if only for Mr. Lawson's voice. Having seen the movie many times, I know exactly what he is referring to and couldn't agree more. Ruth Gordon (of Harold and Maude fame) also figured prominently in Tiff's early life as a mentor to his writing career. He also worked with her on stage and it is clear from his writings that her ego was formidable. Thornton (Our Town) Wilder was also a key figure in Tiff's formation as a writer. The book is honest about his struggles with alcohol and his writing career (real success did not come until his mid forties) The book appears as a series of journal entries, and one minor quibble is that they appear out of chronological order. Obviously, Tiff felt that they would read better in this particular order, but I can't say that I always agreed. And the entries - how shall I put this - vary greatly in their potential appeal to the reader. That's probably the nicest way to put it. I love the theatre stories, I love his literary accounts, but the ones concerning life around his adopted hometown of Cannington? Well - I think you had to be there. Some of the stories are quite touching. A brief account about a visit to the New York City zoo on the day of Robert Kennedy's death and the dignity of a female gorilla the author sees there in the face of children's laughter comes immediately to mind. Also, standing out in the cold November rain for hours in a well meaning attempt to experience what it must have been like for soldiers in WWI. There’s a marvelous section where Findley is “interviewed” by his life partner, Bill Whitehead, where he discusses the creative process. Shortly after that, he writes in defense of books and Salman Rushdie (this was during Rushdie’s Fatwa years). Then he talks about Canadian journalist June Callwood. I could go on and on. This book is like a patchwork quilt of events and people so different that you couldn’t imagine that they could all fit into the same book. And yet, when you read the finished product, you see that they do. And with great precision and effect.