Memoirville recommends… an interview on Bookslut with Debra Monroe, author of a new memoir entitled On the Outskirts of Normal: Forging a Family Against the Grain.

Monroe’s memoir is her story of motherhood, transracial adoption, unstable relationships, and life in rural Texas. This interview focuses on storytelling, genre, and the struggles of autobiographical writing. The author continually tries to state that her story is not predominantly about race–white mother with black daughter–by saying things like, “Does anyone think about their race all day every day? I don’t, and my daughter doesn’t give many indications she does.” It’s a curious statement that makes me, all at once, want to read her memoir, cringe for her daughter’s sake, and imagine what kind of story her daughter will write years from now.