“I just feel that secrets and shame need to be abolished—forever.”
When an author’s first book is a memoir about childhood abuse, a teenage stint driving a hearse, messy adult relationships and, ultimately, revelations of incest, here’s one thing you don’t expect from the cover of her second: a photo of an adorable Golden Retriever puppy [...]

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads. Lynn Fox sends her husband Mike this Father’s Day gift, a beautiful essay she’s written our My Life So Far story project, SMITH’s home for readers’ memoirs-in-progress or personal essays. I can’t imagine a better tribute to the father of one’s children than “Oh Crap, He’s a Better [...]