Books in the Media: memoir from late Lisa Marie Presley and daughter Riley Keough astounds

This week non-fiction came out on top with a memoir from the late Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of rockstar Elvis Presley, and her daughter Riley Keough, and an exploration of the history of crisps and their place in British culture.

Presley’s “jaw-dropper” memoir, From Here to the Great Unknown: A Memoir (Pan Macmillan), written with Presley’s daughter, Riley Keough, was hailed by Barbara Ellen at the Observer. Constructed from “in-depth taped interviews” with Presley, recorded before her death in 2023, From Here to the Great Unknown impressed Ellen: “Certainly, it’s clear that Presley was nothing if not radically honest. It’s also striking how Keough seems to almost plead with the reader to understand and love her mother as much as she does. Ultimately, this is a book built on grief: Lisa Marie Presley’s for her father and son, but also a daughter’s for her mother.” The Times’ Sarah Ditum wrote that the structure “absolutely works to produce an intimate celebrity memoir that gets beyond trashy revelation or prissy image-control to tell something that sounds like the truth”.

Crunch: An Ode to Crisps (Faber), by journalist and editor Natalie Whittle, “tells the story of how this reliable snack became a cornerstone of British food culture”, wrote Nikkitha Bakshani at the Telegraph. Combining 150 years of history with a personal narrative, the book is “equal parts fun and intelligent” and the author’s “gift for storytelling elevates Crunch to something of real literary substance”. Writing for the Spectator, Olivia Potts called Crunch “an affectionate look at why crisps inspire the fandom that they do and an intelligent and entertaining examination of the part they have played in shaping our national identity”.

James Rebanks’ “quietly profound book” The Place of Tides (Allen Lane) “is a story about a still-essential way of living in the modern world and finding a way to keep going” as well as a “deft travelogue”, wrote Helen Davies at the Sunday Times. Nearing 50 years of age, Rebanks decided to spend 10 weeks on Fjaeroyvaer, an island just below the Arctic Circle, with two strangers, Anna and Ingrid. The Place of Tides recounts his time there and the life of Anna, an elderly woman who tends to and collects the feathers of eider ducks to make eiderdown. It is a “niche subject, but Rebanks’s modest and assured narrative paints a picture of a wondrous world”, reflected Davies. James Holland at the Telegraph called The Place of Tides a “lyrical and enchanting new book”.

Charlotte Wood’s Booker-shortlisted novel Stone Yard Devotional (Hodder & Stoughton) was hailed as a “transfixing novel about the way childhood events, be they seismic or seemingly banal, can haunt us in adulthood” by Max Liu at the Financial Times: “Wood pares back her narrator’s life and language to explore fundamental questions of loss, suffering and how we coexist with other people, other species and the environment, with a power and precision that means it will resonate with readers long after this year’s Booker Prize has been awarded.”

Fire Exit (And Other Stories), the debut novel from Morgan Talty, was commended by Lucy Popescu at the Observer. The novel explores the how federal Indian law has impacted the lives of Indigenous peoples in America through Charles, the “flawed and vulnerable” protagonist “you can’t help rooting for throughout this humane, beautifully crafted novel”.

Actor Stanley Tucci’s What I Ate in One Year (and related thoughts) (Fig Tree) was called a “joy” by the Sunday Times’ Charlotte Ivers. The review commends Tucci’s “lovely” writing style as Ivers adds: “What I had not expected was to find Tucci’s book so moving, but he returns frequently to thoughts of ageing, of frailty, of death and of his love for his family. This is a book about food written by a man who—due to the side-effects of treatment for oral cancer in 2017—cannot eat steak or large hunks of bread. It is quite a striking thing.” Steven Poole at the Guardian noted that “Tucci remains a fabulous charmer”.