what is a memoir

A memoir is a nonfiction narrative writing based on the authors personal memories. It is a literary nonfiction genre in which the author recounts their experiences during a significant period of their life. Memoirs are written from the authors perspective about a particular facet of their own life, often focusing on a pivotal moment in their lives and trying to recreate the event through storytelling. Memoirs are differentiated from biographies or autobiographies in that they present a narrowed focus, usually a particular time phase in someones life or career, rather than telling the story "of a life". Memoirs still include all the facts of the event, but the author has more flexibility because they are telling a story as they remember it, not as others can prove or disprove it. Memoirs are generally understood to be factual accounts, though it is accepted that they neednt be objective, merely a version of events as the author remembers them.