The Memory Palace: True Short Stories of the Past

· Sold by Random House
5.0
1 review
Ebook
336
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

Incredible true stories reveal strange new magic in American history in this wondrous first book from the creator of the award-winning podcast The Memory Palace.

“One doesn’t often find the words imagination and history in the same sentence. Nate DiMeo has forever woven them together. The Memory Palace wants you to linger, to stay awhile, and find a deeper meaning both in the stories of the past and perhaps in your own life as well.”—Ken Burns

The Memory Palace is a collection of crystalline historical tales that read like luminous short fiction and, like Nate DiMeo’s acclaimed podcast of the same name, conjure lost moments and forgotten figures who are calling out across time to be remembered.

Space capsules filled with fruit flies and future senators. A socialite scientist who gives up her glamorous life to follow love and the elusive prairie chicken. A boy genius on a path to change the world who gets lost in the theoretical possibilities of streetcar transfers. An enslaved man who steals a boat and charts a course that leads him to freedom, war, and Congress. A farmer’s wife who puts down her butter churn, picks up the butter, and becomes an international art star. An amusement park glowing at the water’s edge when electric lights are a brand-new thing. This cabinet of curiosities teems with wonder.

For fifteen years, Nate DiMeo has turned to the past to make sense of the way we live today, finding beauty and meaning in history’s dustier corners, holding things up to the light and weaving facts, keen insight, wit, and poignant observation into unforgettable tales. With new stories and treasured favorites from the beloved podcast assembled alongside dynamic illustrations and archival photographs for the first time, enchantment awaits you.

Ratings and reviews

5.0
1 review
Andrea Romance
November 20, 2024
This collection of historical tales, inspired by a popular podcast, brings forgotten figures and moments to life, offering insightful and beautifully written short stories that connect the past to the present. I loved this. The stories are heartwarming, poignant, and inspiring. Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
Did you find this helpful?

About the author

Nate DiMeo is the creator and host of The Memory Palace, a Peabody Award finalist and among the first group of podcasts preserved by the Library of Congress. He was previously the artist in residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and he has performed stories from The Memory Palace live with music, pictures, and animation all over the United States and Canada, as well as in England, Ireland, and Australia. DiMeo is the co-author of Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America , a finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor. Prior to producing The Memory Palace, DiMeo spent a decade in public radio and could be heard on All Things Considered, Morning Edition, or Marketplace. He has written for NBC’s Parks and Recreation and ABC’s The Astronaut Wives Club.

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.