Overview

A love letter to the art of the diary and to the people who write-and read-them Featuring iconic diary keepers like Audre Lorde, Virginia Woolf, Alison Bechdel, and Taylor Swift A spirited exploration of the diary, from pen-and-paper to TikTok, for the people who write-and read-them Featuring iconic diary keepers like Audre Lorde, Virginia Woolf, Alison Bechdel, and Taylor Swift We know what it was like to be an out lesbian in 19th-century England, what the inner world of a young girl in hiding looks like, and what the earliest internet users' favorite websites were, in part, because of diaries. Our Diaries, Ourselves is a joyful deep dive into this time-honored tradition of preserving who we are. From Marie Curie to Taylor Swift, this book illustrates how keeping a diary helps us to understand ourselves and our world. Tour Italy's ""City of the Diary,"" Pieve Santo Stefano, which boasts a diary archive, museum, and annual festival. Discover how women have used diaries for centuries as canvases for self-expression and self-care and as tools of resistance in a patriarchal society. Travel through time and across cultures, from renowned figures to ordinary people, for glimpses of their lives-different yet comfortingly familiar. Our Diaries, Ourselves is a treasure trove of social history, feminist rebellion, and personal reflection. This book celebrates the vibrant and varied ways we live our lives and the stories we choose to tell about them. And it reminds us of a uniquely human need that transcends time, language, and technology- to see and be seen, remember and be remembered.

Full Product Details

Author:   Betsy Rubiner
Publisher:   Beacon Press
Imprint:   Beacon Press
Weight:   0.567kg
ISBN:  

9780807014929

ISBN 10:   0807014923
Pages:   272
Publication Date:   24 February 2026
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

About the Diary Excerpts Preface: Me-Me-Me PART 1: QUESTIONING ASSUMPTIONS 1. Days of Our Lives: What Is a Diary Now? 2. Born Digital: When Do Social Media and AI-Assisted Entries Count? 3. About a Girl: Are Diaries Really a Woman’s Thing? FROM MY DIARY: Some of what I kept and read PART 2: WHY WE WRITE 4. Self-Help: Are Diaries Really Good for Us? 5. Memorable: Do Diaries Really Help Us Remember? 6. Creatives: Do Diaries Really Help Us Create? 7. Hindsight: Should We Read or Burn Our Diaries? FROM MY DIARY: My life on May 12, as chronicled from ages 14 to 62 PART 3: WHY WE READ OTHER PEOPLE’S DIARIES 8. Other Eyes: What Do We Learn? 9. Ordinary People: Why Save Diaries by Us All? 10. Herstory: How Do Diaries Help Write Women into History? FROM MY DIARY: Our times and world, as documented from 1973 to 2020 (at ages 14 to 61) 11. Reader Experiences: What Else Do We Gain? 12. Self-Exposure: Should We Let Strangers Read Our Diary? Appendix: An Informed Donor Is a Smart Donor: Advice on Donating a Diary Acknowledgments Notes Index

Reviews

“This [book] bursts with insights that entertain.” —Publishers Weekly

Author Information

Betsy Rubiner is a Chicago-based author, a journalist, and a life-long diarist. Her reporting and essays have appeared in publications including the New York Times, The Guardian, the Washington Post, TIME, and the Des Moines Register, among several media outlets where she has worked. Readers can learn more about her first book, Fun with the Family in Iowa, and connect with Betsy at www.betsyrubiner.com.

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