“REMEMBERINGS”

By Sinead O’Connor

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt ($28)

“Rememberings” is a memoir with a gaping hole in it. Author and singer-songwriter Sinead O’Connor explains why in her foreword: “I was actually present before my first album came out. And then I went somewhere else inside myself...and it’s hard to recollect what you weren’t present at.” That disappearance covers, roughly, the years 1992 to 2020, over half of her life.

Readers willing to look past the unusual structure created by little, but not no, acknowledgement of over two decades of living, will find ample rewards, however. O’Connor’s life has been a troubled one, and she certainly doesn’t shy away from the disturbing details of childhood abuse, various insensitive and predatory men who appeared early in her music career, and her very public attempts in recent years to find reliable practitioners to help her gain stability with her mental health. Rather than presenting a litany of suffering, though, O’Connor makes clear how her intelligence, talent, artistry and rebellious Irish spirit helped her overcome certain struggles and find a degree of hard-won peace.

“My intention was to put all the pieces of the jigsaw that was me out on the floor and see if I could put it together,” O’Connor continues in introducing her book. “To be understood was my desire.” “Rememberings” indeed helps readers learn why the resultant picture is an unusual and revelatory one.

O’Connor divides her memoir into three sections. Part One explores her turbulent childhood. Presenting stories more conversationally than chronologically, O’Connor lets her writer’s voice emerge — it’s casual, direct, occasionally profane, often funny and thoroughly engaging. Brief chapters, often no longer than three or four pages, jump right into revealing stories about sensing the presence of Jesus during a particularly brutal beating by her mother, about her varied, informal musical education ranging from Bob Dylan to Dolly Parton to the Sex Pistols, about being encouraged by her mother to steal and eventually winding up in a semi-helpful reform school.

Part Two presents the often-ugly price of fame. For those who only know about O’Connor via the broad brushstrokes of big media, her shaving her head, her star-launching hit being a Prince cover, her tearing up a picture of Pope John Paul II on “Saturday Night Live,” this part of her memoir delivers the biggest revelations. At age 18, only weeks after her mother’s death in an auto accident, O’Connor found herself being asked to record demos for a major record label. Thus began a “too much too soon” scenario for a young person barely ready to live independently.

While experiencing musical triumphs galore, O’Connor bumps up against harsh realities quickly. Her record label recommends she have an abortion when they discover she is pregnant during the recording of her debut album. Her second album, and the single “Nothing Compares 2 U,” goes to number one on the American charts and fosters an almost unthinkable level of media scrutiny. Her “SNL” performance threatens to derail her career, though looking at it now O’Connor insists that it “re-railed” it and brought her successes far more valuable than anything monetary.

Part Three offers the quirkiest structure but still proves rewarding. O’Connor begins by discussing each of her albums and describing particular songs that still resonate most for her. While she may not have been fully present during her life during these times, she still brings her musical creations to life on the page. Subsequent chapters jump around quite a bit, describing meeting her “biggest hero and biggest inspiration,” Muhammad Ali, offering random “lessons and true tales” and recounting her decision to allow Dr. Phil to help her get mental health treatment in exchange for allowing her to be filmed for his TV show. Those seeking “the dirt” on her struggles and breakdowns will be disappointed. Those hopeful that O’Connor has found stability and a renewed sense of purpose will find much of the conclusion of “Rememberings” hopeful and moving.

No book can reveal a person fully. O’Connor addresses that head-on late in her text, noting, “I’ve never been seen. Not even by me.” But she knows herself better than such a statement might imply, a few sentences later sharing, “I’ve done only one holy thing in my life and that was sing.” For some, O’Connor’s amazing body of songs may be enough. But the incredible strength and humanity she reveals in writing what she can of her life story is amazing and thought-provoking, too.

John Young teaches seventh grade language arts and plays in the rock band The Optimists.

First Published: July 15, 2021, 10:45 a.m.