Rememberings
{{Short description|2021 memoir by Sinéad O'Connor}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Rememberings
| title_orig =
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| image = File:Rememberings.jpg
| caption = First edition
| author = Sinéad O'Connor
| illustrator =
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| country = Ireland
| language = English
| series =
| genre = Memoir, autobiography
| release_date = 1 June 2021
| publisher = Penguin Books
| oclc =
| preceded_by =
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}}
Rememberings is a memoir by Sinéad O'Connor published on 1 June 2021 by Sandycove, an imprint of Penguin Books.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jan/02/2021-in-books-what-to-look-forward-to-this-year|title=2021 in books: what to look forward to this year|date=2 January 2021|work=The Guardian|accessdate=3 January 2021}}{{Cite news|title=Books to look out for in 2021|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/books-to-look-out-for-in-2021-1.4443970|date=2021-01-02|author=Martin Doyle|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=2021-05-21}}
Background
O'Connor started writing the book in January 2015.{{Cite web|title=Woman's Hour - Sinead O'Connor, Your returning to work manifesto.|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000wjpv|date=2021-06-01|work=Woman's Hour|publisher=BBC Sounds|access-date=2023-01-21}} In August that year, she underwent hysterectomy, which was followed by a breakdown and long recovery, leaving her "unable to remember anything much that took place before it".{{cite book |author=Sinéad O'Connor |year=2021 |title=Rememberings |publisher=Sandycove |page=267 |isbn=978-1-844-88541-1}} She also attributed memory loss to excessive cannabis smoking.{{Cite news|author=Amanda Hess|date=2021-05-18|title=Sinead O'Connor Remembers Things Differently|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/18/arts/music/sinead-oconnor-rememberings.html|access-date=2021-05-21|issn=0362-4331}} O'Connor resumed writing after a few years' break, and the book's release was announced in December 2020.{{cite web|url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2020/12/08/sinead-oconnor-memoir-coming-out-june/6487725002/|title=Nothing compares: Sinead O'Connor memoir coming out in June|date=2020-12-08|website=USA Today|access-date=14 January 2021}} The memoir is dedicated primarily to "all staff and patients at St Patrick's University Hospital, Dublin".
Critical reception
The memoir received favourable reviews. The Independent included it in their Books of the Month list, saying that Rememberings was "a riveting account of modern celebrity and a deeply candid account of her own “trainwreck” life", adding that O'Connor addresses "the grim truths of sex and power in the modern world".{{Cite web|title=Books of the Month: From Sinead O'Connor's Rememberings to Lisa Taddeo's Animal|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/sinead-oconnor-rememberings-review-b1854311.html|author=Martin Chilton|website=The Independent|access-date=2022-05-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210531070115/https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/sinead-oconnor-rememberings-review-b1854311.html|archive-date=2021-05-31}} The Christian Century opined that "Rememberings reveals her to be a gifted storyteller as well as a tenderhearted contrarian with a knack for poking a finger in the eyes of the powerful".{{cite web|url=https://www.christiancentury.org/review/books/sin-ad-o-connor-knows-exactly-who-she|title=Sinéad O'Connor knows exactly who she is|author=Jessica Mesman|date=2021-09-09|website=The Christian Century|access-date=2023-01-27}} Writing for RTÉ.ie, Sinéad Crowley complimented the book's "beautifully direct style".{{cite web|url=https://www.rte.ie/culture/2021/0604/1226048-rememberings-sinead-oconnors-autobiography-reviewed/|title=Rememberings - Sinead O'Connor's autobiography reviewed|author=Sinéad Crowley|date=2021-06-04|publisher=RTÉ.ie|access-date=2023-01-27}} The book was also described as "uniquely sharp, insightful, (...) funny",{{cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2021/07/sinead-o-connor-rememberings/|title=Sinéad O'Connor: Rememberings|author=Chris Norris|date=2021-07-19|work=Spin|access-date=2023-01-27}} "[i]nspiring, liberating, hilarious and fascinating",{{Cite news|title=Rememberings: A self-portrait of integrity, pain and punchlines|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/rememberings-a-self-portrait-of-integrity-pain-and-punchlines-1.4572853|date=2021-05-29|author=Una Mullally|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=2023-01-27}} and as a "hard-fought, self-built monument to someone who did it her way".{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/rememberings-by-sinead-oconnor-review-the-nothing-compares-2-u-singers-life-fbrnhjb6p|title=Rememberings by Sinéad O'Connor, review — the Nothing Compares 2 U singer's life|author=Victoria Segal|date=2021-05-30|work=The Times|access-date=2023-01-27}}
Commercial performance
The book debuted at number one on the Irish bestsellers list, selling 2,982 copies in the first week.{{Cite web|title=Irish Bestsellers 5th June 2021|date=11 June 2021 |url=https://www.writing.ie/news/irish-bestseller-lists/irish-bestsellers-5th-june-2021/|publisher=Writing.ie|access-date=2023-01-27}}