Which autobiography is best

A hugely entertaining tale of scandal, adventure, and love, as well as a unique study in social history. You say: For its lasting impact on my imaginings of the sister's lives and for its hilarity and loss told evenly. We say: Why Be Happy It's a witty, celebratory story about the redemptive power of literature, as Winterson searches for belonging, identity, and her biological mother. We say: Nora Krug's sprawling, multi-layered graphic memoir, Heimat, is a powerful meditation on Germany's cultural identity, winning multiple awards on publication back in Very moving.

As funny and irreverent as a real-life Yossarian, the seven-volume series beautifully captures the chaos of war. You say: The unreliable war memoirs. Funny, then achingly sad. Should be compulsory reading. H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald Her memoir follows the trials and tribulations of taming the wild animal, ultimately becoming a powerful and profound meditation on grief. Anne Frank's reflections while hiding in Amsterdam in the summer of offer a moving, personal insight into one of the most cataclysmic events of recent history.

You say: I realised that what happened to her could happen to anyone, which includes me. How precious life and a soul is. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway We say: Brilliantly evoking the exuberant mood of Paris after the First World War, Ernest Hemingway 's memoir captures the creativity and vivacity of one of the greatest literary generations.

Quite beautiful and a great travel companion in the city. An empowering and essential read, this is a call to action to change the culture that declares innocent Black life expendable. Over the Top by Jonathan van Ness Laced with vulnerability, humour and ice-skating trivia, this is an essential read for anyone struggling on the path to self-love. We say: The first volume of Maya Angelou's autobiography is an important and lyrical look at racial prejudice and misogyny in the United States in the s and 40s.

Growing up in rural Arkansas, Angelou navigates everything from sexual abuse to academic excellence, in the most sublime, poetic prose. I remember feeling awed while reading, just excited by how wonderfully she was using language.

The Soul of a Butterfly by Muhammed Ali We say: From Louisville, Kentucky, to Heavyweight Champion of the World to worldwide ambassador for peace, The Soul of a Butterfly is still a timely and spiritual memoir about love in all its forms, written by Muhammad Ali and his daughter Hana Yasmeen.

We say: Japanese literary titan Haruki Murakami began running at the age of His seminal memoir, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running , is a compelling meditation on the sport, in which he credits the repetition of his daily exercise for instilling the mental and physical discipline needed to write novels.

Maybe it will inspire you to dust off your trainers and finally write that masterpiece? You say: For inspiration, and a reminder about what can be achieved from consistency.

Constellations by Sinead Gleeson We say: Sinead Gleeson reflects on her experiences as a woman in this sublime collection of personal essays. Covering art, illness, ghosts and grief, the beautiful, life-affirming read is a testament to strength and survival.

Growing up in rural Ireland in the s and 50s, this is a rich and nuanced portrayal of an important period of Irish history, as well as an insight into an illustrious writing career.

You say: Extraordinary writing, eloquent, sad, shocking — and he can write the history and psyche of a hedge in one paragraph. A Dutiful Boy by Mohsin Zaidi We say: An excellent coming-of-age memoir about growing up queer in a strict Muslim household. Mohsin writes with such flair, and the words on the pages will make you laugh and hit you in the feels.

A triumph. Boy and Going Solo by Roald Dahl and From plots of childhood revenge to taste-testing for Cadbury's, this electric two-volume memoir provides a fascinating insight into the mind behind Matilda , Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and more of your childhood favourites. You say: I think I read them at a formative time. They were the first time I really understood on a more than superficial level that people older than me really were young once.

This is a sharp and authentic account of growing up with an armed robber father who ended up in prison, going out 'on the rob' and living with his mum and siblings on a north London council estate. From a future where crime seemed the the only option, Owen has built a career that has seen him rise above deprivation and loss. David Bailey looks back on his incredible life in Look Again , his fabulously entertaining celebrity autobiography. From shooting for Vogue during the swinging sixties to his relationships with international starlets and friendships with some of Britain's most iconic figures, this is the story of an East End boy who became one of the country's most successful photographers and had heaps of fun along the way.

In our exclusive video, David Bailey looks back over his life and incredible career in photography. Alicia Keys' More Myself is a celebrity autobiography with a difference. Read an extract from More Myself. The global icon and award-winning singer shares the details of her incredible life in her first autobiography, The Meaning of Mariah Carey.

From her meteoric rise to fame with a string of hits in the s, to her reinventions, relationships and everything in between, this is Mariah's story, in her own words. Beginning with his formative years growing up the eldest of six children on the outskirts of Dublin in the s, through to his journey from amateur dramatics groups to Hollywood and Broadway stardom, this poetic memoir is a heartwarming tribute to the Irish childhood that shaped Byrne and his craft.

After three decades reporting on the lives of some of the world's most extreme people, now Louis Theroux is telling his own story. From his socially awkward his words, not ours TV debut in , to his journeys across America and his interview with now disgraced Jimmy Saville, Louis looks back on his career with his trademark razor-sharp observation and self-deprecating humour.

In his trademark voice, which is as lyrical as his poetry, and with his brand of slightly sick humour, John shares tales of his performing career and his many remarkable friendships. This autobiography will be loved by both lifelong fans and new readers. She may be best known as the queen of rock' n' roll, but Tina Turner's life is so much more than her music. From her childhood picking cotton in Tennessee to her remarkable rise to fame and what lay beyond, in My Love Story she shares her extraordinary life, her joys and her struggles — all with heart-felt candour and courage.

Get to know President-Elect Joe Biden through his deeply moving memoir. In Promise Me Dad , Biden charts the year in which his beloved son Beau passed away from the effects of a brain tumour as he fought to balance the twin imperatives of living up to his responsibilities to his country and his responsibilities to his family.

Candid about his family's tragic loss and the impact it has had on him as both a man and a politician, this is not only a story of tragedy, but of hope and humanity. Born the daughter of immigrants and civil rights activists in California, Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris grew up with a strong sense of social justice.

In her bestselling memoir The Truths We Hold , she shares how her childhood and the lessons she's learnt in her career as a lawmaker have inspired and shaped the person and politician that she is today, and her manifesto for a fairer future. Published fifteen years before he was elected president of the USA, Dreams from My Father offers a unique portrait of Obama as a young man.

In this bestselling autobiography, the former president retraces his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia, and visits Kenya to confront the truth of his father's life, asking questions about identity, belonging and justice along the way.

A must-read book before you pick up Obama's new autobiography, A Promised Land. Sign up here. Ready for your next read? Home Articles General The best autobiographies and biographies.

Released this past September, "Born to Run" has already been praised by critics all over. Starting with the story of when he and the E Street Band played the Super Bowl Halftime show in and weaving back in and out of his personal and musical history, this book is a great resource for any die hard fans of The Boss. The story of The Man in Black as he chooses to tell it.

From childhood to stardom, the path for Johnny Case was never smooth, and that journey helped make his music as iconic as it is today. With stories of addiction, Elvis, and a love of his wife, this book allows readers a more detailed look at the history that inspired his work.

A founding member of the Rolling Stones, Richards defined for many what it meant to be a rock star, and here he tells his audience about his life of drugs, music, love, and more drugs. The book that inspired the recent film about the man who inspired so many. Nelson Mandela was one of the most influential moral and political leaders the world has seen. In "Long Walk to Freedom," Mandela recounts the struggles that made up his life, and his journey from prison to triumph.

In his book, the comic is strikingly candid about his relationship with heroin, and his ability to freely form words into captivating sentences translates extremely well from the microphone to the page. For you. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options.

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Subjects: Literary, Visionary. Subjects: Sex, Human sexuality. Subjects: Popular culture, Bohemianism, 20th century. The Diary of a Young Girl is a book of the writings from the Dutch language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the The Autobiography of Malcolm X. The Autobiography of Malcolm X was published in , the result of a collaboration between human rights activist Malcolm X and journalist Alex Haley.

Haley coauthored the autobiography based on a The Story of My Experiments with Truth. First Published: Subjects: Nonviolent resistance.

Autobiography is a book written by Mahatma Ghandi. The Story of My Life. The story of my life, with her letters and a supplementary account of her education is a book written by Helen Keller. Angela's Ashes. The memoir consists of various anecdotes and stories of Frank McCourt's impoverished childhood and early adulthood in Brooklyn, New Long Walk to Freedom. The book profiles his early life, coming of age, The first in a seven-volume series, it is a coming-of-age story that The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is the traditional name for the unfinished record of his own life written by Benjamin Franklin from to ; however, Franklin himself appears to have First Published: Subjects: Augustine of Hippo. Confessions is the name of an autobiographical work, consisting of 13 books, by St.

Augustine of Hippo, written in Latin between and AD. Modern English translations of it are sometimes Open: An Autobiography. Night is a work by Elie Wiesel about his experience with his father in the Nazi German concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald in —45, at the height of the Holocaust toward the end of the Up From Slavery. Up from Slavery is the autobiography of Booker T.

Washington detailing his personal experiences in working to rise from the position of a slave child during the Civil War, to the difficulties Girl, Interrupted. Girl, Interrupted is a best-selling memoir by American author Susanna Kaysen, relating her experiences as a young woman in a psychiatric hospital in the s after being diagnosed with Life and Times of Frederick Douglass.

Life and Times of Frederick Douglass is Frederick Douglass' third autobiography, published in , revised in Because of the emancipation of American slaves during and following the American The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant is an autobiography of Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of the United States, focused mainly on his military career during the Mexican-American War and A Walk in the Woods. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King, published in , is a memoir of the author's experiences as a writer, and also serves as a guide book for those who choose to enter the craft.

Pistone about his story as an FBI agent going undercover and infiltrating the Mafia. In , Primo Levi is in every way a better writer than Elie Wiesel. It describes his arrest as a member of the Italian anti-fascist resistance during the Second World War, and his incarceration in My Left Foot.

As one of 13 surviving children, Brown went on to be an author, painter The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly. Running with Scissors. Running with Scissors is a memoir by American writer Augusten Burroughs. The book tells the story of Burroughs's bizarre childhood life after his mother, a chain-smoking aspiring poet, sent him First Published: Subjects: Steve Martin.

It chronicles his early life,