Whose biography/autobiography/memoirs have you enjoyed most?

Question

The 'm' word they shortened was supposed to be 'memoirs' :)

Answer 1

Princess Diana; Jackie Kennedy; Grace Kelly, Winston Churchill,etc. Riches Men ; Most Dangerous Dictators,

Answer 2

I really enjoyed "In search of JD Salinger" because the man is such a mystery and fighting hard to stay one - which makes writing his biography a daunting task. He actually got an injunction so some of the material the author collected couldn't be in the actual book.

Also, I once read a Katherine Mansfield biography once - can't remember the title, but that was good, too. I don't think every author's writing is as strongly influenced by their biography as her is, but here, it felt like her fiction made more sense once you knew about her life.

Sylvia Plath's annotated diaries also make great reading. Not quite a biography, but s close to an autobiography as you get.

And "Helmut Schmidt - ein Leben für den Frieden" is also fascinating reading, partly because I found this former German chancellor interesting, but even more because you learn a lot about the time he ran the country in, which was dominated by terrorism in Germany. It's interesting when you think about the "war or terror" today and compare to how they dealt with terrorist back then.

Answer 3

Louis XIV of France. But it was more the biography of his Versailles. I was into history when I was a kid. That was history in all it's glory: gossip, violence, sex, gluttony, fashion, religious extremities,war, hunger, power games, poverty, individual tragedies, sadism, envy, love, intelligence, beauty, elegance...
I have not read many biographies/memoirs, altogether maybe 4. I love fiction. So this doesn't come from an expert!

Answer 4

- Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
- A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
- Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson by Mitch Albom
- A Child Called "It": One Child's Courage to Survive by Dave Pelzer
- Lost Boy by David J. Pelzer

Answer 5

I am not really a fan of biographies and autobiographies. I think the last one I read was Marlon Brando. Pax- C

Answer 6

Shakey - Neil Young' biography is very good. Not only does it completely lay out the strange tale if one of the most pervasive figures in rock, but it also goes inti great detail about the origins of rock-n-roll and the major players in rock's birth.

Answer 7

The Liars Club by Mary Karr. Superb!

Answer 8

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.

Fascinating and still in print. You can also download it at http://www.gutenberg.net.

Answer 9

omg rotflol solid sufficient ive won a pair thier is a blonde burnet and redhead and so as that all of them won the electrical powered powered chair for against the regulation they didnt commit so the purple head is going first and he or she or he or he sits down and the guy whoes approximately to throw the bypass yells able objective and he or she or he or he yells tornado each guy or woman seems around and he or she or he or he escapes the burnet caught directly to this and sits indoors the chair able objective huracane she yells and could desire to ruin out the blonde is attentive to sits indoors the chair able objective she yelled hearth solid sufficient so the comparable scene by skill of making use of fact the prevalent one they're getting the chair and the burnett sits in it first they ask her is she has any very very final words she reported i take place to be a lawer and that i comprehend justice wont kill me off so he throws the bypass now no longer something occurs the purple head sits down and he asked her if she had any very very final words she grew to become right into a clean age type guy or woman and he or she or he or he reported karma wont enable me die so he flipped the bypass and not something happened the blonde sits down and reported i take place to be a technicion and that i comprehend that for people who dont plug it in its now no longer going to kill somebody

Answer 10

All of Laurie Notaro's autobiographies are hysterical and entertaining.