What’s your favorite memoir, autobiography, and/or biography?

Crying in H Mart, I’m glad my mom died

I’m basic I know

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes. It's so wholesome. I love it. I've you're an audio reader, I recommend the audiobook because most of the cast comes to do their own excerpts. 5 stars

Just Kids

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

Educated - taught me a lot about childhood trauma

Into Thin Air by John Krakauer

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard Feynman

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

Im glad my mom died by Jeanette McCurdy

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Know My Name by Chanel Miller, it was flawless! And also Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

The Storyteller, Dave Grohl Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosch.

It’s funny, meaningful, and gets right into someone dealing with depression in such understandable ways

Every time that I read it I laugh until I cry

Currently reading Radium Girls. Wow!

I have heard that when breath becomes air is a beautiful memoir

'Me Talk Pretty One Day' and 'Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls' by David Sedaris.

J R R Tolkien by Humphrey Carpenter.

Absolutely anything written by Joan Didion!

Autobiography of a Face Lucy Grealy

Rosalie Lightning Tom Hart

Ron Chernow's bio of Hamilton

This is going to hurt by Adam Kay. Hilarious and heart-wrenching.

Kitchen confidential

Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated by Alison Arngrim

Educated by Tara Westover.

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boon. She was an inspiration

Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell.

Augusten Burroughs has some good ones. Start with Running with Scissors. If you like it, check out Dry and some of the others.

Finding Me by Viola Davis

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

John Adams by David McCullough

Becoming by Michelle Obama (best on Audio)

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

Congratulations, you've stumbled upon my special interest! My favorites from the past couple of years are:

• How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler (mirrors their own human experiences and finding different models of existing and being in community through examples found in marine life. Part beautiful memoir and part science nerd. My favorites memoir so far this year. I can't stop thinking about it.)
• I'm Glad my Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy (Child star grows up with incredibly narcissistic mother.)
• In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (Memoir documenting interpersonal violence in a queer femme relationship, written almost in the style of a psychological thriller.)
• How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair (Memoir from a women growing up in a strict Rastafarian household in Jamaica.)
• Strong Female Character by Fern Brady (Hilarious and accurate account from a Scottish comedian about the intersectionality of being a woman growing up with undiagnosed autism.)
• Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H (Person recounts their life and experiences of belonging and exploring sexuality and gender whist growing up in a strict Islamic country.)
• Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World by Christian Cooper (You may know the author as the Black birder in central park who videotaped a Karen calling the cops on him and falsely accusing him of trying to kill her. His memoir is an account of his life as a geeky Black nerd and how these identities intertwined.)
• Stay True by Hua Hsu (A memoir on belonging as an Asian American and grief.)
• What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo (As a trauma therapist myself, this is by far the best account of complex trauma. Her writing and research are impeccable.)
• When They Call You A Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors (Memoir from one of the co-founders of the Black Lives Matter movement.)
• When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (Memoir of a Neurosurgeon who discovers he has cancer and documents his experience from diagnosis until death.)
• Hunger by Roxanne Gay (Memoir of living in a morbidly obese body, trauma, and intersectionality. Her writing is incredible.)
• Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl (The first half of this book is a memoir of his time in a concentration camp and how this helped him to form the framework for what would become Existential Psychotherapy. The second half of this book is him outlining what he calls "Logotherapy," which I wouldn't recommend delving into unless you are a practicing therapist. But this book is filled with so much hope for the human condition.)

I really enjoyed Danny Trejo's.

The Tender Bar by JR Moehringer!! (I haven’t seen the movie, but the book is definitely much better, based on what I’ve heard!)

Agree with The Glass Castle for sure. And Angela’s Ashes is pretty amazing.

Jaycee Dugard A Stolen Life

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Andre Agassi’s “Open”. I don’t know a thing about tennis, and while that might be helpful to understand some of the symbolism and “action”, this book is beautifully written and so incredibly relatable. As an artist, I found his struggles to challenge himself and find meaning in what he’s chosen(or what others chose) for his life so compelling and insightful.

Ducks by Kate Beaton

The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict is a quick, interesting read about Hedy Lamarr, who was pretty freaking amazing.

How to say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair I love reading most memoirs but there’s a special place in my heart for memoirs who manage to teach you about some specific topic because of the authors context. This book went above and beyond in teaching me about Jamaica and Rastafarian culture. Other than that it’s very similar to the plot of educated and the glass castle

Matthew Perry's autobiography: Friends, Lovers amd the Big Terrible Thing.

It's one of the best autobiographies that I have read about the struggles of addiction.

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey

Hollywood Park by Mikel Jollett is never suggested here, but it was such an amazing work. I love autobiographies and memoirs, this one was incredibly honest and well written.

Promise at Dawn, by French author Romain Gary, is an extraordinary autobiography, both hilarious and sad. Romain Gary lived a fascinating live - writer, fighter pilot during WW2, ambassador... The book is centered around his early life up to the end of WW2, his relations with his mother, her tremendous sacrifices and her tremendous expectations. Heartbreaking in a good way.

The Confessions by Augustine is quite literally the first ever "modern" autobiography despite being written in the 4th century. A monument of literature and philosophy.

Storm of Steel, by Ernst Jünger. It's the story of his experience during WW1. We are used to books about WW1 that are staunchly pacifist (like All Quiet on the Western Front). Storm of Steel is... not that. Jünger was a volunteer soldier in 1914 at 19, was wounded 14 times and considered the war as a mystical experience. And yet he is perfectly aware of the horrors of war - his description of artillery fire in particular really makes you feel the horror of being a soldier there. It's weird, disturbing and fascinating, a deep dive into a completely foreign sensibility. Jünger also has an amazing prose, truly beautiful.

My wife doesn't watch wrestling, but even she has read 3 of Mick Foley's autobiographies.

Lab Girl by Hope Jahren

Kiss Me Like a Stranger by Gene Wilder

The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner

Tweak by Nic Sheff & Beautiful Boy David Sheff. Two books that helped me process my addiction. Very powerful to see the addicts perspective and the dads while dealing with his sons addiction. How much pain the father was going through trying to understand why his son was struggling the way he was. Its beautiful, cry through both books every reread.

Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress by Debra Ginsberg

Maybe not one of the "greats", but I enjoyed it and learned one hell of a lot about restaurants. One of these days I'll get to Kitchen Confidential (RIP Anthony Bourdain)

The Color of Water by James Mcbride.

4.1 stars on goodreads, was a NYT bestseller for a long time when published, but not "popular" anymore bc it's over 20 years old.

Subtitle is "A Black Man's Tribute to his White Mother" - it's a memoir that delves deeply into race in America

I loved Brian Jay Jones's biography of Jim Henson.

There But For Fortune: The Life of Phil Ochs by Michael Schumacher

Open by Andre Agassi was very good, if you can forgive him for totally glossing over the roughly four year period he spent wrecked on cocaine and DVing Brooke Shields

Roald Dahl wrote two good books about his life, Boy and Going Solo. Also Dolly Parton's autobiography will make you love her even more: My life and Other Unfinished Business.

Hollywood Park by Mikel Jollett is some of the best Americana I’ve ever read. You’ve got cults, children killing rabbits for food, LA burnouts, sex drugs and rock n roll, road trips….

Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run is a hell of a ride. The man can really tell a story.

Cured by Lol Tolhurst (the drummer for the Cure) talks about a much less common view of 80s new wave.

Don’t forget David Sedaris, Hunter S Thompson, and Anthony Bourdain!

I might have said Spare, if not for the fact that it was an autobiography with an unreliable narrator. He shared a lot, much more than even a normal celeb probably would. I would never have expected so much information from a member of the Royal Family.

Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking was very affecting, Didion trying to process the sudden death of her husband, and as a reader knowing that she would also lose her daughter shortly before it was published.

Storyteller by David Grohl

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette Mcurdy

Wavewalker by Suzanne Heywood

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

Friends Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry

As You Wish by Cary Elwes

Beyond the Wand by Tom Felton

In The Weeds by Tom Vitale

Pageboy by Elliot Page

Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama by Bob Odenkirk

Finding Me by Viola Davis

John Lithgow’s autobiography is great. I had no idea he came up through Shakespearean theatre and his description of the life is amazing. Triple points for the audiobook version bc the man is a stage actor and speaks like a god.

Billy Crystal’s autobiography is also great and the stories of everyone he’s worked with and known is amazing. Double points for audiobook version.

Honestly always choose audiobook version for autobiographies read by the author.

Jeannette Walls’s The Glass Castle is great and I’m ready for a re-read myself. Story of her impoverished childhood coming up under pretty unstable parenting in Appalachia.

Leah Remini’s “Troublemaker: surviving Hollywood and Scientology”. It was fascinating! (ETA: the audio was outstanding, narrated by the author)

I Am Nujood, Age 10 And Divorced by Nujood Ali

Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis

Theft By Finding by David Sedaris

Elliott Smith and The Big Nothing by Benjamin Nugent

A Stolen Life: A Memoir by Jaycee Dugard

Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall

Murphy's Boy by Torey Hayden

Sybil Exposed by Debbie Nathan

The Year Of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs

Any Mary Roach books. I've read Stiff; Spook; and Bonk. All amusing

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

A Chance in the World by Steve Permberton

Destiny of the Republic by Candace Millard

"Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8," by Naoki Higashida

Paddle Your Own Canoe by Nick Offerman

Rated X by Maitland Ward

The Alchemy of Air by Thomas Hager

Fictional Biographies:

Confessions of A D-List Supervillian by Jim Bernheimer

The Ill-Made Knight by Christian Cameron

Notes of a Hostage by Svetozar Ćorović. A short book, just covering the period when he was taken as a hostage by Austria-Hungary during WWI, until he was sent to a concentration camp.

Me-Elton John

ETA: Girl Interrupted-Susanna Kaysen (sp?)

No Ordinary Time

Angela’s Ashes

A Girl From Yamhill and My Own Two Feet by Beverly Cleary.

Beverly: An Autobiography by Beverly Sills with Lawrence Linderman.

With Nails: The Film Diaries of Richard E. Grant.

An Autobiography by Agatha Christie

Omg, Heavy is amazing, glad you liked that one.

I recommend Bono’s memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story. The 40 songs are actually the 40 chapters of the book because each chapter is the title of one of U2’s songs. He even has drawings in it.

I also recommend Just Kids by Patti Smith. She is such a great storyteller, I absolutely love the prose.

The Choice by Edith Eger

Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor by D A Carson. Basically after his father passed away he found his private journals and realised how through a life of faithful but quiet service his father struggled with depression, a sense of inadequacy, etc. Incredibly poignant.

(jeez I keep remembering more to add to the list! I really love memoirs.)

*Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

*The Woman in Me by Britney spears.

*Blackbird and Still Waters, both by Jennifer Lauck

*Please Stop Laughing at Me by Jodee Blanco

*the In-Between by Hadley Vlahos (this one is about a hospice nurse and holy crap, did I have a book hangover after finishing it!)

*My Story by Elizabeth Smart

*High Achiever by Tiffany Jenkins

I used to love A Child Called It but then I had kids and I just can't stomach anything about child abuse anymore.

I’m into presidential history, and David McCullough’s Truman is my favorite. Also really enjoyed his bio of The Wright Brothers.

Open by Andre Agassi

Making it So by Patrick Stewart (really good on audio).

Don't Let's go to the Dogs Tonight or Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller

Gray’s Anatomy by Spalding Gray is a wild, funny memoir. One of my favorite books and only about 100 pages.

Older ones, but great reads:

My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell All Creatures Great and Small and others by James Herriot

My pick of Educated is already on your list. I wish I could go back and read it for the first time. I’m definitely going to save this post for recommendations.

I don’t know if you’re willing to read more than one by a single author, but I adored Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher. So funny and touching.

Confessions of an Art Addict - Peggy Guggenheim

Tender at the Bone - Ruth Reichl

Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain

Boy Kings of Texas - Domingo Martinez

Memoir is - The Glass Castle. (My favorite book of all time) Autobiography was Open Book - Jessica Simpson. I don’t think I’ve read a lot of biography’s

Paris: The Memoir

This was a surprising one for me, but I loved it! I would suggest going into it with an open mind and in this case, don't judge a book by its cover. There are, however, some TW before you get into it.

Edit: Also, I would recommend the audiobook version.

These are all really dark reads, but I digress:

A child called it - Dave peltzer

A house in the sky - Amanda lindhout

Scar tissue - Anthony kiedis

Night - Elie wiesel

A mothers reckoning: living in the aftermath of tragedy - sue klebold

Know my name - Chanel miller

No Filter by Paulina Porizkova

Born Standing Up. An autobiography by Steve Martin.

I love love love memoirs so it’s hard to pick just one but if you can handle a very dark one, I recommend The Hospital by Barbara O’Hare.

• Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan
• Wild by Cheryl Strayed
• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
• I’m With The Band by Pamela Des Barres
• Just Kids by Patti Smith
• Wildflower by Drew Barrymore
• Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis
• The Chris Farley Show by Tom Farley
• Almost Interesting by David Spade
• The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (and all of her essay books like White Album, Slouching Towards Bethlehem)
• Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe
• Last Night at the Viper Room: River Phoenix and the Hollywood He Left Behind by Gavin Edwards
• Brat by Andrew McCarthy
• Honey, Baby, Mine by Laura Dern and Diane Ladd
• Along the Way: The Journey Between Father and Son by Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez

Autobiography of Malcolm X , for an easy read there’s Gene Tierny’s autobiography

Yes Please by Amy Poehler

Greenlights - Matthew McConaughey!

I've done both, read the book and listened to the audiobook. The audiobook wins hands down; hearing his voice and going through his life is incredible and uplifting, too!

This sounds really strange, but I really enjoyed William Shatner's memoir. I really didn't think I would.

Ozzy's is good, too. I heard every word in his voice.

David Sedaris is absolutely brilliant for shorter autobiographical essays. Funny and touching.

Angela's Ashes

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman by the late physicist and bongo player Richard Feynman. So much fun!

The Private Life of Chairman Mao by Dr Li Zhisui. This was written by Mao’ personal physician. Gives an in depth and first hand view of how absolutely crazy it can get when one person has all the power in a big country plus what it does to that person.

If you're into podcasts, check out celebrity memoir book club

I know this is newer and popular, but I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jenette McCurdy is my favorite autobiography. I'm not a huge autobiography fan, but I enjoyed listening to George W. Bush's autobiography on audio book as well. I'm not very political, but it was interesting to hear his POV of 9/11 and the events post.

The immortal life of Henrietta lacks

Surprised no one has yet mentioned The Liars Club by Mary Karr.

Dame of Sark, by the Dame of Sark!

I, Phoolan Devi: The Autobiography of India's Bandit Queen by Phoolan Devi

Another bullshit night in suck city by Nick Flynn

Too close to the falls

Heart Berries

Danny's Baker's trilogy. Really really good - entertaining, well paced, insightful and brilliant use of language throughout

Evita - The Life of Eva Peron by Jill Hedges

It is what it is by David Coulthard (if you're into Formula 1)

Tout donner by Guillaume Depardieu, but I'm not sure if this was translated into English. I read the German version.

Robin by Dave Itzkoff

Princess Noire: The Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone by Nadine Cohodas

From Truant to Anime Screenwriter by Mari Okada

Sesame Street, Palestine by Daoud Kuttab

Richard Ellmann's biographies of Oscar Wilde and James Joyce - absolutely amazing!

The life and rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah

Ten Steps to Nanette by Hannah Gadsby

Kiss Me Like a Stranger by Gene Wilder

How To Be Champion by Sarah Millican (not a self help book)

What Fresh Hell Is This? by Marion Meade on Dorothy Parker

When We Rise by Cleve Jones.

I learned so much and still think about it even now.

Undisputed Truth by Mike Tyson

Nadezhda Mandelstam. Hope Against Hope, Hope Abandoned. “A masterpiece of prose as well as a model of biographical narrative and social analysis it [Hope Against Hope] is mainly the story of the terrible last years of persecution and torment before the poet [her husband Osip Mandelstam] was murdered [by Stalin].” 

Edit: "It is Nadezhda Mandelstam's memoir of her life with Osip, who was first arrested in 1934...Hope Against Hope is a vital eyewitness account of Stalin's Soviet Union and one of the greatest testaments to the value of literature and imaginative freedom ever written."

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.

I’m also currently reading The Secret Life of the Savoy by Olivia Williams.

Which is about the three generations of the D’Oyly-Carte family, the first being Richard, who founded The Savoy Theatre and The Savoy Hotel and was instrumental in putting together Gilbert & Sullivan. It’s really interesting so far!

The Cry of the Gull, Emmanuelle Laborit A road back from schizophrenia, Arnhild Lauveng

Motherwell by Deborah Orr

East West Street by Phillipe Sands (a mix of history and biography)

Autobiography of an unknown Indian by Nirad C Chaudhary

Some of my favourites that I have read over the years : Good girls guide to Travel by Rachel Friedman The Soul of a Woman by Isabel Allende My patients and other animals by Suzy-finchman Gray The Art of Waiting by Belle Boggs

Living My Life by Emma Goldman

My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem

Kitchen confidential Anthony bourdain

Buck by MK Asante, the Helen Forrester books.

The Naked Truth by Leslie Nielsen.

I really enjoyed Shelley Winters autobiography. If you want the dirt on old Hollywood she experienced it all.

I really enjoyed Shelley Winters autobiography. If you want the dirt on old Hollywood she experienced it all.

Shelley Winters. She had sex with everybody.

Life - Keith Richards

It's So Easy - Duff McKagan

Will - G Gordon Liddy

Ghost boy by Martin pistorius

Born Again Black Fella by Uncle Jack Charles - an Aussie Icon, if you haven't heard of him

Currently reading Paris which is much better than I expected

This Boy by Alan Johnson. He was the British Home Secretary and the books basically about his childhood growing up as a working class lad in London. It's equally hilarious, heartbreaking and hopeful. Still one of my favourite memoirs I've read.

The Black Count, about the father of the Author Alexander Dumas.

The Measure of a Man, by Sidney Poitier. It’s not a straight biography but goes deeper into parts of his life.

Leonardo Da Vinci --Walter Isaacson

Down below by Leonora Carrington but I may be biased because I’m an artist and love her work

Currently reading Solito by Javier Zamora. Highly recommend.

I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown

Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too Movement by Tarna Burke

Know My Name by Chanel Miller

Powerbroker: Robert Moses and the fall of New York

Robert a Caro

Shoe dog-Phil Knight

Mellon by David Cannadine

Sticking just with memoirs:

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

My Life in France by Julia Child

My Several Worlds by Pearl S Buck

Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth Jr and Ernestine

The Language of Baklava by Diana Abu-Jaber

Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl

In My Father's Court by Isaac Bashevis Singer

The Midwife by Jennifer Worth

Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck

The Story of My Life by Helen Keller

I strongly agree with the already suggested:
Educated

The Glass Castle

“Are you my mother?” By Allison Bechdel!

George Carlin "Last words"

What a legend.

George Lucas: A Life by Brian Jay Jones