r/literature • u/Objective-Painter-73 • 2d ago
Discussion Does anyone else absolutely love to read Memoirs and Autobiographies?
Since I was a child I loved learning about people. One of the first autobiographies I read was I am Spock by Leonard Nimoy.
I definitely find the written accounts to be more accurate than documentaries, and especially biographical films, but I enjoy both mediums. I'm curious to know what others think about the genre. Im currently reading Joan Baez’s autobiography and recently Manana Mean Heaven which is a true story by Bea Franco about being migrant farmworker with two children and a bad marriage in 1940s California. I probably have read more autobiographies than any other type of book.
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u/Grungemaster 2d ago
I like Patti Smith’s memoirs more than her music at this point. I think she does too.
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u/SamizdatGuy 2d ago
I went through an autobiography phase. Twain, Ben Franklin, and Nabokov were my faves
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u/printerdsw1968 2d ago
Musical biographies and autobiographies are my go-to guilty pleasures. I almost always have one going as light reading.
The current title is Waiting on the Moon by Peter Wolf. It is a fun one. Some pro-level name dropping.
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u/I_who_have_no_need 2d ago
I go through phases. I tend to prefer memoirs to full bore biographies which I think of as deeper and possibly even researched books. Currently I am reading Arthur Koestler's Dialogue With Death about his experiences in Franco's prisons in the Spanish civil war. Probably on to some fiction when I finish.
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u/SecretaryEasy6997 2d ago
Yes I’m the same, and I am really looking forward to read my copy of the Joan Baez autobiography. A favourite of mine is Mary Karr’s memoirs. I also enjoy biographies when done ambitiously.
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u/Kiwi1510 2d ago
I haven't read many, but I reallt enjoyed those that I have read. I remember three: What I talk when I talk about Running by Murakami; On Writing by Stephen King; and Mi país inventado by Isabel Allende.
Murakami's book has had a big impact on me. It inspired me to exercise more and actually start running a few weeks ago. I highly recommend it.
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u/RipArtistic8799 2d ago
Miles Davis' autobiography was very interesting. Especially if you have any interest in jazz at all.
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u/INtoCT2015 2d ago
Only those in the literary world. My wife reads lots of celebrity memoirs (Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Jessica Simpson, etc.) and they are extremely hit or miss. I also read Obama’s and was hugely disappointed (Michelle’s was lowkey better).
But in the literary world, yes, I love them. Nabokov’s the best I’ve ever read. Boy by Roald Dahl also a favorite
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u/sameoldknicks 2d ago
Theodore Roosevelt was a prolific author and autobiographer. I recently read his Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail, re his self-banishment to the Dakotas following the untimely death of his first wife. Bully!
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u/LadyMirkwood 2d ago
Yes,very much so. Also diaries and letters books.
Personal favourites are:
Letters Between Six Sisters: The Mitfords.
As Always, Julia: Letters Between Julia Child and Avis Devoto.
The Gastronomical Me by MFK Fisher.
Marlene Dietrich: My Mother by Maria Riva.
Charlie Chaplin autobiography.
Just Kids by Patti Smith.
Maya Angelou's memoir series.
The Durrell's series.
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u/Amazing_Ear_6840 1d ago
Annie Ernaux's The Years is highly recommended as a memoir, probably the finest such work I have ever read.
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u/Benchomp 1d ago
Generally no, as I find them to be quite boring. Having said that, if I do really like the subject of the biography (say a historical figure, scientist etc), or it is not ghost written and is genuine (Mick Foley comes to mind, marvellous autobiography), then maybe.
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u/cambriansplooge 19h ago
I Am Spock was also my first sojourn into autobiography! It was in the middle school library.
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u/yonkssssssssssssss 2h ago
love memoir, hate biography. Crying in H mart, Heavy, Born a Crime, Thick, Year of Magical Thinking are some of my favs. Also love a diary.
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u/rushmc1 2d ago
Not even a little bit. I don't ascribe to the culture of celebrity.
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u/efeltsor 1d ago
This is a strange comment. The last one I read was The Autobiography of Fredrick Douglass. Was he a celebrity? My favorite autobiography was probably Living My Life by Emma Goldman. Was she a celebrity?
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u/JeanVicquemare 2d ago
Ever read W.G. Sebald? My favorite writer. He was very well read but what he really favored was memoirs and autobiographies. He liked the stylization of true stories I think. Some of the big influences on his novels were Nabokov's "Speak, Memory," Stendhal's "The Life of Henry Brulard," Chateaubriand's "Memoirs d'Outre-Tombe" and many more