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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2017 23:32:01 GMT
Do you have some favorite Biographies or Autobiographies that you have read that really informed or entertained you?
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Post by bonerxmas on May 22, 2017 0:51:20 GMT
plutarch
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Post by OldSamVimes on May 23, 2017 0:33:29 GMT
Ron Jeremy.
I never watch porn, so it was quite the eye opener for me.
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Squelchy
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Post by Squelchy on May 24, 2017 14:42:37 GMT
I don't read many but I loved The Autobiography of Malcolm X and more recenly, Springsteen's Born to Run.
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Post by OldSamVimes on May 25, 2017 9:32:28 GMT
Oh yeah, I read 'Klaus Kinski Uncut' last year.
Quite the wildman, not sure how much of his rampling tales could be believed.
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Post by louise on May 31, 2017 6:30:26 GMT
Agatha Christie's autobiography is my favourite, it is absolutely delightful.
Recollections of Three Reigns, by Frederick ponsonby, is fascinating. his memoris of service Queen Victoria, edward VII , and George V.
My family and other Animals by Gerald Durrell,about his childhood on Corfu with his wildly eccentric family, is a great book, very funny and charming.
Homage to Catalonia, George Orwell's book about his experiences in the Spanish Civil War, is fascinating.
My History by Antonia Fraser, a memoir of her childhood and youth, which i just read recently, is very entertaining.
My Life and hard Times by james Thurber is wonderful.
Queen Victoria was Amused, by Alan hardy, is one of my favourite biographies.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2017 23:50:17 GMT
Some great selections louise! will have to look into some of them.
Of the Auto/Bio's that I have read over the last year the ones that stood out:
Rod: The Autobiography, Rod Stewart's career had it high-points right up through the music scene of the 60's and 70's and this was written with a very wry sense of humor and some pretty interesting observations on what the life of an unabashed rock'n roll hedonist (who seemed to mostly try to be a pretty decent guy) would lead-follow this up with a chaser of 'Life' by Keith Richards and James Fox and you can have lot's of fun being an armchair rockstar for a few weeks.
Wonderland Avenue by Danny Sugerman is in the groupie/manager category, Sugerman grew up around the head office for the 'Doors' and this book is a pretty extreme journey into the dark heart of the rock scene in the late 60's and early 70's.
Baa Baa Black Sheep by Gregory Boyington, excellent first-person account of what it was like to be an ace fighter pilot in the Pacific theater and a POW during the second world war, exciting and frightening, will definitely put you in the pilot's seat for one hell of a ride.
His Way 'The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra' by Kitty Kelly. From Sinatra's tumultuous political ties with the Kennedy's and his need for vengeance against Bobby Kennedy that eventually lead him to support Nixon and Agnew to his amazing comeback in the early 1950's, his Bogart 'Rat-Pack', his long volatile relationship with Ava Gardner, his attacks on the press and the amount of influence that he wielded for a short-time in the late 50's are all really interesting and almost reads like a good fiction novel rather than an actual living person.
Wish I could remember the titles but some of the Historical figures that were the most interesting over the years.
Teddy Roosevelt, Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain, Julius Cesar, Hannibal, Napoleon, Nikola Tesla, Orson Welles, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, The Beatles, Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth, King John.
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sagenesse
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Post by sagenesse on Jun 17, 2017 5:35:46 GMT
The first one that comes to my mind is the one written by the actress who played Nellie on Little House On The Prairie. Her name slips my mind at the moment. It's a great book and she is very funny. I was surprised to read she was abused by her brother. I didn't expect to read about child abuse when I picked up her book. I've read it twice. A friend who recommended it to me has read it at least 5 times.
Another one I will never forget is Corey Feldman's book. That was a tough read. His mom was very abusive plus the drugs he used, abused by men in Hollywood and so on. I don't know if I could ever read it again. But it has stuck with me.
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Post by mikef6 on Jun 17, 2017 21:36:48 GMT
A few biographies of entertainers and artists that I consider to be definitive:
Groucho: The Life And Times Of Julius Henry Marx by Stefan Kanfer
King of Comedy: The Life and Art of Jerry Lewis by Shawn Levy
Bogart by A.M. Sperber and Eric Lax
The Emperor And The Wolf: The Lives And Films Of Akira Kurosawa And Toshiro Mifune By Stuart Galbraith IV
Alfred Hitchcock: A Life In Darkness And Light by Patrick McGilligan
The Beatles: The Biography by Bob Spitz
Mozart by Maynard Soloman
Beethoven by Maynard Soloman
Robert Mitchum: “Baby, I Don’t Care.” By Lee Server
Of the tens of thousands of books written, the best biography of William Shakespeare is:
William Shakespeare: A Documentary Life, rev. ed., by S. Schoenbuam. (Also available as “A Compact Documentary Life” with the entire text but fewer and smaller reproductions of the documents - also not so expensive.)
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Post by deembastille on Jun 17, 2017 23:56:37 GMT
these might be considered historical fiction but I love Allison Weir's work, particularly her work with Henry VIII and the wives and children.
I also love Philippa Gregory's work on the Tudor Clan.
Carroly Erickson found the hidden diary of Marie Antoinette and whipped it up into a book -- really good read. you feel badly for her losing her most loved sister to that plague, then the love she felt for Eric, the stable boy who surprisingly made the journey to Versailles with her [something the movie Marie Antoinette kind of said 'no, you can't have anything or anyone from your past life be here'].
Antonia Frasier also has a good handle on Marie as well as Juliet Grey. -- Juliet is the only author to mention the torture she had to endure to straighten her teeth and the horror she felt when she accidentally killed two baby birds.
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Post by bravomailer on Jun 18, 2017 4:21:31 GMT
The Education of Henry Adams. The descendant of two American presidents traces the changes in the US from the Civil War to the early twentieth century, which saw the country's center shift from his colonial elite to industrial magnates.
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Post by twothousandonemark on Jun 18, 2017 14:50:51 GMT
Steve Jobs - even in the depths of cancer, he berated someone for using MS Powerpoint during a conference meeting. He never put license plates on his cars, he would let the allowable time expire & simply buy a new car sans plates.
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Bargle
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Post by Bargle on Jun 19, 2017 10:41:55 GMT
"Harpo Speaks" by Harpo Marx
"Moe Howard and The 3 Stooges" by Moe Howard
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2017 19:33:44 GMT
Judith Thurman's biography of Colette is very good though admittedly that's because Colette really fucking lived.
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Post by politicidal on Jul 28, 2017 17:58:12 GMT
Hitler - A Biography, Volume 1: Ascent 1889-1939. By Volker Ullrich who planned on a followup I believe. It's probably the same dimensions of a brick but very informative. |
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Post by lunda2222 on Aug 2, 2017 9:31:58 GMT
Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan's Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe That Ended the Outlaws' Bloody Reign.
Yeah, the title is that long, and it's highly recomended.
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