Back when they came out with the arbitrarily cut off “100 best novels/movies/songs/etc. of the 20th Century,” I was waiting for a similar list for autobiographies. Autobiographies in the actual sense - using one’s life as fodder for a novel wouldn’t count (disqualifying all of Thomas Wolfe, and Hemingway’s “Movable Feast.”), but literary embellishment for the sake of the reader’s entertainment is allowed. With that allowance, I’ll put two entries into the list: Anthony Burgess’s two-volume autobiography (an old man should be granted the comforts of bullshit against the outrages of age, and it’s the duty of youth to discern received wisdom from benign hoodwinking), and Edward Estlin’s “The Enormous Room,” a book that most graciously reminds me of youth’s greatest liberty: the ability to smirk at the potential meat-grinder of life.
Anyone else care to bestow laurels on this overlooked genre (or did I just overlook the list in 1999)?
Two little known books that would make my personal top 100 autobiographies. The first is out of print, but well worth looking up on bibliofind. The second may be out of print.
Lower Than Angels, Windstaff. The story of a pilot who survived WWI. Continues into the 1920’s, Greenwich (sp?) Village, Paris and Italy. He knew Hemingway, Stein, Alistar Crowley and others less known. On the edge of their crowd, but excellent character analysis (IMO) and stories. BTW, there is a novel from the 1940’s with the same title. Not related.
The Man Who Stayed Behind. An American communist who stayed in China from the end of WWII to just recently. Was arrested (twice!) and spent over half his stay in solitary confinement. Knew Mao, others. His cultural revolution stories, as a participant and victim, are chilling.
Peter O’Toole has written two volumns thus far and they read like you and he are relaxing in the library over a couple of snifters.
“Loitering With Intent: The Child” covers his early life, growing up with his mum and bookie father and sometimes having burley men with nicknames like “Hatchetface” for playmates. “Loitering With Intent: The Student” is about his first year at the RADA. Tells great stories, complete with dialog, so I would suspect a lot of it needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Favorite scene, he and Albert Finney in acting class, swanning about the room with other students, pretending to be flowers and bees.
CAPOTE by Gerald Clarke
Even if you don’t particularly care for him. It was written well and it’s very interesting reading.
Also have to mention THE LIVES OF JOHN LENNON by Albert Goldman. Boy did THAT open my eyes to the “sweet/cute” Liverpudlians!
CAPONE by John Kobler. Favorite subject matter.
Also CANDICE BERGAN’S, DICK CAVETT’S and OSCAR LEVENT’S.
The Alan Clark Diaries – the personal diaries of Alan Clark, a bigoted, sleazy old lech of a British government minister. Very entertaining and enlightening when it comes to British politics (and the aristocracy).
Lowell Thomas’ “Good Evening Everybody” is wonderful. Here is a man that was personally invited to the White House by every U.S. President from Wilson to Nixon, covered in person Lawrence of Arabia’s battles, had as a Sunday School teacher legendary saloon keeper and madam Texas Guinan, was one of the first radio and television broadcast journalists. It is also extremely well written.
Ben Hecht’s “A Child of the Century” is also very good, especially the first three quarters. He lived through the “Roaring '20s” in Chicago (and did a great deal of the 'roaring himself), moved to New York and wrote some of the most popular American plays of any age, went to Hollywood and was involved with some of the best and worst films of any age (including “Gone with the Wind”) finally he was involved with the birth of Isreal. (he later put out a more detailed auto-bio of his Chicago years called “Gaily, Gaily”. It too was extremely good.)
Also enjoyed George Seldes’ “Witness to a Century”. He knew Teddy Roosevelt, hung out with Jack Reed, irritated Black Jack Persing, was kicked out of Italy after asking Mussolini just the wrong question and beat everyone into Berlin before it fell.
Margaret Webster’s autobio “Don’t Let Your Daughters on to the Stage” is also quite good as is Josh Logan’s “Josh.” “Harpo Speaks” by Harpo Marx was also a good read. I am currently reading “Rewrites” by Neil Simon. So far, it’s quite good also.
I agree with the votes for “The Man Who Stayed Behind” and Oscar Levant’s “Memories of an Amnesiac.”
Capt. Nemo, the Windstaff book sounds good. I will put that on my to read list.
Graham Chapman’s A Liar’s Autobiography is brilliant: funny (duh) and touching. Spike Milligan’s Hitler: My Part in his Downfall (along with subsequent volumes) qualifies on the same grounds, as does Bob Geldof’s Is This It?