# Favorite autobiographies/memoirs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 23, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314 "2014-08-23T20:40:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314/21 "2014-08-24T20:31:08Z")
I’m surprised at how many of these books that you’ve listed that I’ve read and enjoyed and forgot to mention in the OP. I also should have said, **Act One** by Moss Hart. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314/22 "2014-08-24T23:14:24Z")
Between Silk and Cyanide by Leo Marks. Written by a cryptographer who worked with British spies in occupied Europe. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314/23 "2014-08-24T23:55:57Z")
_In The Arena_, by Charlton Heston. When speaking of working in film or on stage, I was impressed he never dissed other actors or actresses. Well, almost never. The one thing that got his dander up was when someone acted like a _“star”_, and not someone there to do a job. Heston spoke of a play he was in, after being experienced enough to have some clout. One of the other main actors was unable to go on, and Heston saw the understudy reading his lines, trying to memorize them before curtain time. He said he later got him fired, because he should have been prepared to go on. He claimed he never missed a day of work, and that gave him the lowest insurance rate in the industry. But if an actor was truly sick, that didn’t bother him. He spoke of the health problems Elizabeth Taylor had, and called her “a vastly underrated actress”, and seemed to regret he never got a chance to work with her. One anecdote I found amusing was when he told about how, during filming The Ten Commandments, he was just out of camera range when the baby Moses scene, in the water, was being shot. After all, that was his own son Fraser in the basket. At one point he reached up to the studio nurse, to take the baby and put him in the basket, and the nurse tried to tell him it was her job and he couldn’t have the baby yet. Heston says he gave her a glare and said _“Give. Me. The. Child.”_ She handed Fraser over right away. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314/24 "2014-08-24T23:57:20Z")
**Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant**. Still considered one of the best presidential autobiographies (though he was unable to cover anything past the end of the Civil War). Surprisingly modern style, with a sly sense of humor. It also covers things that are left out of standard Civil War histories (for instance, at no time did he think there was any danger of losing the battle of Shiloh). ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314/25 "2014-08-25T00:04:57Z")
Both volumes (so far) of Stephen Fry’s autobiography, “Moab is my Washpot” and “The Fry Chronicles,” have been excellent. I just love his writing style. They are the sort of books that I hate finishing, because I can never again read them for the first time (if that makes any sense). Two that I’ve listened to rather than read are Craig Ferguson’s “American on Purpose” and David Mitchell’s “Back Story”. Both were very enjoyable if you’re familiar with the gentlemen in question. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314/26 "2014-08-25T00:51:57Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > Another cozy, funny one is _My Family and Other Animals_, by Gerald Durrell. It’s about the years his family spent on the island of Corfu when he was a boy, just before WWII, where he was fascinated by all animals. Durrell grew up to be zookeeper and conservationist. Oh, yeah. I laughed all the way through that one. I was assigned it in high school, and I got my copy late somehow-- I was absent for a couple of days, and when I got my make-up work, the teacher missed giving me the book. On Friday, I noticed that everyone seemed to be reading the same book. We were supposed to be reading it on our own all week, and be ready to discuss it on Monday, then have an exam on Tuesday. It wasn’t a long book, so I figured I’d get started in the afternoon, and knock out a few chapters, then pick it back up on Saturday evening after Shabbes, read a little more, and get most of it done on Sunday. If I didn’t finish, I could read more before the test, and I’d take notes during the discussion. It was so good, I couldn’t put it down. I skipped Friday night services, and read it by a [Shabbes lamp](http://www.kosherimage.com/kosherlampMAX.html) [the one I had was homemade] until I fell asleep, then read the rest Saturday night, staying up until something like 3am. ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314/27 "2014-08-25T18:11:10Z")
> [@AppallingGael](#): > > Harpo Marx, **Harpo Speaks**. I can NOT believe I fotgot that one!:eek: What an awesome read it was too! ---
**Author:** ![Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kansas_Beekeeper)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314/28 "2014-08-25T20:32:40Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > . . . > > I was fascinated by _Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight_, by Alexandra Fuller. It’s her memoir about growing up with crazy British parents in colonial Africa in the 1970’s-80’s, mostly in Zimbabwe in the middle of a civil war. > > Homer Hickam’s _Rocket Boys_, made into the movie _October Sky_, is a nice read. > > . . . Alexandra Fuller’s book about her parents (crazy mother mostly), Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness, is worth reading too. Hickam’s Rocket Boys is a great book. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314/29 "2014-08-25T23:42:36Z")
U.S. Grant’s memoirs Julius Caesar’s Gallic wars A number of Winston Churchill’s early books covering his adventures in India, Sudan and South Africa. ---
**Author:** ![Philliam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/philliam/32/3011_2.png) [@Philliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philliam)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314/30 "2014-08-26T19:18:31Z")
From Grim to Goofy (but both great): Two volumes by Anthony Burgess - ‘Little Wilson and Big God’ and ‘You’ve Had Your Time’. Haven Kimmel’s ‘A Girl Named Zippy’. - Mark Twain’s long-awaited A-B (Vol. I). Extra positives for Robert Graves,Vera Brittain and Gerald Durrell. Obscure - Mezz Mezzrow’s ‘Living the Blues’. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314/31 "2014-08-26T19:42:25Z")
Surprisingly, I found that [So Far](http://www.amazon.com/So-Far-Kelsey-Grammer/dp/0525940413) by Kelsey Grammer was a very interesting read. Detailing Grammer’s origins in theater, to his work on _Cheers_ and _Frasier_, and sparing no critical eye at his own issues with addiction, his sister’s [kidnapping/rape/murder](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Glenn#Murders) by [spree killer Freddie Glenn](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Glenn), his father’s murder, and other incidents. ---
**Author:** ![Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kansas_Beekeeper)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314/32 "2014-08-26T19:47:12Z")
While not a “favorite” on autobiography, one autobiography that I’ve thought about repeatedly since reading it is **Commandant of Auschwitz : The Autobiography of Rudolf Hoess**. Hoess was ordered to write it while awaiting execution for his horrific crimes against humanity. Understand, there’s no redeeming qualities to this book whatsoever. It is is “filled with lies and shirks.” What is fascinating about the book is the self-delusions that he was capable of; his attempts to deny all culpability. The book is a peek into the mind of a mad man who, given a last chance to show some remorse, utterly failed to do so. ---
**Author:** ![chinchalinchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@chinchalinchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chinchalinchin)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314/33 "2014-08-26T19:52:45Z")
Does _Confessions of a Dangerous Mind_ count? If so, I choose that. If only Barris hadn’t written a sequel so absurd that it defies belief, none of us would ever know if it wasn’t true. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314/34 "2014-08-27T03:50:40Z")
> [@Icerigger](#): > > **Carrying the Fire** by Michael Collins of Apollo 11 fame. I just read [Michael Mullane’s _Riding Rockets_](http://www.amazon.com/Riding-Rockets-Outrageous-Shuttle-Astronaut/dp/0743276833). I read about it in Mary Roach’s _Packing For Mars_, where she said “if you only read one astronaut autobiography…” He has the point of view of a frat boy, but he deals with things that the other astronaut autobiographies gloss over - like pooping in space and the condom urine collection devices and being fitted for one. Like eggs and shrimp, they are available in three sizes - “Large” “X Large” and “XX Large”. And apparently, the erections you get in microgravity are astonishing. ---
**Author:** ![Wednesday\_Evening](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Wednesday\_Evening](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wednesday_Evening)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314/35 "2014-08-27T04:25:28Z")
I’ve read a lot of autobiographies and memoirs, and \*\*[Lost In Transplantation](http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Transplantation-Memoir-Unconventional-Organ/dp/0967038448/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top)\*\*by Eldonna Edwards is a hidden gem. Eldonna is an altruistic kidney donor, and also happens to be an amazing writer. She crafts a beautiful narrative around her journey to try to be an altruistic kidney donor. I have been forcing all of my friends to read it because I think it is a wonderful book. Everyone who has read the memoir has told me that they loved it. Honestly, I think the only reason it is not a national bestseller is that because it is with a small publisher it hasn’t gotten enough exposure. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314/36 "2014-08-27T16:20:54Z")
> [@Dobbs](#): > > **Yeager** by, well, Yeager. Seconded. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314/37 "2014-08-27T21:59:20Z")
“The Meadow” by James Galvin was a delight to read. Also, “The Education of Henry Adams”. ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314/38 "2014-08-28T14:37:48Z")
I don’t know where it fits in the Fiction\<-\>Non-Fiction spectrum, but \*\*Roughing It \*\*by one Mark Twain is really good. (I have not yet read the autobiography). Another one that is hella fun (but from a self-aggrandizing braggart, so a pinch of salt is recommended): \*\*The Kid Stays in the Picture \*\*by Robert Evans ---
**Author:** ![toast\_pakora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@toast\_pakora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toast_pakora)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314/39 "2014-08-28T14:45:29Z")
West with the Night by Beryl Markham, The Flame Trees of Thika by Elspeth Huxley. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314/40 "2014-08-28T16:45:22Z")
\*\*Rubyfruit Jungle \*\* by Rita Mae Brown, and \*\*Bastard Out Of Carolina \*\*by Dorothy Allison (described as ‘semi-autobiographical’)spring to mind for some reason. Both about tough girlhoods in the south. In my mind I saw both protagonists as Scout from TKAM. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-autobiographies-memoirs/696314.md?page=3)