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.
Between Silk and Cyanide by Leo Marks. Written by a cryptographer who worked with British spies in occupied Europe.
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.
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).
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.
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 [the one I had was homemade] until I fell asleep, then read the rest Saturday night, staying up until something like 3am.
I can NOT believe I fotgot that one!:eek: What an awesome read it was too!
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.
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.
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’.
Surprisingly, I found that So Far 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 by spree killer Freddie Glenn, his father’s murder, and other incidents.
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.
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.
I just read Michael Mullane’s Riding Rockets. 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.
I’ve read a lot of autobiographies and memoirs, and **Lost In Transplantation**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.
Seconded.
“The Meadow” by James Galvin was a delight to read.
Also, “The Education of Henry Adams”.
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
West with the Night by Beryl Markham, The Flame Trees of Thika by Elspeth Huxley.
**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.