Fiction writers who have written damn fine autobiographical memoirs

Cafe Society
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I’m currently reading Roald Dahl. While he is a legendary fiction writer, I was totally blown away by his two memoirs Boy and Going Solo. And his story Lucky Break, about how he became a published writer, would not even be believable fiction!

Basically, writer C.S. Forrester asked Dahl to write some notes so he (Forrester) could write a sotry about fighter pilots in World War II. Dahl agreed, and spent seven hours writing them, had them typed and sent to Forrester, who responded “I asked for notes, not a finished story. I was totally blown away. This is the work of a gifted writer. I didn’t change a word of it.” He did, however, submit it to his agent, who submitted it to the Saturday Eening Post, who bought it for $1,000and published it. When Dahl got the letter, he thought “It can’t be that easy.” But it was.

Did you know Dahl’s second published story Gremlins introduced that word into the English language?

Stephen King’s On Writing is part a memoir and part a course in writing fiction, and thoroughly enjoyable.

Who else?

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So Forrester asked him to blow his own horn?
William Goldman (“The Princess Bride”, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”) has written some fascinating stories about his experiences as a screenwriter and showbiz in general. I can recommend “Hype and Glory”.

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It’s not really the same as what you’re looking for, but James Ellroy’s My Dark Places is amazing in how he transfers his writing style to the true story of looking for his mother’s killer.