# What's the best biography/memoir you've ever read? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 23, 2017, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678 "2017-06-23T14:19:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/1 "2017-06-23T14:19:41Z")
I’ve never really been into biography. I read Malcolm X and Anne Frank in school. But I’m working through the complete works of Primo Levi, much of which is biographical, and really enjoying it. So I’m looking for more recommendations. Already on my list is Nelson Mandela and Angela’s Ashes (though the latter seems like it might be a bit boring to me). Others? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/2 "2017-06-23T14:32:08Z")
REcently, “Ordinary Wolves” by Seth Kantner ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/3 "2017-06-23T14:51:51Z")
Carl Sandburg’s two volumes on Abraham Lincoln. Far and away the best writing and work I have read in the category. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/4 "2017-06-23T14:54:25Z")
Thread relocated to Cafe Society from IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/5 "2017-06-23T14:54:27Z")
A very good read is The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom by Graham Farmelo a great exploration of Dirac’s scientific accomplishments and his rather unusual personality. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/6 "2017-06-23T14:59:07Z")
[Alexis de Tocqueville: A Life](https://www.amazon.com/Alexis-Tocqueville-Life-Hugh-Brogan/dp/0300108036/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1498229480&sr=8-2&keywords=hugh+brogan) by Hugh Brogan. It’s an amazing book that makes you feel like de Tocqueville was a personal friend of yours. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/7 "2017-06-23T14:59:23Z")
A couple years ago I read [H is for Hawk](https://www.amazon.com/H-Hawk-Helen-Macdonald/dp/0802124739), and I was entranced. Reading some reviews, it seems like there is a significant group of people who found it dry and disjointed–but I thought it was marvelous, both well-written and informative and moving. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/8 "2017-06-23T15:00:46Z")
'I Married Adventure", Osa Johnson You will not be disappointed! ---
**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:** [June 23, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/9 "2017-06-23T15:09:53Z")
Memoir: _Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant_. Biography: _[Becoming Something: The Story of Canada Lee](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006GR22ZC/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1)_. Lee had an amazing career – horse jockey, boxer, major Broadway star, movie actor, one of the first radio DJs, and much more. And, sadly, blacklisted and forgotten because of his advocacy of Civil Rights. Close friend of Orson Welles (the friendship began when Lee saved Welles from a beating/robbery) and Ed Sullivan (who viciously turned on him when the witch hunt began), actor in Hitchcock’s _Lifeboat_ (probably the only way most people have seen him). A fascinating and ultimately tragic life. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/10 "2017-06-23T15:27:25Z")
I always like to recommend “Prisoner of Trebekistan” by five-time Jeopardy champ Bob Harris. If you are a Jeopardy fan you are sure to enjoy it. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/11 "2017-06-23T15:29:44Z")
I like show biz biographies more than any other, sorry. Some are real doorstops I can’t put down, like Michael Caine’s “What’s It All About” and several on Bette Davis. Some are nothing but puff pieces full of pictures (usually the subject is till alive and no dirt can be spilled). …Now, actor Stewart Granger had one, out of print now, of course, wish I could find a copy. Quite an interesting life. In it he describes how his new co-star Hedy Lamarr came to meet him for the first time and without any discernible emotion ordered him to ‘undress and get on top of her’! She gave instructions and after it was over, apparently done to her satisfaction, just got dressed and left. … Also, during a description of his life (I think in England), there was the phrase that stood out: ’ that day my brother-in-law was giving me flying instructions’…how does one get a b-i-l like that?..Also, the sword fight in Scaramouche was the longest in movie history. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/12 "2017-06-23T15:48:37Z")
[The Eden Express, by Mark Vonnegut](https://duckduckgo.com/l/?kh=-1&uddg=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FThe_Eden_Express) (Kurt Vonnegut’s son). Not only is this a fascinating account of his complete mental breakdown, it’s also a dead on portrait of the late 60s/early 70s. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/13 "2017-06-23T15:56:31Z")
Robert Caros The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York. Moses was likely the most brilliant and effective public servant in our nations history. And our most dangerous and destructive. A massive book: The It of biogrophies, but I couldn’t put it down. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/14 "2017-06-23T16:00:30Z")
_My Family and Other Animals_ - Gerald Durrell - while it might be a \*slightly \*fictionalized account of his boyhood on Corfu, it’s still one of my favourite books, ever. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/15 "2017-06-23T16:08:03Z")
Some favorite Musician ones: - Life, **Keith Richards** - Chronicles, Volume 1 by \*\*Bob Dylan \*\*- a memoir about the development of his artistic voice more than an autobiography. Brilliant. - One Train Later, \*\*Andy Summers \*\*(the Police; much better than Sting’s Broken Music) - Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards, by **Al Kooper**. Many others, but those are all top shelf. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/16 "2017-06-23T16:10:29Z")
I’ve read very few; they aren’t my cuppa. But I’ll go with _Ball Four_ by Jim Bouton. I read it when I was 12, and _boy_ did it change my view on the great American past-time.😉 ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/17 "2017-06-23T16:15:54Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’ve read very few; they aren’t my cuppa. But I’ll go with _Ball Four_ by Jim Bouton. I read it when I was 12, and _boy_ did it change my view on the great American past-time.😉 Hell yes that is a great book and so is half the sequel about his time with the Astros. I’ve forgotten which book has Doug Rader shitting in someone’s bday cake. Unrelated, but Bouton was creepily good in Robert Altmans The Long Goodbye. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/18 "2017-06-23T16:21:09Z")
I just started Mark Twain’s autobiography (a multi-volume tome). Enjoying it so far and I’m only into the “preliminary writings” so far. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/19 "2017-06-23T16:32:35Z")
“Road Song” by Natalie Kusz, published in 1990 when she was 27 years old. I’d love to read the follow-up. > **[Road Song: A Memoir: Kusz, Natalie: 9780374528270: Amazon.com: Books](https://www.amazon.com/Road-Song-Memoir-Natalie-Kusz/dp/0374528276)** > > Road Song: A Memoir \[Kusz, Natalie\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Road Song: A Memoir ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/20 "2017-06-23T16:36:36Z")
David McCollough’s bio of John Adams was a great read. It really changed my mind about Adams, I used to think he was one of the lesser founders but now he’s right up there with the rest in my estimation. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678.md?page=2)