# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2017, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/81 "2017-06-27T13:58:21Z")
I would also recommend Boy & Going Solo by Roald Dahl. His real life is stranger than fiction. Beverly Cleary’s A Girl from Yamhill and My Own Two Feet are also enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/82 "2017-06-29T01:40:31Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I would also recommend Boy & Going Solo by Roald Dahl. His real life is stranger than fiction. > > Beverly Cleary’s A Girl from Yamhill and My Own Two Feet are also enjoyable. In an interesting addenda to the Roald Dahl books, his acquaintance/doctor / neurologist Tom Solomon suggested in 2015 that RD’s later fame and ability, so different from what his school teachers reported and expected (Boy), may have had it’s roots in acquired brain injury, as described in Going Solo. ---
**Author:** ![Marci\_Al](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Marci\_Al](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marci_Al)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/83 "2017-06-29T01:46:39Z")
“My Years with Churchill” by Norman MacGowan. “The Magnificent Story of My Fantastic Life” by Marci Al has not been published. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/84 "2017-06-29T04:22:54Z")
“Burma Surgeon” (1943) and “Burma Surgeon Returns” (1946) were big best-sellers in their time; both are long out of print but are not hard to find. They are the best known books by the American/Burmese missionary surgeon Dr. Gordon Seagrave, about his experience treating soldiers and other allied personnel during WW II. > **[Gordon Seagrave](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Seagrave)** > > Gordon Stifler Seagrave (18 March 1897 – 28 March 1965) was a Burmese-born American missionary, physician and author. > Born in Rangoon, he was the son of American Baptist missionaries Rev. Albert Ernest Seagrave and Alice Vinton. As such he represented the fourth generation of a mission tradition begun when his great-grandparents Justus Vinton, Calista Holman, James Madison Haswell and Jane Mason, were sent to Moulmain, Burma in 1834 and 1835 to establish a Baptist mission, work continued in subs... This is a man who should not be lost to history. ---
**Author:** ![Anduinel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Anduinel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduinel)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/85 "2017-06-29T10:04:24Z")
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel The Green Trees Beyond by RD Lawrence ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/86 "2017-06-29T16:33:24Z")
> [@Anduinel](#): > > Fun Home by Alison Bechdel I just read this last week, out of idle curiosity because I used to enjoy **Dykes To Watch Out For.** I never would have expected it to be so good, and had to keep backing up several pages, having forgotten to look at the illustrations. Not the best bio I’ve ever read, but definitely one of them. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/87 "2017-06-30T16:18:51Z")
Two memoirs affected me deeply. [Finding Me : A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed: A Memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings](https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Me-Reclaimed-Cleveland-Kidnappings/dp/1602862796/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498839094&sr=8-1&keywords=Michelle+Knight) by Michelle Knight had me sobbing. No other book that I have read in my adult life has touched a nerve like that. She has endured more than any human soul should ever have to endure. The number one spot, though, goes to Jewel’s memoir [Never Broken: Songs are Only Half the Story](https://www.amazon.com/Never-Broken-Songs-Only-Story/dp/0399185720/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498839298&sr=8-1&keywords=Never+Broken). Jewel was raised in poverty and abuse, but managed to grow up to be an incredibly successful singer. What’s unique about her memoir is she doesn’t just tell her story, but really gives her readers a roadmap for how they, too, can build fulfilling lives by staying focused on the right things. I have kept a journal for half my life, but her book reminded me how important it is to be mindful of our thoughts. I began writing in my journal much more frequently after reading her book, and it has helped me get through tough times. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/88 "2017-06-30T17:40:10Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > _Alexander Hamilton_ by Ron Chernow. An excellent biography. But I’ll admit that when I read it several years ago, I totally missed its potential as the basis for a musical. > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I’ve read quite a few biographies. My favorite is [Washington: A Life](https://www.amazon.com/Washington-Life-Ron-Chernow-ebook/dp/B003ZK58SQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1498267522&sr=8-3&keywords=george+washington) by Ron Chernow. It really brought Washington to life as a person, and solidified his greatness in my mind > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I recently read Ron Chernow’s bio of Alexander Hamilton, and that one is great. David McCullough’s biographies of Harry Truman and John Adams are great. It’s been a long time, but I remember enjoying _No One Here Gets Out Alive_, Jerry Hopkins’ bio of Jim Morrison (and I think the basis for the movie _The Doors_?). > [@Textual\_Innuendo](#): > > If you’re interested in titans of industry, I’d recommend Chernow’s _Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller_. I agree with all of these; Chernow is terrific. His next, a bio of Ulysses S. Grant, comes out in October. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/89 "2017-06-30T17:49:04Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > _The Moon’s a Balloon_ by David Niven is very good. Niven was a bit of a spinner of tales, but it’s a hugely entertaining read. another one is the one by joan fontaine and lauren Bacall’s was pretty good there both insights into golden age Hollywood with bacalls book mainly about her and bogie (and how she just basically lucked into Hollywood) And I recommend travels with Charlie by Steinbeck he pretty much predicted the last 40 years of social America Also I picked up a great biography of Gerald ford (it was part of a series ) at dollar tree of all places that poor guy was so hamstrung politically … ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/90 "2017-06-30T17:55:06Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > Two memoirs affected me deeply. > The number one spot, though, goes to Jewel’s memoir [Never Broken: Songs are Only Half the Story](https://www.amazon.com/Never-Broken-Songs-Only-Story/dp/0399185720/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498839298&sr=8-1&keywords=Never+Broken). Jewel was raised in poverty and abuse, but managed to grow up to be an incredibly successful singer. What’s unique about her memoir is she doesn’t just tell her story, but really gives her readers a roadmap for how they, too, can build fulfilling lives by staying focused on the right things. I have kept a journal for half my life, but her book reminded me how important it is to be mindful of our thoughts. I began writing in my journal much more frequently after reading her book, and it has helped me get through tough times. the odd thing I have about jewel is her familys (the kilchers) pretty famous these days for being off the grid homesteaders in Alaska (Alaska the last frontier is the tv show) And shes even been on it a few times … and all they say about when they were kids was her dad raised them alone for the longest time and he admist wasn’t a patient person … ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/91 "2017-06-30T18:11:57Z")
Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar by Simon Sebag Montefiore was an absolute page turner. ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678/92 "2017-07-01T12:14:29Z")
I am, just for fun, very fond of my great-aunt’s memoir, “Memories”, detailing her West Virginia birth and early life just after the Civil War, the family’s move to Illinois in 1870, her early education, becoming a rural school teacher at age 17, marrying, moving with her new husband to homestead in Kansas in 1885 ish, returning to Illinois to become Supt. of Schools in her county and to turn down the head job in the state…when WWI came along, her husband took a paymaster job in DC with the Navy and, she, bored, rented out the extra rooms in her home, then started expanding until she was the largest, and most loved, landlord in DC, widowed, becoming a special commissioner for female housing during WWII (almost 80 when the war ended). She wrote hymns and patriotic songs, poetry, and visited Illinois family every summer. Margaret Carpenter McAvoy Scott. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-biography-memoir-youve-ever-read/789678.md?page=4)