# Your favourite, most interesting biographies… **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2004, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-most-interesting-biographies/275046 "2004-11-16T12:40:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-most-interesting-biographies/275046/1 "2004-11-16T12:40:28Z")
In the past year or so I have forgone my usual obsession with contemporary fiction and developed a strong interest in biographies, in real lives lived in far away times and places, that contrast so sharply with my own. I have recently read biographies on the following people; Richard Feynman Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara Mahatma Gandhi Pablo Escobar T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) Jung Chang (Wild Swans) Kody Scott (AKA Sanyika Shakur) (Monster: Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member) Apsley Cherry-Gerrard Jim Morrison I also have a biography of Pablo Neruda pending, but I have yet to find time to read it. I also may acquire the new (definitive?) work on Stalin soon too. Without really having a clue what I am interested in, what further biographies (from any genre)\* can you recommend as recording the progress, trials and excitements of a truly interesting or influential life (for good or ill)? Thanks. - Except sports, unless TRULY exceptional in some way. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-most-interesting-biographies/275046/2 "2004-11-16T14:54:51Z")
[Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1400077303/qid=1100617447/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/002-0990120-4232812?v=glance&s=books&n=507846), by Robert Chernow. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-most-interesting-biographies/275046/3 "2004-11-16T14:58:17Z")
[**Eve** kicks the dirt with her toe, looks around hopefully, clears her throat in a ladylike manner and hopes someone likes _her_ books] ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-most-interesting-biographies/275046/4 "2004-11-16T15:01:55Z")
Not wanting to sound like a total idjit, but… I seem to have some hazy memory of you saying you wrote a bio of Marlene Dietrich, **Eve** (and there could be others and I could be wrong on the MD book as well). There’s nothing wrong with self-promotion! C’mon, what are they? 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-most-interesting-biographies/275046/5 "2004-11-16T15:17:28Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > There’s nothing wrong with self-promotion! Well, actually, there _might_ be, and I don’t want to get in bad with the Mods . . . Books I didn’t write but can recommend: Emily Leider’s excellent bio of [Rudolph Valentino](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0374282390/qid=1100618469/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-4302060-7238246?v=glance&s=books), and Joel Lobenthal’s brand-new book on [Tallulah Bankhead](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060394358/qid=1100618504/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/103-4302060-7238246). ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-most-interesting-biographies/275046/6 "2004-11-16T15:28:07Z")
I’ve read **Eve** ’s books amd own a couple of them: \*\*Platinum Girl[/b[ and **The Brief, Madcap Life of Kay Kendall**. They are written with wit and impeccable scholarship, and I urge people to buy a copy for yourselves and to give at Christmas and Hanukkah. As for other, lesser works, I’m fond of David McCulllough’s bios of John Adams and Truman. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-most-interesting-biographies/275046/7 "2004-11-16T15:29:44Z")
If you want a the life story of someone you haven’t heard of, how about [Trust No One](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0922915792/ref=pd_sim_b_1/104-2337407-0942330?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance) which is the biography of Sidney Reilly - the guy who was one of the inspirations for James Bond. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-most-interesting-biographies/275046/8 "2004-11-16T15:33:32Z")
For my money, it’s still hard to beat Boswell’s _Life of Johnson_. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-most-interesting-biographies/275046/9 "2004-11-16T15:41:43Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > They are written with wit and impeccable scholarship . . . [blushes prettily] ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-most-interesting-biographies/275046/10 "2004-11-16T16:04:10Z")
I’d reccomend Lord Bullock’s parallel biography of Hitler and Stalin, which is just called “Hitler and Stalin; Parallel Lives”. Bullock just died earlier this year, which is a shame, because I think he was a great biographer. (In addition to the parallel biography, and his earlier famous biography of Hitler, he also wrote a bio of Ernest Bevin, which is supposed to be good.) ---
**Author:** ![Paisley\_Park](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Paisley\_Park](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paisley_Park)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-most-interesting-biographies/275046/11 "2004-11-16T16:15:52Z")
[Walt Disney: Hollywood’s Dark Prince: A Biography](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/155972174X/102-2057068-3680935?v=glance) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-most-interesting-biographies/275046/12 "2004-11-16T16:48:22Z")
I don’t particularly like Michael Crichton’s fiction but his autobiography _Travels_ is just about my favourite autobiography. He skips huge chunks of his life to talk about events that actually affected him. Hannah Nyala’s _Point Last Seen_ is a terrific account of the life of a female tracker trying to deal with an abusive husband. Dave Eggers’ _A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius_ is not fiction or autobiography but is a wonderful reading experience. Harpo Marx’s autobiography _Harpo Speaks_ is great fun. _Rocket Boys_ by Homer Hickam is better than the movie it became _October Skies_ and I think the movie is bloody good. _With Nails - The Film Diaries of Richard E. Grant_ is lovely stuff with lots of movie stuff. William Goldman’s books _Adventures In the Screentrade_ and _What Lie Did I Tell_ are essential reading for film buffs though not strictly biography. ---
**Author:** ![Balle\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@Balle\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balle_M)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-most-interesting-biographies/275046/13 "2004-11-16T18:44:53Z")
_Cobb_ by Al Stump - Baseball’s Mr. Nice Guy 😃 _Yeager_ by Chuck Yeager - A dude with the right stuff _The Brass Ring_ by Bill Maudlin - Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist ---
**Author:** ![Paladud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Paladud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paladud)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-most-interesting-biographies/275046/14 "2004-11-16T19:15:30Z")
_The Liberators_ and _Aquarium/Inside The Aquarium_ (depending on the edition for the latter) by Viktor Suvorov, a former GRU agent who defected to Britain. Aquarium is one of the most powerful books I had ever read. Just stunning. Some others: _The Autobiography of Malcolm X_ _Boy_ by Roald Dahl I also remember really enjoying Ernest Seton-Thompson’s autobiography when I was younger. ---
**Author:** ![professor\_folk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df788c/32.png) [@professor\_folk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/professor_folk)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-most-interesting-biographies/275046/15 "2004-11-16T19:54:08Z")
sort of a biography: Diary of a Century, by Edward Robb Ellis wonderful, funny, heartwrenching. Basically the best excerpts from his diary from about 80 years of writing in it. I think the diary is at Columbia now. He’s getting laid by hot 20-somethings in his 70s, right about the time he first started smoking dope. Quite a character. Quite a read. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-most-interesting-biographies/275046/16 "2004-11-17T03:14:19Z")
I’m in the middle of Theodor S. Giesel’s biography, _The Suess, the Whole Suess and Nothing but the Suess_. It includes tons and tons of old drawings and writings. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-most-interesting-biographies/275046/17 "2004-11-17T09:07:02Z")
Stan Freberg’s autobiography, _It Only Hurts when I Laugh_, is a book I’ve read and enjoyed many times. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-most-interesting-biographies/275046/18 "2004-11-17T09:13:56Z")
I Am Alive and You Are Dead: A Journey into the Mind of Philip K. Dick by Emmanuel Carrere was the last biography I read and I liked it a lot, though I think that’s just because I’m obsessed with the subject. PKD led a fascinating and often tragic life, and I think I can understand his writing a lot better now that I know more about him. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-most-interesting-biographies/275046/19 "2004-11-17T15:44:26Z")
How 'about an autobiography? I heartily recommend “Memoirs,” by Kay Graham, the late publisher of the Washington Post. Born to a wealthy family, practically nothing was expected of her and she managed to convince herself that she wasn’t worth a damn to anyone. After her husband’s suicide, she took over the reins and steered the paper through some of the most turbulent times the country ever saw (John Mitchell, Attorney General of the United States, told a Post reporter that if she wasn’t careful, “Kay Graham’s going to get her tit caught in the wringer.” vis. the Post’s Watergate investigation). She was a remarkable woman and the book is very well written. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-most-interesting-biographies/275046/20 "2004-11-18T00:41:20Z")
[Alan Turing: The Enigma](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802775802/qid=1100738869/sr=2-2/ref=pd_ka_b_2_2/102-6198406-8707368) by Andrew Hodges. Alone in his genius, his sexuality, and his codes. No one could understand and no one could know. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-most-interesting-biographies/275046.md?page=2)