The Best Autobiographies
 

Autobiographies are cool because then you can read about very interesting peoples lives and how they though and hopefully they are good writers too. What are the best ones out there? I will start by recommending "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman," a good but not outstanding book.

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They usually have people writing the book for them, young Ashman.

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Kingdom of Fear by Hunter S. Thompson

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They usually have people writing the book for them, young Ashman.

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Thanks for the heads up skeme, I will try not to be fooled by those tricky guys.

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And MMMM suggested Book T Washington's book.

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Kingdom of Fear by Hunter S. Thompson

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Wouldn't call it an autobiography, but excellent.

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Bill Cosby

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Autobiography of Malcolm X

Here is a list with some more good choices.

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'I Am Third' by Gayle Sayers. Probably read it a dozen times as a kid. One chapter ('Pick') spawned the movie Brian's Song.

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miles davis' autobiography "miles" is the best one I've ever read.

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cash by johnny cash
it's not about the bike : my journey back to life by lance armstrong, sally jenkins

there tons others but these stick out as my favorites for right now.

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Autobiography of Malcolm X


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John Stuart Mill

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Graham Greene wrote two. The first one was incredibly good. And I don't even like Greene all that much as a fiction writer, at least not all the time.

I guess Benjamin Franklin is the standard answer.

Gandhi's is pretty popular too.

Then there are books that aren't quite simply autobiography, but are largely autobiographical but arranged around some particular subject. For instance, William Goldman's Adventures in the Screen Trade, about his career as a screenwriter, was fantastic. So was When the Shooting is Done, the Cutting Begins, by the editor for Woody Allen's early comedies. Both give a ton of insight into movies and have lots of really great stories.

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Have a Nice Day - Mick Foley

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Have a Nice Day - Mick Foley

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As soon I saw the title this is what I thought of. Seconded.

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Danny, definitely get both of the Lance Armstrong ones.

From there I am not sure what to recommend, I have read a ton of great ones but they are mostly British people like Frank Skinner.

Richard Branson's Losing My Virginity is good.

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Danny, definitely get both of the Lance Armstrong ones.

From there I am not sure what to recommend, I have read a ton of great ones but they are mostly British people like Frank Skinner.

Richard Branson's Losing My Virginity is good.

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Yeah, Frank Skinner's one is fab. The story of how he lost his cherry for £5 to a whore called 'Cookie' is really, really revolting though!

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Kingdom of Fear by Hunter S. Thompson

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I bought this book. Man did it suck.

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The story of how he lost his cherry for £5 to a whore called 'Cookie' is really, really revolting though!

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It's been a business doing pleasure with you.

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I thought the movie Catch Me if you Can was awesome. Its based on a true story. You should read that.

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My personal favorite is Wayne Gretzky's. Lots of entertaining anecdotes.

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Cash by Johnny Cash is definatly a good one.

Citizen Hughes, while not a true autobiography but more of a collection of his stolen papers, is very good.

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Will - G. Gordon Liddy

A lot of it is just him being arrogant but some of it is also very interesting.

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"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou.

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Long Walk to Freedom, by Nelson Mandela. This book is amazing.

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Mark Twain's is wonderful.

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Autobiography of Malcolm X

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enormously influential.

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http://images.amazon.com/images/P/06...CLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

One of the least read Hemingway books, but one of my favorites. The diary of Anais Nin is great too, for the whole Paris in the 20's thing. I guess these are both wrong for the thread since one's a memoir and the other's a Journal...but all the really good autobios have been mentioned.

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LT: On the Edge - Lawrence Taylor
Benjamin Franklin
Orel Hershiser - Out of the Blue

ScottieK

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I thought the movie Catch Me if you Can was awesome. Its based on a true story. You should read that.

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Yeah the book is pretty good. Also I'll join the crowd in recommending the Lance Armstrong books, in fact I had a thread about them before.

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Cash by Johnny Cash is definatly a good one.

Citizen Hughes, while not a true autobiography but more of a collection of his stolen papers, is very good.

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Who is citizien Hughes, and who is Gordon Libby?

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Mark Twain's is wonderful.

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that does sound good thanks, one of the best books seems to be The Education Of Henry Adams, anyone read that?

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I tend not to be fans of autobiographies, they are almost always self-serving, but Isaac Asimov's two-volume autobio - "In Memory Yet Green" and "In Joy Still Felt" are about as good an autobiography as you'll ever read.

If I ever get ambitious, I'll read Ulysses Grant's autobio, which is supposed to be by far the best of the presidential ones.

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H.L. Mencken wrote a series of 'Days' volumes that are autobiographical (Happy Days, Newspaper Days, Heathen Days). The works were then collected into one volume and published simply as 'The Days of H.L. Mencken'. This book is superb. Almost on par with Mark Twain's autobiography which everyone should read, because it is so wonderful as Andy Fox states.

-Zeno

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I second the Malcolm X autobiography, but if you are looking for it remember that it is written by Alex Haley.

A book I would recommend to you Bruiser is Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey. It is not an autobiography, but it is autobiographical.

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I second the Malcolm X autobiography, but if you are looking for it remember that it is written by Alex Haley.

A book I would recommend to you Bruiser is Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey. It is not an autobiography, but it is autobiographical.

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Just commenting that 4 people have picked Malcolm X so far (including myself). And you are right about him not writing it. On the book it says, "As told to Alex Haley". I guess that would put it between an autobiography and a biography.

craig