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Autobiography recommendations

19 replies

hennipenni · 09/06/2022 10:06

Currently reading and enjoying Bob Mortimer and it’s got me in the mood for reading more autobiographies.
Any recommendations please? I need to fill my boots!

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hennipenni · 11/06/2022 11:06

Bump

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FormerlySpeckledyHen · 19/06/2022 09:00

Let It Go, Dame Stephanie Shirley. Awesome woman.

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echt · 04/07/2022 04:23

George Melly: Owning Up, Rum Bum and Concertina, Scouse Mouse. Very funny, extremely well-written.

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Riapia · 04/07/2022 08:04

Peter O’toole
Loitering with intent.

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theotherfossilsister · 04/07/2022 08:08

There's one called Slipstream by Elizabeth Jane Howard that I loved. She wrote The Cazalet Chronicles and married Kingsley Amis before divorcing him for his alcoholism. She also had a lot of lovers and a really interesting life

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Fruitloopcowabunga · 10/08/2022 20:27

Hungry - Grace Dent. We are very mixed ages in my book group and not all have English as first language but was very popular. It's really funny mostly but like the Bob Mortimer one, things that really take you aback.

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Carole18 · 10/08/2022 22:15

It's an old one but Paul Gascoigne by Hunter Davies, written when he was in a good place. I'm not a football fan or anything but it was so addictive and he's very honest about his faults and not in a poor me way either.

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MaitreKarlsson · 09/09/2022 19:43

Lowborn - Kerry Hudson. A bit like a British version of "Educated' (also brilliant).

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PrincessJanet · 01/11/2022 21:39

I’ve enjoyed How To Be A Boy, The World I fell Out of and Lady in Waiting.

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hugoagogo · 01/11/2022 21:50

Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys. by Albertine, Viv
So interesting and honest.

Acid for the Children by Flea from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Had no idea about his young life.

How Not to be a Boy by Robert Webb, I could totally identify with Roberts rural childhood.

David Mitchell: Back Story, very funny and a beautiful love story.Smile

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Hippee · 01/11/2022 22:04

I loved "Everybody died so I got a dog" by Emily Dean - heartbreaking but also very funny. "Educated" by Tara Westover is amazing. I also loved "Bookworm" by Lucy Mangan (if you read a lot as a child, this is a real trip down memory lane, as well as being a funny memoir). Another vote for "Hungry" by Grace Dent too.

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SoggyBananaLoaf · 01/11/2022 22:06

Miriam Margolyes
Billy Connolly

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francopan · 07/11/2022 07:22

Miriam Margolyes’ “This Much Is True” is very entertaining.

I also loved Chris Packham’s “Fingers In The Sparkle Jar”, in which he talks about his experience growing up with what was later diagnosed as Asperger’s. It’s really powerful, beautifully written, and has really stayed with me.

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Swissnotswiss · 07/11/2022 07:25

I "read" Miriam Margolyse as an audio book and I highly recommend it like that as she is such a good story teller.

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francopan · 07/11/2022 07:27

Yes, same! Such a brilliant delivery. And when she swears to high heaven in her beautiful accent, it’s doubly funny. I wasn’t much of a fan before but have a huge soft spot for her now.

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EnormousStuffedMarrow · 07/11/2022 07:30

Richard E Grant 'With Nails' and'A Pocketful of Happiness'

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Beachloveramy · 07/11/2022 19:48

Michelle Obama - becoming

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Purpl · 19/10/2023 23:03

Lily Allen

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Rowena191 · 30/11/2023 09:27

Just Kids by Patti Smith is amazing. As a teen she ran away to New York and met the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and it's the story of how they lived in New York's subculture while developing their art and establishing their careers.

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