Recommend me fastastic (auto)biographies

[BoogleMcGroogle]

Having spent the past week engrossed by Lindsey Hilsum's superb biography of the equally superb Marie Colvin, I've realised I need to read more books about fascinating people.

Please recommend me your favourites. I'm not that into 'slebs, but would love anything that portrays an interesting life fully lived.

I loved Jeanette Winterson’s memoir, ‘Why be happy when you can be normal?’.
It’s really honest, funny and sad at the same time. Also full of wisdom. I was going to give it to the charity shop, but I’ve kept it because I want to reread it one day.

I’m not normally a fan of biography, but I loved Richard Ellman’s biography of Oscar Wilde. It’s a few decades old now, so you can pick it up second-hand very cheaply.

I’ve also been dipping into a collection of Byron’s letters, which are lively and often very funny - I think I might have downloaded them from Project Gutenberg for nothing, so a bargain. Not sure if letters count, but I enjoy encountering someone in their own words.

I am thoroughly enjoying Becoming Michelle Obama

I just read a biography of the Churchill’s which was absolutely gripping - by Mary Lovell.

Prairie Fires about the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder is brilliant.

Educated also brilliant.

Angela’s Ashes brilliant.

Memoir by John McGahern brilliant and beautifully written and heartbreaking in places.

Ahem sorry I do know some words other than brilliant!

It is a celeb one, so maybe a bit lighter than those above, but I loved Paul O’Grady’s series of autobiographies, which take you from his life as a child in Birkenhead, his work as Lily Savage in the pubs and clubs of the UK then eventual stardom and all the stuff that brought with it. Heartwarming as well as laugh out loud funny in places.

The Alan Johnson memoirs, excluding the latest which is about music.
He had a dirt poor upbringing in the London Kensington slums, largely raised by an older sister. Then he became a postman and started getting politically active.

I am not a die hard Labour supporter so it has wide appeal.

I love a good biography. I'm reading Mary Lovell's 'Bess of Hardwick Hall' at the moment in preparation for a trip to Derbyshire and really loving it, she's done a book about the Mitford sisters which is also suppose to be good. And since we are on the Mitford's then Nancy's biography of Madame de Pompadour is worth a read.

I'm a scientist and have enjoyed the following science biographies:
'Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA' by Brenda Maddox
'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' by Rebecca Skloot
'Dorothy Hodgkin: A Life' by Georgina Ferry

Oh, and the wonderful Jenni Murray wrote
A History of Britain in 21 Women: A Personal Selection which is well worth a read and will have you chasing other biographies as well.

You have to read Alan Cumming's autobiography, 'Not my Father's Son', well written, moving, absolutely fascinating.

I would recommend the Mitford sister by Mary s Lovell. It's fascinating.

I've read 2 biographies of authors which I loved. One on elizabeth Jane Howard and Claire tomalin. Such interesting lives.

Also Martha gellhorn by Caroline Moorhead. She was a war reporter in the 30s and 40s and was also married to Hemingway. What a life!

Yy to educated. I couldn't put it down. By Tara Westover

A lot of love for Mary Lovell!

I think the Mitford letters to each other are a brilliant sort of biography, brilliant if you’ve already read the Lovell biography itself.

The Evelyn Waugh recent biography also brilliant.

Also Nella Last’s War.

God what IS IT with me and the word brilliant today! Sorry again.

Agatha Christie's autobiography is fascinating, from her late Victorian childhood to archeological explorations with her second husband. It's written in a very conversational style; she called it a 'lucky dip' of her memories - put in your hand and see what you come up with.

The books on Dickens and Austen by Claire Tomalin are great. Also Mary Lovells Mitford book.

Another vote for Prairie Fires - an astonishing book.

I must read the John McGahern one - he's a fantastic writer.

In addition to the memoirs by Jeannette Winterson, Tara Westover, Alan Johnson, which I also enjoyed:

Xiaolu Guo, Once Upon a Time in the East
Jackie Kay, Red Dust Road
Hope Jahren, Lab Girl
Aminatta Forna, The Devil that Danced on the Water
Claire Tomalin, A Life of My Own
Jessica Mitford, Hons and Rebels

On biographies, I also recommend Prairie Fires, and I read the Marie Colvin bio a few months ago.

Andre Agassi's Open was great
And A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown tells of her life. She was taken into the American care system at the age of 11 (in the 70s I think) and had a terrible life - abuse, drug addiction, homelessness. Though it sounds miserable it's actually uplifting and funny. I read it ten years ago but it sticks in my mind

Maya Angelou's autobiography series beginning with 'I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings' is a classic.

Margaret Forster's biographies of Daphne du Maurier and Elizabeth Barrett Browning are both fabulous and read as easily as good novels. I also loved her autobiography/family history, Hidden Lives.

Other autobiographies I've enjoyed recently:
Hons and Rebels - Jessica Mitford
Why be Happy When You Could be Normal? - Jeanette Winterson
Fingers in the Sparkle Jar - Chris Packham
Toast - Nigel Slater
The Outrun - Amy Liptrot