Memoirs and biographies

[whatausername]

What ones have you enjoyed? Also, has anyone read Britney's autobiography? I'm dying to read it.

Peter Kay's was very funny, although given I didn't watch his comedy that seems odd!
Matthew Perry's was interesting but it was a little hard to follow the sequence of events. It could be dull if you aren't interested in addiction. It stayed with me for a while.
I remember enjoying Dawn French's Dear Fatty but can't remember the actual book much at all.
Marguerite de Navarre's biog was so disappointing. Not many scholars or writers seem to be interested in her.
I can't remember who else's I've read.
Anne Frank's diary is, well, a diary rather than a biography or memoir but I found her teenaged big ideals, grand proclamations and youthful angst reminded me a lot of teenagers I knew/know, including me when I was younger. Needless to say the persecution, war and hiding were not so relatable.

What ones have you read or are looking forward to read?

I’m currently reading Kit de Waal’s and it’s excellent. Really enjoyed Lemn Sissay’s too (My Name is Why), but it’s quite shocking (stuff I was ignorant about).

I think the funniest I ever read was Kenneth Williams' diaries.
Bitchy in parts, sad in others but fascinating and hilarious.

Two of my favourites are Fair Girls and Grey Ponies, the autobiography of the Pullein-Thompson sisters, and My Animals and Other Family by Clare Balding.

I want to read Andy Warhol's diaries.

I'm not usually a fan of biographies but I really enjoyed Woodies Guthrie:A Life by Joe Klein. It was an interesting time in American history, and it made me aware of the devastation of Huntington's Disease. Just finished reading Strong Female Character by Fern Brady as I was interested in her experience of being a late diagnosed autistic woman. Loved it - really insightful and will hopefully help me be a better Mum to my autistic daughter.

Miriam Margoyles. Quite an insight.

Paul O'Grady's autobiographies are very good, even if you've never seen any of his TV work. The first one is a good picture of a working-class childhood.

I've read it twice it's brilliant. On the same theme Barbara Windsors is fab I love her. Dolly Parton has 2 I think she Is as amazing as you want her to be.

I listened to Mathew Perry's on a plane last year I found it depressing and self indulgent.

Yes they are good.

I really loved one by a guy called Ferdy Mount called Cold Cream. He was a journalist, and later on he was Margaret Thatcher's speech writer. That is only a small part of his story, though. He's very amusing and I thoroughly enjoyed it. BTW he says he respected Thatcher, but never liked her.

Sounds great! I'll have a look next time I'm browsing ebay etc.

I loved Bob Mortimer's autobiography And Away. However, I do love Bob Mortimer so that may have swayed my opinion slightly.

I have a soft spot for sports autobiographies but I suppose you do have to at least have heard of the person. Andre Agassi's autobiography is great but I'm not sure who remembers him now. And Phil Tufnell's is really funny.

I've heard good things about Minnie Driver's autobiography, surprisingly (though I liked her in a lot of things so not that surprising.)

Maya Angelou wrote a series of autobiographies, beginning with "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings". About growing up black in the southern US, among many other themes, of course.

James Ellroy, "My Dark Places", about his mother's murder.

Angela's ashes is the best written memoir I've ever read.

I liked Demi Moores

"A Piece of Cake" by Cupcake Brown
A Black American woman, when her mother died she was taken into foster care despite having (male) family members who wanted to take care of her.
She had a shocking and hard life but ultimately overcame the odds.
Inspiring and enraging (the system is enraging)

I'd highly recommend

Most autobiographies are self serving nonsense and almost never written by the person themselves. Only two I can remember enjoying recently are the ones by Slash and Keith Richards.

Lots of good bios round though - I've got everything from Rameses II to Jeremy Thorpe

Oh, I forgot "Bad Blood" by Lorna Sage

Letters between 6 sisters, transcripts of letters between the Mitfords is great.

On the sports front, Paul McGrath's is so upsetting, so much I didn't know about his upbringing in Ireland during more racist times and his alcoholism. It was weird to read his perception of games I'd been at.

Not sure if Wild Swans counts, but as a family.memoir from precommunist China through to the author now living in London it was amazing.

Davina McCall's is excellent

Kenneth Williams diaries is the best!

Dave Grohl. Liked him even more after reading it.

Bad Blood as PP mentioned is superb

Oh and Dear Dodie, the biography of Dodie Smith is fabulous. I bought it after falling in love with I Capture The Castle.

I read his Kiss Myself Goodbye about his aunt, who was a very colourful character and who married many times, often bigamously. Very enjoyable.

Lady in Waiting by Lady Anne Glenconner.