10 Fascinating Autobiographies Everyone Should Read
Enlightening and inspiring, an autobiography can offer a unique insight into a world and experience very different from your own. Enjoy 10 Fascinating Autobiographies Everyone Should Read!
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10 Fascinating Autobiographies Everyone Should Read
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
After twenty-five years of sex, drugs, bad behaviour and haute cuisine, chef and novelist Anthony Bourdain decided to tell all – and he meant all.
From his first oyster in the Gironde as a child, to his lowly position as a dishwasher in a honky-tonk fish restaurant in Provincetown; from the kitchen of the Rainbow Room atop the Rockefeller Center to drug dealers in the East Village, from Tokyo to Paris and back to New York again, Bourdain’s tales of the kitchen are as passionate as they are unpredictable, as shocking as they are funny.
Kitchen Confidential will make your mouth water and your belly ache with laughter and leave you wanting more.
The Fun of It by Amelia Earhart
This fascinating autobiography by one of America’s greatest pilots provides unique insights into the life, motivations and achievements of Amelia Earhart.
As she recounts the journey which led to her groundbreaking solo flight across the Atlantic in 1932, she provides valuable advice for everyone who struggles to be a woman in a man’s world. Though faced with obstacles every step of the way, she triumphed over adversity and became an instant celebrity.
By turns inspiring, humorous and deeply personal, The Fun of It reveals Earhart’s passion enthusiasm for aviation and her unswerving determination to achieve her goals.
The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí by Salvador Dalí
Painter, designer, and filmmaker Salvador Dalí (1904–1989) was one of the most colorful and controversial figures in 20th-century art. A pioneer of Surrealism, he was both praised and reviled for the subconscious imagery he projected into his paintings, which he sometimes referred to as “hand-painted dream photographs.”
This early autobiography, which takes him through his late thirties, is as startling and unpredictable as his art. It is superbly illustrated with over 80 photographs of Dalí and his works, and scores of Dalí drawings and sketches.
My Life by Isadora Duncan
The visionary choreographer and dancer Isadora Duncan (1877–1927) not only revolutionized dance in the twentieth century but blazed a path for other visionaries who would follow in her wake.
From her early enchantment with classical music and poetry to her great successes abroad, to her sensational love affairs and headline-grabbing personal tragedies, Duncan’s story is a dramatic one. My Life still stands alone as “a great document, revealing the truth of her life as she understood it, without reticence or apology or compromise” (New York Herald Tribune). Now, in this fully restored edition, with its risqué recollections and fervent idealism, My Life can be appreciated by a new generation.
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi is a spiritual classic that has inspired millions, offering profound insights into meditation, self-realization, and universal truth. Blending deeply personal storytelling with transformative metaphysical wisdom, Yogananda’s Autobiography is a journey through the extraordinary-introducing timeless lessons in living a meaningful and enlightened life. Its brilliance lies in its ability to connect seekers of all faiths with practical, transcendent truths.
This edition will guide you on your own path to self-discovery and spiritual growth. With engaging double-page spreads, it distills Yogananda’s teachings into essential passages, paired with thoughtful analysis and practical exercises you can explore today. Calibrated to deliver spiritual insights rapidly and directly, it brings the radiant wisdom of one of the 20th century’s most beloved spiritual texts into clear focus for you.
Long Walk To Freedom by Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela was one of the great moral and political leaders of his time: an international hero whose lifelong dedication to the fight against racial oppression in South Africa won him the Nobel Peace Prize and the presidency of his country. After his triumphant release in 1990 from more than a quarter-century of imprisonment, Mandela was at the center of the most compelling and inspiring political drama in the world. As president of the African National Congress and head of South Africa’s antiapartheid movement, he was instrumental in moving the nation toward multiracial government and majority rule. He is still revered everywhere as a vital force in the fight for human rights and racial equality.
Long Walk to Freedom is his moving and exhilarating autobiography, destined to take its place among the finest memoirs of history’s greatest figures. Here for the first time, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela told the extraordinary story of his life — an epic of struggle, setback, renewed hope, and ultimate triumph.
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
The Story of My Life, first published in book form in 1903, is Helen Keller’s autobiography detailing her early life, particularly her experiences with Anne Sullivan.
Portions of it were adapted by William Gibson for a 1957 Playhouse 90 production, a 1959 Broadway play, a 1962 Hollywood feature film, and the Indian film Black. The book is dedicated to inventor Alexander Graham Bell, who was one of her teachers and an advocate for the deaf.
I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
Raised in a once-peaceful area of Pakistan transformed by terrorism, Malala was taught to stand up for what she believes. So she fought for her right to be educated. And on 9 October, 2012, she nearly lost her life for the cause. She was shot point-blank on her way home from school. No one expected her to survive. Now, she is an international symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Living to Tell the Tale by Gabriel García Márquez
He is perhaps the most acclaimed, revered and widely read writer of our time, and in this first volume of a planned trilogy – a book that has already become a bestseller in its Spanish-language edition both abroad and in the United States – the Nobel Laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez begins to tell us the story of his life. Like all his work, Living to Tell the Tale is a magnificent piece of writing.
Six Records of a Floating Life by Shen Fu
Six Records of a Floating Life (1809) is an extraordinary blend of autobiography, love story and social document written by a man who was educated as a scholar but earned his living as a civil servant and art dealer. In this intimate memoir, Shen Fu recounts the domestic and romantic joys of his marriage to Yün, the beautiful and artistic girl he fell in love with as a child. He also describes other incidents of his life, including how his beloved wife obtained a courtesan for him and reflects on his travels through China.
Shen Fu’s exquisite memoir shows six parallel ‘layers’ of one man’s life, loves and career, with revealing glimpses into Chinese society of the Ch’ing Dynasty.
If you enjoyed 10 Fascinating Autobiographies Everyone Should Read, check out 10 Best Memoirs to Read
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