Autobiographies, Whose Have You Read?

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The Nameless

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Jul 10, 2011
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Who's autobiographies have you guys read, are reading, or would reccomend?

I have only ever read one by a blue stand up comedian called Roy "Chubby" Brown - Common as Muck, it was very insightful and funny. I have a few on my Kobo but have not yet read them including:

Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Slash - Slash
Ozzy Osbourne - I am Ozzy

My Brother has (and therefore I can borrow :) ) a few I wouldn't mind reading:

Lee Evans - Life Of Lee (British comedian)
Ronnie Wood - Ronnie
David Jason - My Life (British TV legend)
 

Lord Tyrion

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Oct 24, 2013
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Malcolm X - It's an interesting and honest look into black culture and the dynamics of racial relations during the Civil Rights movement. I plan on reading it again because it has been almost twenty years. I also plan on reading Manning Marable's version which is said to debunk aspects of the autobiography.

Mick Foley's 'Have a Nice Day' - An interesting look at one of wrestling's most likeable wrestlers who had a hard journey making it to the top. It also covers one of the most brutal matches from 1998.
 

The Nameless

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Jul 10, 2011
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I wouldn't mind reading Mick Foley's one day, I used to watch the wrestling but not for a long while. I have Chris Jericho's 'A Lions Tale' on my Kobo too but again, not read it yet. I read the intro, it was at a stage where you can't edit it anymore when Chris Benoit did the double murder suicide, so the publishers/editors broke the norm and allowed him to make a special comment about how all of the stories about him where about the "good" Benoit he knew and grew up with on the Canadian wrestling scene, and not the "sick" one he became.
 

Lord Tyrion

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Oct 24, 2013
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I wouldn't mind reading Mick Foley's one day, I used to watch the wrestling but not for a long while. I have Chris Jericho's 'A Lions Tale' on my Kobo too but again, not read it yet. I read the intro, it was at a stage where you can't edit it anymore when Chris Benoit did the double murder suicide, so the publishers/editors broke the norm and allowed him to make a special comment about how all of the stories about him where about the "good" Benoit he knew and grew up with on the Canadian wrestling scene, and not the "sick" one he became.

Jericho and Steve Austin's books are the most popular in the wrestling community. It seems like every wrestler has written an autobiography which is a bit much, but those two get the best reviews. The Benoit thing was horrible, but it's pretty clear it was the result of brain damage. He was clearly deranged towards the end. All those chair shots were brutal.
 

Walter Oobleck

keeps coming back...or going, and going, and going
Mar 6, 2013
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Darkness Visible, William Styron's memoir, details a small part of his life and time...about depression...and inside (or looking in from outside) are some awesome images, metaphor.
Michael Perry writes some very readable and enjoyable memoirs about life in northern Wisconsin...he has a comic vein and that is a joy to read.
The Eden Express, Mark Vonnegut, son of an honest plumber from Sheboygan...errrr, no...son of thee Vonnegut. This is about Mark's flight to Canada among other things during the Viet Nam War.
 

NightShifter

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Nov 8, 2013
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Night - Eli Wiesel (About his life and survival in a Nazi concentration camp)

Scar Tissue - Anthony Kiedis

Marilyn: Her Life In Her Own Words - Marilyn Monroe - Photographer George Barris compiled quotes from Marilyn Monroe to create this biography. This is the closest you will get to an autobiography from Marilyn Monroe

Tough Sh*t - Kevin Smith
 

goathunter

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May 9, 2008
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I haven't read many autobiographies; I tend to read more biographies. Most of the autobiographies I've read have been music-related: Alice Cooper's Golf Monster, David Lee Roth's Crazy from the Heat, Motley Crue's The Dirt, etc.

One non-music autobiography I read and loved was Kirk Douglas's The Ragman's Son. If you're a fan of early Hollywood, there's a ton of great stories in that.

Hunter
 

addieprey

Well-Known Member
All of Mary Karr's books.
Marilyn Manson's "The Long Hard Road Out Of Hell" (honestly I didn't believe 80% of it).
Sarah Silverman's "Confessions of a Bedwetter.
Holly Woodlawn's "A Low Life in High Heels".
Phyllis Diller's "Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse.
The book by Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart.
I'm sure there are more, but I can't recall right now.
 

The Nameless

M-O-O-N - That spells Nameless
Jul 10, 2011
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Does it have to be just autobiographies or can we include biographies?
Sure, why not? It's a place for everyone. I Personally would rather read autobiographies rather than someone else recounting thier life, but obviously that can't happen for some - I have a Freddie Mercury Biography by Peter Freestone (his personal assistant.
 

AnnaMarie

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Feb 16, 2012
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Isn't Mick Foley's from a long time ago. more then 10 years? If so, then I did read it. If not, then I read some other wrestler's auto-bio.

I read Howie Mandell's autobiography Don't touch Me. I definitely recommend it. He writes like he talks and I was laughing constantly.

Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant -- wow. I was floored by this. I downloaded from the library as an audio book. I thought I could sew while "reading". Bad choice. Numbers. Lots of numbers. Confused me with my counting. Lol

Here's the write-up from amazon: A journey into one of the most fascinating minds alive today—guided by the owner himself.

Bestselling author Daniel Tammet (Thinking in Numbers) is virtually unique among people who have severe autistic disorders in that he is capable of living a fully independent life and able to explain what is happening inside his head.

He sees numbers as shapes, colors, and textures, and he can perform extraordinary calculations in his head. He can learn to speak new languages fluently, from scratch, in a week. In 2004, he memorized and recited more than 22,000 digits of pi, setting a record. He has savant syndrome, an extremely rare condition that gives him the most unimaginable mental powers, much like those portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man.
 

kingricefan

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The Basketball Diaries- Jim Carroll- brutally honest tales about growing up in New York and becoming a junkie at the age of 15. Made into a movie starring Leonardo Di Caprio- there is one scene in there that gives me chills every time I see it or even think about it- when he is in the hallway outside his Mother's apartment- this is when I knew Leo was going to be one of the finest actors we've seen in a long time.
A Time For Remembering: The Ruth Bell Graham Story- Read this because I was into Patricia Cornwell but learned alot and grew to respect the wife of Evangelist Billy Graham. Theirs was not an easy life.
This Boys Life- Tobias Wolff- read this after seeing the movie with Robert De Niro and Leonardo Di Caprio when it first was released in theaters. Wolff admits that some aspects of it are alittle fictional, but it shows what life was like growing up in a very small town in Washington in the late '50's with an abusive step-father. Highly recommended!
Stephen King: The Art Of Darkness- Douglas Winter- read this when it was first published (before the internet) and learned so much about my favorite author and his early struggles. Made me respect the man so much for what he endured. Made me love him even more because he is still pretty much the same man at heart as he was back then.

I'm sure there's some more in there but can't think of them right now.
 

danie

I am whatever you say I am.
Feb 26, 2008
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Rob Lowe - Stories I Only Tell My Friends.
I got this as a free audiobook and listened to it on my Kindle. I really enjoyed it; plus, Lowe is great at impressions, so he would imitate the voices of the famous people in his stories. I normally don't like to listen to a book, but this one was great.