Do you read autobiographies?

[Ophelia]

I don't read many autobiographies, but sometimes a bestseller can be a good surprise: I read Jane Fonda's My Life so Far, I'm not usually a fan of Hollywood stars' personal lives but I found I learnt quite a lot from Fonda and the book was simply but well written.


I found that many things were interesting: her childhood, her relationship with her father, her political activism.



In contrast, brother Peter Fonda's autobiography is a disappointment. What he writes about his childhood kept me reading, but really after that it seemed to be all about his love life and he never seemed to grow much past adolescence.

I kept reading until the part about Easy Rider and here I learnt only one thing about how the film was made, and this paragraph is so striking that it's almost worth the money spent on the book. If anyone il interested in the making of Easy Rider I can tell them.

[irishrosem]

EDIT

Oops Chris. I just noticed this thread should probably be transferred to Additional Non-Fiction, if that's possible. Though, I know some people make the argument that autobiographies are more fictitious than not.

Ophelia, I don't really tend to read autobiographies. I enjoyed Benjamin Franklin's autobiography. And I've enjoyed some memoirs along the way. But, for the most part, I prefer reading biographies. And my favorite of those, so far, is probably Jeffrey Meyers's Modigliani, A Life. It's about Amedeo Modigliani, the Italian painter a sculptor. Meyers has also written a biography on Conrad that I keep meaning to look up.

[karend2007]

I'm not much of biography fan, but I have read 'Slipstream' by Elizabeth Jane Howard, which I found very disappointing and I have just finished reading 'May I Have Your Attention Please?' by James Corden, which I really enjoyed.

[TheWriter]

I sometimes read autobiographies whenever I feel like reading something from "real life" but often get disappointed.

Why? Well here are some of my reasons:
The Books are often boring because the writers seems to think that they need to make an account of everything that has happened in chronological order.
The books are too far from what actually has happened in the persons life. For instance by being too shallow or too much of a defence speach or well... We want to know the truth, right?!

Can anyone give an example of a good (= enjoyable read) autobio?

[youkrst]

Can anyone give an example of a good (= enjoyable read) autobio?

well one persons pleasure is anothers pain so i hesitate to recommend but i recently read miles davis autobiography and found it very readable.

http://yanko.lib.ru/books/bio/miles.htm

also read Rousseau (large part) and Thoreau (small part) autobiogs and found them fascinating but couldnt finish them as distractions abounded.

i like the idea of autobiography and biography and i suppose both types have advantages and disadvantages.

If anyone il interested in the making of Easy Rider I can tell them.

what happened? i'm guessing they all got incredibly high!

[Kevin]

well one persons pleasure is anothers pain so i hesitate to recommend but i recently read miles davis autobiography and found it very readable.

Are you a jazz appreciator? I haven't given up on him but I just can't get into the music of Miles Davis. In a Silent Way, Kind of Blue, Bitches Brew, and On the Corner ~ oh how I've tried!

I recently purchased a Thelonius Monk biography and it may be the next book I read.

My favorite autobiography is probably Gandhi's The Story of My Experiements With Truth. I have Franklin's which was previously mentioned here but haven't yet read it. I got cold feet regarding it after reading what I considered to be an exceedingly dull biography of Franklin... guilt by association.

[Cattleman]

I have read some; about the only one which I could recommend is "The Story of My Life," by Clarence Darrow. I tried to read Rumsfield's and Cheney's, but the constant subtext was "I was/am so important" that I gave it up.

[youkrst]

Are you a jazz appreciator?

yeah, i love jazz (good jazz), but all musics have their great and not so great examples.

miles is classic, every muso that has played with him, and there are MANY, have the funniest stories about him, robben ford tells a few classics (the shoes) as does marcus miller, hell they all do. Miles' autobiography though is fascinating quite apart from any music, the stories and cultural references, the candid speech etc etc all offer a rare window into an intriguing world, he lets it all hang out, the good the bad and the ugly, and he doesn't give a rats what people think so it makes for a great read.

kind of blue is very bill evans, but it's no biggie if you dont "get" Miles because there are plenty of other fish in the sea, as long as you dont dig nickelback you have taste

in my estimation it just takes an entryway, you are simply looking for a way in, any way in, once you are in you can expand and explore from there. here is a tune that got me in to jazz...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImxM4Rj5pOQ

heres another

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrO7DZSY ... re=related

but it can be anything, the important thing is just to find a door (or even a large enough hole in the wall) to get you in.

try herbie hancock and friends

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_gelH9V8l0

omar hakim (drums) and stanley clarke (bass) are just radiating groove joy, herbie is his usual impeccable self and as usual i havent got a clue what wayne shorter (sax) is doing.

Thelonius Monk, what an inspiration that dude has been to so many. have you heard Thelonius the Jeff Beck tune?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKO7tB0pqZM

I tried to read Rumsfield's and Cheney's

brave man! i cant even look at them without feeling like vomitting.

about the only one which I could recommend is "The Story of My Life," by Clarence Darrow.

thanks for the heads up!

[Kevin]

miles is classic,

Oh yeah, no doubt about it, and there is some aspects of his life/persona that I do appreciate... I'll give it another go at some point. Miles Davis and Kurt Vonnegut are two people I should appreciate more than I do... maybe one of these days!

as long as you dont dig nickelback you have taste

Well then I'm pleased to say nickleback hurts my ears... though if they float someone's boat here it's fine with me! I consider them the worst band I've ever heard actually since while they aren't the worst band I've ever heard I do believe they are the most derivative one, moreso even than cover bands. I don't care for the name 'Chad' either but that' a petty complaint.

Jeff Beck. I had both Wired and Blow by Blow back in the day, and now I'm reminded once more to get them again. Yes... excellent stuff. I fairly recently saw a Jeff Beck concert on VH1. I am actually fairly well acquainted with Jazz, it's just Miles in particular that perplexes me. Here's someone I like quite a bit, Max Roach: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AGQQhFSy5g

[youkrst]

ah i see, yes your miles predicament reminds me of my coltrane predicament, i always felt bad because no matter how i tried i just couldnt seem to see what all the fuss was about and preferred parker or other greats.

then one day out of the blue a show came on telly and this divine sax was emanating from it, i was floored... who is this miester i thought, duly waited for the credits and it was coltrane playing a ballad.

i immediately went on a hunt for the track but never found it and still couldnt trane it out.

i was so ashamed imagine a jazzer who cant dig trane

i think just the right track hit me when i was in just the right frame of mind and, voila, easy.

but there is so much great playing going on all the time i dont feel too bad, then i went right off my jazz phase and got into music like jeff lynne and george harrison and mark heard and todd rundgren... totally different.

but after all these years i've been exposed to so much excellent music in so many different styles that it hardly matters any more. i'm just glad to be on the recieving end of all these masters past and present. and i'm sure there are many more rich veins to be tapped.

thanks heaps for the max roach clip and i repay in kind

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4I4oOqamKc

around 4:50 yeehah!

Well then I'm pleased to say nickleback hurts my ears... though if they float someone's boat here it's fine with me! I consider them the worst band I've ever heard actually since while they aren't the worst band I've ever heard I do believe they are the most derivative one, moreso even than cover bands. I don't care for the name 'Chad' either but that' a petty complaint.

we are of one mind on the matter