Genre of the week: Autobiographies

Yes, this will include biographies as well, so feel free to include those!

I remember reading a lot of these for school. Just about every report had me going to the library to see if I could find anything since the internet at my house was normally shot. The most interesting one I remember reading was of John Glenn. I'm fascinated with space and everything, so it only suits that an astronaut would keep me interested. I read about how he became the first American to orbit the Earth and the third person in space. I've read a few more simply because they've interested me, but they were almost exclusively pioneers of the gaming industry.

So what kind of autobiographies/biographies have you read either for school or for fun?

I've never been big on biographies. I remember reading a few in elementary school and not being very engaged, mostly because I wasn't really interested in those people's specific experiences. (Mostly Holocaust survivors and Chuck Yeager.) I've never actively searched for a good biography to read, even now that I know what subjects interest me. That said, I recently read Mindy Kaling's first autobiography, and I absolutely loved it, so I'd like to look into more autobiographies by female comedians.

I think it would be cool to someday write an autobiography if I think people would deem my life interesting enough. I've been keeping a journal for quite awhile, now, and there are certain relationships that I've wanted to write about since I began.

~Psychic

I'm actually having to write an autobiographical statement for a graduate school entrance essay sometime soon. I'm not having too much luck with ideas. Usually I have too much to say on one particular topic, especially if I'm passionate about it and I have experience with it, so it's something I'll be needing to think about in-depth before writing/submitting.

Bardothren said:

I suppose Night's my only experience with the genre. I'm glad it exists; the world could do with a few reminders of how horrible war can be.

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I remember reading Night as one of my reading assignments in school, but for some reason I can't get into it. I do respect it as a very important piece focusing on the war experience, though. There's also Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl if it can considered an autobiography and that one I was more invested in.

Another autobiography/biography I read was one of Rudy Giuliani (former NYC mayor) for a scholarship I was applying for. Can't remember the book's name, but I remember there were some references to the September 11th attacks and his thoughts on it were interesting.

I feel like almost all "autobiographies" that you see in bookstores are ghostwritten so honestly that sort of puts me off. I do like the concept, a bit, but it's not something that I'm really gung-ho about. I did read an autobiography (I think it was more of a memoir, though) by Portia de Rossi about her experience with eating disorders, which I found very interesting. I suppose if someone has an interesting or engaging enough life event to develop into a full story, I can be really intrigued. If it's mundane or uneventful, then... no thanks.