The best books on Diaries and Autobiography, recommended by Craig Brown
The Private Eye satirist and author recommends five entertaining published diaries, from Andy Warhol to Harpo Marx – and tells us why parody is a pickpocket
The best books on Chronic Illness, recommended by Polly Atkin
Living with a long-term condition or disability is difficult, says Polly Atkin, the author of Some of Us Just Fall. Those affected often feel isolated, misunderstood, or frustrated by their interactions with the medical establishment. But books about chronic illness will remind you that you are not alone; here, she recommends five memoirs that offer insight into the “kingdom of the unwell.”
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Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning
by Cathy Park Hong -
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This is Major: On Diana Ross, Dark Girls and Being Dope
by Shayla Lawson -
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Golem Girl: A Memoir
by Riva Lehrer -
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The Dragons, the Giant, the Women: A Memoir
by Wayétu Moore -
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Home Baked: My Mom, Marijuana and the Stoning of San Francisco
by Alia Volz
The Best Memoirs: The 2021 NBCC Autobiography Shortlist, recommended by Marion Winik
The Best Memoirs: The 2021 NBCC Autobiography Shortlist, recommended by Marion Winik
From fleeing the Liberian civil war to selling pot brownies in San Francisco, the finalists for the 2021 National Book Critics Circle award for the best autobiography offer five vivid life stories, told expertly. Critic, broadcaster and author Marion Winik talks us through the brilliant memoirs that made the 2021 shortlist.
The Best Presidential Memoirs as Audiobooks, recommended by Robin Whitten
When you listen to presidential memoirs as audiobooks, you can often hear an American president telling you their own story. Veteran audiobook reviewer Robin Whitten, editor of Audiofile magazine, recommends the best audiobooks about US presidents, and explains the crucial role of professional narrators in bringing big books to life.
The Best of Memoir: the 2020 NBCC Autobiography Shortlist, recommended by Mark Athitakis
From a brave account by the Stanford rape case survivor Chanel Miller to New Yorker reporter Ronan Farrow’s gripping tale of investigating the Harvey Weinstein scandal, it’s been a golden year for autobiography. Veteran critic Mark Athitakis talks us through the memoirs that made this year’s National Book Critics Circle autobiography shortlist.
The best books on The Lives of Artists, recommended by Maria Loh
We live in an age obsessed with self-image. Technology has made the ‘selfie’ a ubiquitous form of social currency. Renaissance means may have been very different, but celebrity artists in Medici Florence dealt with many of the issues relating to identity and authorship that we grapple with today. Maria Loh, author of Still Lives: Death, Desire, and the Portrait of the Old Master, talks to Five Books about the curated self.
The Best Addiction Memoirs, recommended by Matt Rowland Hill
The author and recovering addict Matt Rowland Hill dissects the ‘addiction memoir’—its literary potential, its formal conventions and its offer of hope and catharsis—as he recommends five books that exemplify the form, from Thomas De Quincey’s Confessions of an English Opium Eater to Mary Karr’s bestselling Lit.
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Educated: A Memoir
by Tara Westover -
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The Day That Went Missing: A Family's Story
by Richard Beard -
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All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir
by Nicole Chung -
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What Drowns the Flowers in Your Mouth: A Memoir of Brotherhood
by Rigoberto González -
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Belonging: A German Reckons with History and Home
by Nora Krug -
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Old in Art School: A Memoir of Starting Over
by Nell Painter
The Best Memoirs: The 2019 National Book Critics Circle Awards Shortlist, recommended by Laurie Hertzel
The Best Memoirs: The 2019 National Book Critics Circle Awards Shortlist, recommended by Laurie Hertzel
An increasing diversity of voices and willingness to experiment has heralded a new golden age of autobiography, says literary critic Laurie Hertzel. Here she highlights the very best: the six memoirs recently shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Awards.
The Best ‘Anti-Memoirs’, recommended by Yiyun Li
Yiyun Li, author of Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life, on the sheer messiness of life, the irrelevance of ‘I’, and why brutal honesty is often the truest way to capture the people we love the most
The best books on Great Letter Writers, recommended by Jonathan Keates
Queen Victoria was anything but Victorian and Lord Byron was more vulnerable than we think, says writer Jonathan Keates – who considers emails a poor substitute for a hand-written correspondence.