Reccs for great biographies, please?

[Wickerman]

Would you be so kind as to tell me what biographies you have found fascinating? It doesn't matter if it's the subject matter or the writer's style that captured you; I'm just curious what bios really got you.

Have you read a bio about someone you didn't think would be interesting and yet the bio turned out to be the story you couldn't put down? Please tell me about them. Maybe you were already a big fan and the story was brilliant beyond expectation - I want to read that, too.

thanks!

[Tangerine LaBamba]

1. Not a biography, but an autobiography -

Katharine Graham's book about her life.

It's wonderful.............

[Captain Hilts]

16. I found it FASCINATING. Compare/contrast with Irene Selznick's autobiography.

In each case, the books are chock full of anecdotes about famous folk, but that's not the most interesting part.

The contrast with Selznick's is really, really interesting. For those that don't know, Selznick was LB Mayer's daughter and was married, then divorced from GWTW producer David O. Selznick.

So, Graham and Selznick had in common:

Kinda Jewish families
Married to batshit crazy guys.
Married to batshit crazy guys in dad's business.
Both found themselves professionally after rid of batshit crazy guys.

etc.

[BlooInBloo]

2. There's a ginormous Eleanor Roosevelt one that I really liked.

[Captain Hilts]

14. "Eleanor and Franklin" is great, but a BEAST. And a lot has been discovered since then...

Blanche Wiesen Cook's Eleanor Roosevelt Vol. I is a GREAT read.

We Eleanorites need a secret handshake...

[TygrBright]

3. McCullough's bio of John Adams was excellent.

[Sequoia]

7. Hey, I just got that book from the library.

[WheelWalker]

4. Here are two I have reread half a dozen times each, and I own them both:

Darwin - The Life of a Tormented Evolutionist (Adrian Desmond & James R. Moore; Publisher Michael Joseph Ltd (1991) Hardcover; 768 pp.)

Hilter and Stalin: Parallel Lives (Alan Bullock; Publisher Knopf. Year (1992) Hardcover, 1081 pp.)

Good reading to you. Blessings.

[DoBotherMe]

5. David Herbert Donald's Lincoln

Hooked me from the title of the first chapter, "Annals of the Poor." He won a Pulitzer.I found out that Abe had sparkling white teeth, he didn't drink coffee, tea or use tobacco. It's a fantastic and HUGE book. Dana ; )

[Wickerman]

6. Thanks for all the great suggestions

some good stuff there, many I'll be checking out.

:thumbsup:

[Onceuponalife]

8. Taylor Branch's "Parting The Waters" MLK biography

It's huge and comprehensive, the first of a trilogy covering his entire public life. Pulitzer Prize winner, too, I believe. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[azmouse]

9. "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" by Edmund Morris

"Theodore Rex" (same author)


"Einstein: His Life and Universe" by Walter Isaacson


"The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin" by HW Brands

[david13]

10. I think the important thing about bio's is that it has to be

about someone you like, or want to like, or can stomach, someone you want to read about. There are so many that I don't want to read about.
dc

[TokenQueer]

11. 'East to the Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart' by Susan Butler

I took my young niece to see the "Night at the Museum" sequel this summer. Amelia Earhart is prominently featured as a partner in adventure throughout the film. Afterward, I lamented to friend that Hollywood has never really done a quality biopic to celebrate this spunky icon of feminism. To which she replied, "Sure they are. It stars Hilary Swank and is out in the fall."

In anticipation I decided to brush up on Amelia myself before seeing the film. 'East to the Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart' by Susan Butler seemed well researched.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002JLO75C/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0306808870&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1S95C0BK08GM9HXNK0HQ

Wow. What a fascinating figure. This was an utterly gripping page turner and a meticulous construction of life in the mid-west at the turn of the twentieth century on through Amelia's close and influential relationship with FDR and, in particular, Eleanor Roosevelt. Social worker, activist, fashion plate, aviatrix... you're in for a treat. :thumbsup:

[Manifestor_of_Light]

12. Several.

Get Happy, about Judy Garland

Stranger at the Party by Helen Lawrenson. She worked for Conde Nast (THE man, not just the company) in the Thirties. Knew Clare Boothe Luce, Bernard Baruch and other well-known people.

Kink by Dave Davies.

Somebody to Love by Grace Slick.

A Solo in Tom-Toms by Gene Fowler. A newspaperman in Denver who has been completely forgotten.

The Prince and The Lily by James Brough. Lillie Langtry and her lovers, Edward VII and Louis Battenberg (uncle of Philip Mountbatten).

[groovedaddy]

13. The most recent Andrew Jackson bio. Pretty good, in my opinion. n.t

[Captain Hilts]

15. Taubman's about Khrushchev is good. Marinis's about Vince Lombardi is also

terrific.

[YankeyMCC]

17. Lincoln's Virtues by William Lee Miller

I'm not a big biography reader but this one was very interesting in the way it was approached as an examination of Lincoln's moral outlook on the world and how it evolved and changed and how he applied it in in his life.

I also second the recommendation on the Adam's biography. It gives a very rich historical view and very human look at an important figure in the US early history