Looking for excellent examples of biographical literature

[SantaMufasa]

(With Cajun's encouragement, I'm posting this thread here [which I posted originally in STC], to give the MAI-ers an opportunity to contribute their nominations for well-written biographies.)

In anticipation of writing her biography, I am researching the life of an amazing contemporary Philippina woman that currently lives with her two youngest (of six) children in Alamo, California.

She arose from extreme poverty in Leyte, Philippines, in the home of an alcoholic father (who hung his naked children from the rafters of their wooden hut and beat them mercilessly). At age 14, she stowed away on a freighter to Manila, made her way to America, and is now one of the wealthier, amazingly successful women of Northern California.

I will be travelling to Leyte in August to research her humble beginnings and to get a glimpse of the lives of the dozens of her multi-generation family members that she is helping to raise above their chronic poverty and hopelessness, through her retraining and sustaining them educationally, occupationally, and spiritually.

Before I set out on this adventure, I want to become familiar with samples of great biographical literature. I am not necessarily looking for examples of great people (although such may fall into this category), but, instead, I am looking for examples of great writing about real people: writing that grabs your attention and, through the author's style, tells a fascinating, inspiring story about the subject person.

Please suggest works of biographical literature which have impressed you with these qualities.

(Amongst the nominations from the STC thread are:
John Adams by David McCullough (Pulitzer-Prize winner)
Truman by David McCullough (Pulitzer-Prize winner)
1776 by David McCulough (not about a person, but a year in the life of the United States. But still a Pulitzer-winning prose style)
Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson
Like A Fiery Elephant: The Story of B.S. Johnson
The Autobiography of Malcom X: As Told to Alex Haley
Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer; the story of Chris McCandless.)

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[zahead31]

The Color of Water by James McBride

This book is a son's tribute to his mother, and is a very similar story to the one you are writing. This is an excellent book, I definitely recommend checking it out!

 

[2ffat]

Eddie Rickenbacker: An Autobiography

I suspect that it was really "ghost-written" but it really catches the reader's attention. In addition, this is a guy that worked his way up from sweeping floors, to racing cars, to being a WWI ace, to running Eastern Airlines.



James P. Cottingham
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[Lunatic]

Sorry, no suggestions on specific biographies (I'm not a big fan). Just a thought. You might want to focus on biographies that were written at the time the subject was alive to look at how to include the typical secondary artifacts (dairies, letters, articles, etc.) and actual interviews with the subject and the subject's friends and contemporaries.

It's like painting without black and then painting with black. It adds a touch more complexity to the painting that without some previous baseline for understanding what will happen, could cause the result to be less than you hoped for.

This is by no means saying the suggestions are not worth reading, just that some may be more beneficial than others in helping your prepare for your project.

Good luck!

***************************************
Have a problem with my spelling or grammar? Please refer all complaints to my English teacher:
Ralphy "Me fail English? That's unpossible." Wiggum

 

[Olaf Doschke]

The Diary Of Anne Frank should be mentioned.

Bye, Olaf.

 

[KenCunningham]

Or as Lunatic would have it, The Dairy Of Anne Frank.

Sorry!!

I want to be good, is that not enough?

 

[Lunatic]

Please refer all complaints to my English teacher ;-p

***************************************
Have a problem with my spelling or grammar? Please refer all complaints to my English teacher:
Ralphy "Me fail English? That's unpossible." Wiggum

 

[stackdump]

Not a biography as such but the book "Endurance" by Alfred Lansing is very well written and presented.

This is an account of Ernest Shackleton's expedition to the south pole. It includes some bio's of the team members, the main story assembled from accounts made by the team members, many wonderful photographs and some interesting sideline historical info. So not a bio, but worth looking at to perhaps act as a model for writing flow/style which realy 'involves' the reader. After I read it, I felt as though I had actually been on that expedition.

 

[RodKnowlton]

I'm not that big of a fan of biographies, but I really enjoyed Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character. It looks like it's out of print, but if you can find a copy it's a good example of a biography based on first hand anecdotes.

I also found Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal oddly compelling, though I'm not sure why I'm admitting that.

- Rod


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[CajunCenturion]

==> Please refer all complaints to my English teacher ;-p
That might work in your workplace, or in your school, but that won't work here in MAI.


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[2ffat]

<slightly-off-topic>I too enjoyed Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character although I never thought of it as a biography. It was recommended to me by a security analyst. He said it showed how "smart" people think. (Prof. Feynman never considered himself a "smart" person, just someone who was willing to "think outside the box" as they say).

The analyst used several examples of Mr. Feynman's safe-cracking methods of how intruders can gain access to computer systems. A good read if just for that. ;-)


James P. Cottingham
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^{I'm number 1,229!
I'm number 1,229!}

 

[rosieb]

I'll follow the off-topic, and recommend that as a great example of an easy-to-read, and fascinating, biography.

Rosie
"It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong." Richard Feynman

 

[Olaf Doschke]

Me too.

And the other one, What Do you Care What Other People Think?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Do_You_Care_What_Other_People_Think?

Bye, Olaf.

 

[Olaf Doschke]

a poor list, work in progress, you might add to it:

http://www.thebeststuffintheworld.com/category/biography

Bye, Olaf.

 

[karluk]

I can heartily add to the recommendations for Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer and Endurance by Alfred Lansing. I would add The Man Who Knew Infinity: The Life of the Genius Ramanujan by Robert Kanigel. It is particularly pertinent to your project because it is another example of a person from an impoverished third-world country coming to the West (in Ramanujan's case, to England) and being successful almost beyond anyone's imagination. I doubt that you'll be able to adopt Kanigel's exact approach because of Ramanujan's return to India and premature death - after all your subject has adopted Western culture and thrived in it. Still, both of these people acquired their basic character and tools for success from their native culture. It would be interesting to get a coherent picture of why, and I think Kanigel does an excellent job in this regard.