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Tell Me About A Great Biography You've Read.


Joey Crows

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I usually like to read a mix of fiction and non-fiction, but I've been on a fantasy kick for quite a while now. So, I need some good non-fiction to jump into. I haven't read a good biography in a long time and think that's the direction to go in for the next couple of things I read. Anybody have suggestions for a well written, interesting story, maybe someone who is not that widely known? (but I'm open to someone well known as long as the perspective is unique)

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18 minutes ago, Astromech said:

I read David Hackett Fischer's biography of Samuel de Champlain, Champlain's Dream, last year and loved it.

Interesting. I do love a good explorer's tale.

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12 minutes ago, larrytheimp said:

Do autobiographies count?  Mingus's Beneath the Underdog  is my favorite autobiography.  I'd highly recommend it.

I think the last autobiography I read was Joseph Anton by Salman Rushdie. It was obviously well written, but I never really trust someone talking about themselves to get it right. Haha.

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David Attenborough's "life on air". Focuses on his career with the BBC but that's almost 70 years and you realise how instrumental he was in molding television broadcasting and not just in terms of wildlife documentaries. Parts of it read like Indiana Jones with him galavanting around the world getting into all kinds of random things - at one point he's mistakenly thought to be Prince Phillip by the native people!

The only drawback for those who like biographies to be "warts and all" is that it's clear David is still quite private and only occasionally mentions his personal life. It's much more focused on his working relationships. But there's more than enough to cover in his working life. And he's still working!

If you can handle audiobooks there's the added benefit of the man himself narrating it.

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3 hours ago, red snow said:

David Attenborough's "life on air". Focuses on his career with the BBC but that's almost 70 years and you realise how instrumental he was in molding television broadcasting and not just in terms of wildlife documentaries. Parts of it read like Indiana Jones with him galavanting around the world getting into all kinds of random things - at one point he's mistakenly thought to be Prince Phillip by the native people!

The only drawback for those who like biographies to be "warts and all" is that it's clear David is still quite private and only occasionally mentions his personal life. It's much more focused on his working relationships. But there's more than enough to cover in his working life. And he's still working!

If you can handle audiobooks there's the added benefit of the man himself narrating it.

Sweet! I normally can't handle audiobooks, but if David Attenborough is narrating then I'm totally in ;)

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20 hours ago, Theda Baratheon said:

Rutger Hauer's autobiography is great - really enjoyed it 

I was trying to remember what he's been in when I realized he was in the 1st episode of The Last Kingdom. Then I looked him up and realized he's been in like a million things. Haha.

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Cash by Johnny Cash

Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole, and Oliver Reed by Richard Sellers

Titanic Thompson: The Man Who Bet on Everything by Kevin Cook

Fury On Earth: A Biography Of Wilhelm Reich by Myron Sharaf

 

All some I've read over the last couple years.   Right now reading Trevor Noah's Born a Crime.  It's pretty good.

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47 minutes ago, Joey Crows said:

I hate to admit it, but I've never seen it. I know, I know, wtf right? 

Please watch and tell me what you think 

It's good for my health 

I get +20 fatigue every time someone watches blade runner and enjoys it 

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On 22/03/2017 at 5:02 PM, Joey Crows said:

Sweet! I normally can't handle audiobooks, but if David Attenborough is narrating then I'm totally in ;)

Yeah - there's something very relaxing listening to it, like he's doing a really long interview. I'm sure the book is  good too - I bet it's impossible to read in anything other than his voice.

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1 hour ago, scortius the charioteer said:

Cash by Johnny Cash

Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole, and Oliver Reed by Richard Sellers

Titanic Thompson: The Man Who Bet on Everything by Kevin Cook

Fury On Earth: A Biography Of Wilhelm Reich by Myron Sharaf

 

All some I've read over the last couple years.   Right now reading Trevor Noah's Born a Crime.  It's pretty good.

Nice! Thanks for the reccos. Titanic Thompson sounds like it would be awesome.

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1 hour ago, Theda Baratheon said:

Please watch and tell me what you think 

It's good for my health 

I get +20 fatigue every time someone watches blade runner and enjoys it 

When/if I get around to watching it you'll be the first to know. Well, you'll be the first to know via the interwebs anyway.

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Richard Ellmann's biography of Oscar Wilde springs to mind.

I also enjoyed S.T. Joshi's biography of H.P. Lovecraft. But you have to like Lovecraft to read that.

Robin Lane Fox's take on Alexander the Great (the inspiration for Stone's movie) is also pretty good although I've not gotten through that one yet.

This biography of Emperor Caligula is also a very good read, showing the man behind the monster (or rather the shrewd politician behind the madman).

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2 hours ago, Rippounet said:

My diary. :P

Ahem. Have you tried Bill Bryson?

I've read A Short History of Nearly Everything and One Summer. Both were fantastic. Are you referring to something specific? I didn't know he had written any biographies.

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