Category: Biography
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A Few Oddball Biographies & Memoirs I’ve Read
I say “a few” because the biography/memoir genre is probably my least favorite. I read lots of these in school while going up, especially about Helen Keller, Amelia Earhart, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Back then, it was REALLY IMPORTANT to our public school system that we learn as much…
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Angelina: An Unauthorized Biography by Andrew Morton
Andrew Morton is a British journalist who’s written a LOT of celebrity biographies. His first book was called, Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words, released in 1992. In Angelina, Morton provides explicit details about the actress’s childhood and upbringing, and about that of her parents Jon Voight and…
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Roasting in Hell’s Kitchen by Gordon Ramsay
I don’t know why I ever bothered reading these celebrity “autobiographies,” because it’s not like the celebrities are actually writing these books. At the time I read this one, I was a big fan of Gorden Ramsay, and I was addicted to watching those staged Kitchen Nightmares shows. Ramsay’s autobiography,…
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Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
Wishful Drinking is the saddest celebrity memoir I’ve ever read. It opens with Carrie Fisher explaining how proud she feels to be starting over at the age of 52 after having electroconvulsive therapy. She then talks about how she can’t remember much of her life before she wrote Wishful Drinking.…
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This is Gonna Hurt by Tito Ortiz
This is quite the interesting biography by Tito Ortiz, The Huntington Beach Bad Boy of MMA. In This is Gonna Hurt, Tito Ortiz talks about his motivation for becoming an MMA fighter, and about what he went through to achieve his dream. He talks like your typical guy next door—he’s…
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Denial: A Memoir of Terror by Jessica Stern
Denial: A Memoir of Terror is a true story about a rape victim—the author Jessica Stern—who investigates her own case. One day, Jessica receives an email from Paul Macone, the police lieutenant who oversaw her rape case many years ago. His email pushes her to dive headfirst into overcoming her…
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Me and My Shadows by Lorna Luft
Me And My Shadows is a biography about Judy Garland, written by her daughter, Lorna Luft. The Wizard of Oz is one of my all-time favorite movies, so of course this book was a must-read for me. In the first half of Me and My Shadows, Lorna talks about her…
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Lay the Favorite by Beth Raymer
Lay the Favorite is a highly entertaining gambling memoir by Beth Raymer. Beth moved to Las Vegas hoping to become a scriptwriter, but then became a bookie instead. The story in this one begins in Las Vegas, where Beth is waiting tables at a Thai restaurant. One of her customers…
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That’s Not All Folks! by Mel Blanc and Philip Bashe
That’s Not All Folks! is a memoir and biography by Mel Blanc—the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and hundreds of other Looney Tunes characters. Mel Blanc (1908-1989) was a true comedic genius. He worked from the ground up to establish himself as one of the most talented,…