Poll Time! Most Important Autobiographies?

[eldritchhobbit]

The students at the IHS seminar are wonderful, and I had great fun with my lecture.


Now I have a few quick links to share:

* Man from U.N.C.L.E. fans, unite! Napoleon and Illya have made it to the final round of Mister 8's spy face-off poll. No registration is needed: lend your vote to The Man From U.N.C.L.E. here!

* The May 28th episode of the Point of Inquiry podcast is devoted to an interview of H.P. Lovecraft scholar S.T. Joshi.

* Here's another "must read" essay on Lost: "Genre and Lost" by Michael A. Burstein.

* Geeky Clean has some new geeky products, including soaps inspired by Lost and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.


And now to my question for you...

One of my colleagues recently asked me which books I would consider to be the ten most important autobiographies of all time (drawn from all ages, all cultures). He's taking a poll. A few came to mind instantly: Booker T. Washington's Up From Slavery, Leonard Peltier's Prison Writings: My Life is My Sun Dance, and Augustine's Confessions, for example. But "of all time" is a daunting concept, and I know there are many important titles that I'll think of, if at all, only after I've given him my list. So, knowing that my friends are very wise, I thought I'd ask you for your picks.

[Poll #1572957]

Thanks so much for your thoughts!


"...I would permit no man, no matter what his colour might be, to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him."
— Booker T. Washington, Up from Slavery

Comments

[peadarog.livejournal.com]

I haven't got a clue how to answer that question, but it's a good one. One that comes to mind is Antonio Gramsci's "Prison Notebooks". But most important of all time??? Ouch.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Great suggestion! That's just the kind of recommendation I needed. Thanks so much.

Yes, it's a bit daunting...

[st-crispins.livejournal.com]

Hey: could you mention the current death match between UNCLE and comic book heroine, Tara Chace over here?

Many SF fans remember MFU fondly [and we need more votes]

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the reminder! 'Tis done.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Emma Goldman, "Living My Life".

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Good ones! Thanks so much! (LOL at your icon!)

[estellye.livejournal.com]

I don't feel qualified to select "Important" autobiographies, though I would certainly put these two on my list were I compelled to make the attempt.

1. I very much enjoyed Gandhi's "The Story of My Experiments with Truth" when I read it long ago.

2. I was absolutely enraptured by Helen Keller's "The Story of My Life" when I was young - she was my hero.

I know for a fact that nobody agrees with me about the most entertaining autobiography, because I believe it's out of print: A.A. Milne's "It's Too Late Now: The Autobiography of a Writer". It's a delight. I found it in the library at college, then decided I had to own a copy, thus beginning the eventually successful hunt for a copy from a used book seller. That is much easier in these later days of interwebs, lol. Back then I had to send actual postcards...to Manhattan...in the mail. Then I had to walk there to get it, in a blizzard. Oh ok, I didn't do that part. ;)

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

LOL!

These are wonderful recommendations. Thank you so much! I'm going to have to track down a used copy of A.A. Milne's autobiography. It sounds brilliant.

[lin4gondor.livejournal.com]

It's not important to the world for all time, perhaps, but two of the most interesting autobiographies I have ever read were both by Agatha Christie.

My favorite is called "Come Tell Me How You Live: An Archeological Memoir" -- I love the humor of it, even as it tells truthfully of what it is like to live in on an archeological dig in Asia.

The other is "Agatha Christie, An Autobiography," and is a fascinating look at herself as a writer and as a real person.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

These are great! Thanks so much for the recommendations.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

PS. Love the icon. :)

[cookiefleck.livejournal.com]

*voted* Yay, Uncle is leading by a large margin! I need to buy that box set.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Woohoo! The box set is terrific - even its box is clever.

[belleferret.livejournal.com]

Whee! UNCLE is leading 2 to 1!!

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Yay!

[todearrako.livejournal.com]

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