How did reading a biography learn you a valuable lesson, help you gain a crucial insight, change your worldview or impact you in some other, non-trivial way?
[more inside]
posted by Foci for Analysis
on Feb 14, 2012 -
13 answers
I have a health condition that may end my life prematurely. I am an "older" parent of an only child who is currently 8 years old. It's important to me that I leave a record of who I was. Can you help me with strategies to help me "index and annotate" myself for her, so that when she is older she could have an idea of her father as an adult beyond just the Daddy that I am to her now?
[more inside]
posted by nickjadlowe
on Dec 13, 2011 -
42 answers
I have been enjoying reading memoirs lately and would like some suggestions for more books I might enjoy.
[more inside]
posted by JoannaC
on Jun 28, 2011 -
50 answers
How can I succeed in writing a truthful and complete autobiography without self-sabotaging the project before it's done?
[more inside]
posted by anonymous
on Sep 8, 2010 -
5 answers
I'm looking for a series of short autobiographical films that use a very simple animation technique. The artist draws pictures in real time as a voice-over tells the story. All you can see is the line of the pen as it forms the image, but you can't see the artist or the pen that's drawing the line. Thank you.
posted by muta
on Jun 8, 2010 -
2 answers
What are some good miniseries, movies, books, and/or autobiographies which span decades, leaving the reader feeling like they have been on a long, intimate journey?
[more inside]
posted by crapmatic
on Feb 1, 2010 -
73 answers
From Darwin's autobiography: 'Some of these boys were rather clever, but I may add on the principle of "noscitur a socio" that not one of them ever became in the least distinguished.'
What does "noscitur a socio" mean in this context? [more inside]
posted by bigbopper
on Jan 10, 2010 -
6 answers
I am looking for autobiographies with charismatic male role models who carry some sort of leadership role. Think Randy Pausch's "The Last Lecture" or Barack Obama's "The Audacity of Hope". Any suggestions?
posted by helios410
on May 11, 2009 -
12 answers
NameThatBookFilter: Autobiography by a former criminal/hard timer that later became an author?
[more inside]
posted by mrhaydel
on Apr 2, 2009 -
16 answers
I'd like to read some good books, preferably autobiographical, about managing a household in hard times.
[more inside]
posted by Catch
on Feb 15, 2009 -
29 answers
How should I put my diary / autobiography online? I'm almost asking how best to order and annotate my old photos, but I'd like the possibility of more extensive writing as well. I'm expecting to order things by date, but advice on categories would be good. It's not a commercial venture, just fun for the extended family.
[more inside]
posted by airplain
on Jul 27, 2008 -
1 answer
I'm planning to co-author a book with a semi-famous person who wants to tell her own story, but needs help with the writing part. My biggest question is about money - how should we split it? It's her story, but I'll be doing most of the writing. Yet we are attempting to treat this as a real collaboration where we edit together, pass drafts back and forth, and so forth. Any sense of what percentage is appropriate for each of us? Also, should I join the
Writers Union to get help with this type of question? I'd like to join on principal but I'm your classic broke writer, so the dues feel prohibitive. Thanks!
posted by anonymous
on Dec 10, 2007 -
3 answers
What are your favorite autobiographies? For the purposes of this discussion, I'm including "autobiographies" that were written collaboratively (like Alex Haley's
The Autobiography of Malcolm X) or that were straight up written by someone else (like Gertrude Stein's
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas). The point is, the book is written from the point of view of the subject and it's (ostensibly at least) non-fiction.
[more inside]
posted by serazin
on Sep 30, 2007 -
57 answers