A Few Good Biographies & Memoirs

Your Weekend Reading #80

Jun 19, 2022

Here is a shocking and unsettling book discovery: in the almost two years of book recommendations, I have never had a biography theme. At first this seemed like an appalling oversight but with further scrutiny … apparently, I do not read biographies.

This is not like other genres I Actively Do Not Read Because They Know What They’ve Done, a list which includes but is not limited to dystopian fiction, environmental apocalypse books, most magical realism, business frameworks and male aggro brutish sci-fi. Oh, and Fifty Shades of anything. That’s just me!

In this case, I would have confidently said “oh yeah, I read biographies all the time,” but upon reflection I … definitely don't. Like when you say you work out all the time and then if you have to track it you realize that this is a falsehood? Oh, also just me?

I *do* read a lot of memoirs, so is it a publishing preference such that memoirs are more numerous? Is it that memoirs are self-told and biographies tend to be of historical figures, who tend to be old men of politics and do I really need to read the definitive legacy of Rutherford B. Hayes? Is it that biographies are often about the factual timelines, and memoirs are about the stories and emotions? And where does my apparent reluctance to read biography end and the desire to read non-fiction about people, which I do like, begin? WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

Your guess is as good as mine and my therapist’s. All I know is, here are two biographies I have really liked, alongside two great memoirs. Please leave some great biography suggestions, which I’m assuming includes anything by Walter Isaacson but how would I know?

I thought Anna, the biography of Vogue’s Anna Wintour, was great. It’s hard to think of any woman who has had more of an impact on American culture for so long than Anna Wintour; indisputably in fashion but, as the book shows, also in media, in movies, in celebrity, in creativity, in publishing - for that reason alone it’s a compelling read about our own culture.

It was not as sharply critical as you rightly could be of Anna; the biographer clearly errs toward contextualizing, even forgiving Anna’s faults as a woman of her time and upbringing. She also consistently points out that the “Devil Wears Prada” traits we skewer Anna for - ruthlessness for the bottom line, efficiency, perfection, devotion to work - we applaud in male CEOs, which is either another excuse or a fair point, depending on your POV. A good read for anyone interested in fashion, of course, but a definitive piece on a private businesswoman who is also in a vanishingly small pinnacle of culture-makers.

Somebody’s Daughter is one of those memoirs that stays with you, not because it’s such an unusual story (like Educated) but because it’s a common story told with unusual clarity, power and unsentimental pathos.

Writer Ashley Ford writes with heart-wrenching storytelling about her childhood and adolescence - growing up with an incarcerated father, a complicated mother, and an environment of poverty, sexual assault, love and persistence. Most of the reviews I read focused on the challenging evolution of the relationship with her father, especially in light of Ford’s own experiences. And that’s real, but I also really responded to the portrait of a mother who maybe did the best she could - but maybe didn’t, and how we grapple with that. Sad, hopeful, lovely.

Somebody ring the alarm, I think this is actually a business book!! Even I can break my own rules, lawlessly and with relish!

Shoe Dog is Nike founder Phil Knight’s memoir of creating Nike from Day One through the IPO in 1980. So yeah, it is of course a story of a CEO, of a business, of an indelible brand and how that came to be (like many great brands, in a sort of happenstance way but mostly with deliberate care), of the culture they built, and of the persistence in the face of the many screwups and headwinds.

But beyond that, it’s a deeply engaging, funny, lean-in campfire-style telling of a man, of his many passions and fears, of his candid mistakes and where he just plain got lucky, of the many characters who came through the Nike universe.

Yes, I know this came out in 2016 and 99% of you read it then like sensible adults. But I know there are a few people like me who never got to it and for you, my friends, it’s 100% worth your while.

In further “this is an old book” news, Into the Wild is one of those biographies that definitely tell you as much about yourself as it does about the subject. It’s the story of a young man who is constantly in search of adventure and nature, of shedding the trappings of the modern world and being at one with his surroundings. So he goes into the Alaskan wilderness and disappears.

I have a love-hate relationship with Jon Krakauer’s writing, which can be a little self-indulgent with a tendency to insert himself. But it’s also breathlessly immersive and blazingly readable, like all his books (see also my favorite of his, Into Thin Air, and also you should probably read Under the Banner of Heaven, especially you, Spencer.)

And you’ll probably find yourself teetering between sympathy for a troubled seeker and irritation for a selfish, naive, hubristic young man, which is Krakauer’s gift. If you never got around to this one either, don’t be afraid to check it out!

Commemorating Juneteenth

May we use this day to spark more meaning and action on our journeys to racial justice, and reckoning with the real history of our country.

Here are a few book that can help us reflect:

What are you even reading? A guide:

If you’re new in town, each week I share different books I’ve loved (and some that should do better.) If this week’s books weren’t your chosen genre, check out the archive!
What are those purple lambs? I’m glad you asked!
All links go to Bookshop.org, which supports independent bookstores. Every week I read about another bookstore going out of business - always a loss for the community. I’m going to redouble my efforts to visit and support indie bookstores wherever I go, but in the meantime, this is a much better way to buy books. Or use your local library, which is a true gift to every community and probably a little bit like what heaven must be like.
Lastly, while this isn’t a Father’s Day theme, pretty much every newsletter is a testament to and result of my father, who comes from a long line of readers, loves reading and books more than just about anyone I know, and who has been an inspiration for me as a reader my whole life especially in our shared love of having multiple books in queue, and the works of Robert B. Parker and Harlen Coben. (Though he does read business books, but you can’t have it all.) Love you, Dad!