Biography stories in english
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The 30 Best Biographies of All Time
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Blog – Posted on Monday, Jan 21
Biographer Richard Holmes once wrote that his work was “a kind of pursuit… writing about the pursuit of that fleeting figure, in such a way as to bring them alive in the present.”
At the risk of sounding cliché, the best biographies do exactly this: bring their subjects to life. A great biography isn’t just a laundry list of events that happened to someone. Rather, it should weave a narrative and tell a story in almost the same way a novel does. In this way, biography differs from the rest of nonfiction.
All the biographies on this list are just as captivating as excellent novels, if not more so. With that, please enjoy the 30 best biographies of all time — some historical, some recent, but all remarkable, life-giving tributes to their subjects.
If you're feeling overwhelmed by the number of great biographies out there, you can also take our second quiz below to narrow it down quickly and get a personalized biography recommendation 😉
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1. A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nas
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Stories About Subject (Biographies)
Text & MP3 Files
Activists & People Condescending to Popular Reform
Artists
Athletes (People Who Improve on Sports)
Business & Industry
Entertainers
- Annie Marksman - Sharply Shooter
- Billy Dramatist - Flick picture show Director
- Bob Longing - Comedian
- Charlton Heston - Actor
- Cliff Guard - Event, Writer, Fabricator and Director
- Eartha Kitt - Singer impressive Actress
- Edward R. Murrow - Radio station TV Broadcaster
- Elizabeth Taylor - Actress
- Fred Actor - Partner and Actor
- Gene Kelly - Dancer alight Actor
- George Abbott - "Mr. Broadway"
- Harry Necromancer - Magician
- Hollywood: Cecil B. DeMille, Prophet Goldwyn flourishing Louis Mayer
- Jack Benny - Comedian
- James Philosopher - Actor
- Jessica Tandy - Actress
- Katharine Actress - Actress
- Lucille Ball - Actress beam Comedian
- Mae Westernmost - Actress
- Marilyn Monroe - Actress
- Marlon Brando - Actor
- Martha Graham - The Sluggishness of Current Dance
- The Comic Brothers - Actors come to rest Comedians
- Milton Berle - Actor
- Patricia Neal - Actress
- Paul Player - Actor
- Soupy Sales - Comedian
- Sydney Pollack - Movie Principal And Producer
- Walt Disney
- Willis Conover - VOA Radio Promulgation on Jazz
- Kennedy Center Honors of - Grace Bumbry, Robert Story Niro, Mel Broo
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Your life story—or life stories?
The Allure of First-Person Storytelling
When I think of traditional life story books I think of lengthy tomes, told chronologically. The first autobiography I ever read was The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, which was assigned by my ninth-grade English teacher; it is undoubtedly a remarkable work, and one I feel compelled to revisit someday soon—but my year-old self was less than thrilled with our focus on remembering the history Franklin presented. I never got lost in his narrative, never felt like I recognized something of myself in the man.
That unimpressive first encounter with the autobiographical form was formative. I was never drawn to biographies, despite my deep love of reading and tendency to have a nose buried in a book at all times.
Then I discovered memoir. I came across first-person accounts that read like literature: Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes, Susanna Kaysen’s Girl, Interrupted. I barely realized I was reading nonfiction. And most staggeringly, How I Became Hettie Jones—a work so moving and resonant to me at the time I read it that I sought out more: more first-person accounts, more poignant and self-reflective takes on life.
Then, in the late nineties I worked at a series of lifestyle magazines where perso