I love memoirs about people who have had particularly interesting lives and are very well-written just as works of literature on their own.
I am less interested in the typical celebrity memoir where they basically tell the story of how they came from relatively humble beginnings with a little extra poverty of a dash of abuse thrown in and became the fantastically successful person they are today.
I particularly like stories of people who had interesting and/or eccentric upbringings.
Some of my favorites are:
* North of Normal by Cea Sunrise Person (and the follow-up, Nearly Normal)
* The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
* Elsewhere by Richard Russo
* Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
* Not My Father’s Son by Alam Cumming
* I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
* The Frank McCourt memoirs
Honorable mention but not an absolute favorite:
* Educated by Tara Westover (not as well-written as the others)
I actually include the Laura Ingalls Wilder books in this category as well.
I feel like most memoirs these days are written by celebrities to show how they came from a regular background and had some setbacks but worked hard, had great mentors, and got their breaks to become the paragons of humanity they are today. Also, a lot of these folks aren’t particularly good writers, even with the obvious help of a ghostwriter. You can be a celebrity and be a great writer with a great story, and those I want to read.
EDIT: I also enjoy what I consider to be collections of autobiographical essays, though they are not memoirs per se. These include books by David Sedaris, Vivian Gornick, and Anthony Bourdain.
by zazzlekdazzle