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Hi there I just joined the forum can anyone recommend a good biography

Margaret Cheney's biography of Nikola Tesla is a fascinating read. It is titled "Tesla: Man Out of Time." I tried to put a link up to a description on BookwormService com but this site wont let me.

Yeah its restricted..

Any clues about what kind of biography you'd like to read? Explorers, musicians, actors, politicians, ... there's a lot of choice.

A few I've liked:

The worst journey in the world - written by a man (Aspley Cherry-Gerrard) who was on Scott's expedition to the S. Pole.

P.G. Wodehouse A biography (by Donaldson) - probably only of interest if you're a Wodehouse fan.

Frida: A biography of Frida Kahlo (Herrara) - I have no liking of her art at all but I enjoyed this book.

Also, I know they're for kids but I absolutely love all the Little House on the Prarie series. It is fascinating to me to read about how life was back then (albeit in a highly sanitised sense).

if you're still looking, I'd recommend Ingrid Bergman's autobiography, it's one of my favorites

I personally like Michael Jackson´s biography. It was very interesting for me. I highly recommend it if you want to seriously understand the guy.

The Devil Drives: A Life of Sir Richard Burton by Fawn M. Brodie. I read it a long time ago but it impressed me at the time. Brodie seemed to have had a very understanding attitude towards her subject and knew how to tell a tale.

Capone The man and the era - Laurence Bergreen.

I found this book to be very interested. Al Capone was one ruthless yet somewhat endearing man.

I recently saw George Bush his biography in the stores, half tempted to read it because I am not keen on the man but am curious about his story you know. But I can not recommend it yet.

I'm almost done with Schiff's new biography on Cleopatra. Well well-written, and as someone who majored in the Classics, I'd say it's also very well researched.

If you like biographies with political and historical undertones I would suggest Mao's Last Dancer.

If you like biographies, you should read the J. Edgar Hoover Biography.... very interesting and informative ..... It's called J Edgar Hoover : The Man & The Secrets..... I reveled in this book, couldn't put it down...... such a great bio....

For me, the fascination with biographies is hard to understand. It's someone else's interpretation of someone else's life. And it has to be read as part fiction. Even an autobiography may be slightly skewed but at least it's personal.

Maud Fitch wrote:For me, the fascination with biographies is hard to understand. It's someone else's interpretation of someone else's life. And it has to be read as part fiction. Even an autobiography may be slightly skewed but at least it's personal.

I agree with you. Often when there is book 'based on a true story' or even if it states that it is a 'biographical account', you often have to wonder how much is embellished. I had a recommendation to read Shantaram which is based on a true story apparently. It's sounds like a great book but I'll be wary to believe everything I read as something that actually happened.