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I have not read any Biographies before,whay do you suggest as a first read?


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Initial post: 19 Aug 2010 13:17:16 BDT
Jane Austen. says:
Hi i do read a lot but usually keep to fiction,i would like to get into reading good Biographies .I dont follow celebritys so please no celebrity books and im not really into sport. I am thinking maybe a book about someone who has done something interesting and life changing for them.
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Posted on 19 Aug 2010 14:49:17 BDT
Jane Austen. says:
Okay i have just noticed my mistake on ...what do you suggest...dear me not started well have i!
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Posted on 19 Aug 2010 19:18:10 BDT
gille liath says:
I suggest reading about whoever you personally are interested in! For me, biogs don't stand on their own - they're only interesting if you're interested in what that person has done.

I'm not a regular biog reader but I've enjoyed
Goodbye to All That - Robert Graves
George Orwell - Bernard Crick
Stan and Ollie - Simon Louvish
Savage Pilgrimage (DH Lawrence) - Catherine Carswell
Dirt & Deity (Robert Burns) - Ian McIntyre
The Horsieman - Duncan Williamson (autobiography of an old-style Scottish Traveller horse dealer & storyteller)

er...that do for now?
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Posted on 19 Aug 2010 19:22:29 BDT
Jane Austen. says:
wow thanks, thats great its always nice to have some suggestions.
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Posted on 19 Aug 2010 19:32:11 BDT
S Riaz says:
Antonia Fraser does good historical biographies and I would also recommend Lucy Moore - she did a great book called "Liberty" about 6 women in Revolutionary France. Also "The Three Emperors" by Miranda Carter was wonderful. David Starkey's "Henry - Virtuous Prince" was good. Stella Tillyard's "Aristocrats", "Lives like Loaded Guns" by Lyndall Gordon (about Emily Dickinson), "The Bolter" by Frances Osborne. I love biographies, so I am happy to wrack my brains if you let me know your interests.
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Posted on 19 Aug 2010 19:43:46 BDT
monica says:
ane Austen, I see from your wish list that you're interested in cooking, so The Perfectionist by Chelminsky might be a good one. Fascinating account of a Michelin-starred chef who killed himself--huge amount of coverage in France, as it was claimed that he did so because he was about to lose a star. Lots of information about life in the kitchen, cooking methods, restaurant trends, and so on.
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Posted on 19 Aug 2010 20:33:06 BDT
S Riaz says:
How about "Relish: The Extraordinary Life of Alexis Soyer, Victorian Celebrity Chef" or "The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs Beeton"? The Perfectionist sounds good, Monica.
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In reply to an earlier post on 19 Aug 2010 21:06:24 BDT
Last edited by the author on 19 Aug 2010 21:07:32 BDT
monica says:
It is. Read it twice, and oddly liked it more the second time. Shall check into Soyer biog; from what I've read about him, he seems to have been an admirable character.
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Posted on 20 Aug 2010 00:16:21 BDT
B. Mitchell-innes says:
Perhaps a clue to where you start lies in your Amazon name. Jehanne Wakes new biography on the Caton sisters is set in the 19th century and has had fantastic reviews. It's like a true Little Women meets Jane Austen meets Georgette Heyer.
Period detail and attitudes are brilliant
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Posted on 20 Aug 2010 07:33:43 BDT
S Riaz says:
Mary S Lovell has written some great biographies, including one on the Mitfords and also "Bess of Hardwick". And, of course, Claire Tomalin, who wrote the brilliant "Samuel Pepys" as well as excellent books on Nelly Ternan (mistress of Charles Dickens), Mary Wolstonecraft and Jane Austen of course! "Death and the Maidens" by Janet Todd about Fanny Wollstonecraft is absolutely brilliant.
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Posted on 20 Aug 2010 08:29:38 BDT
Jane Austen. says:
thankyou i did not expect so mant great suggestions! Monica and S.Riaz, those books sound like my kind of read i will look them up now thanks.
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Posted on 20 Aug 2010 08:34:38 BDT
Jane Austen. says:
S.Riaz, i love Charles Dickens so i will buy that book thanks.
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In reply to an earlier post on 20 Aug 2010 08:37:34 BDT
Jane Austen. says:
that sounds great i love little women and ha...yes i love jane Austen as well, i have a list of great suggestions to buy now i never would have found these myself.
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Posted on 20 Aug 2010 14:33:32 BDT
Elijah says:
I Strongly recommend Children of Catastrophe: Journey from a Palestinian Refugee Camp to America

Children of Catastrophe: Journey from a Palestinian Refugee Camp to America
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Posted on 20 Aug 2010 14:40:58 BDT
Jane Austen. says:
well thankyou Elijah,i had a look this book is out in september.
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Posted on 20 Aug 2010 16:25:41 BDT
S Riaz says:
There are lots of Dickens biographies of course. I read the Peter Ackroyd one and that was great. Also, the Juliet Barker Bronte biography was really good. Anne de Courcy did some great biographies about women and you might like "The perfect summer" by Juliet Nicholson- not a biography as such, but a book about the summer of 1911, which is a kind of social history and introduces characters you might lead onto. She did a follow up about the period after WWI as well, which was very good. I think you have enough to start with - sorry! I kept thinking of things.
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Posted on 20 Aug 2010 20:45:56 BDT
Nick Erlastyk says:
Life and death in Shanghai by Nien Chen.
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Posted on 21 Aug 2010 01:16:43 BDT
Peter J Clarke says:
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Posted on 23 Aug 2010 21:02:35 BDT
jenna says:
A interesting book that I have recently pre-ordered from Amazon is "Wake Up, Mummy" by Anna Lowe if you are interested in true life stories.
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Posted on 23 Aug 2010 21:16:48 BDT
Jane Austen. says:
jenna thanks for that but not my kind of book ,although it does look like a good read.
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In reply to an earlier post on 24 Aug 2010 11:29:53 BDT
Mr. Liam Knowles says:
it depends on who you are into do you like people with a shady past?
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In reply to an earlier post on 25 Aug 2010 21:17:05 BDT
Mr. Alwyne Chappell says:
Hello Jane Austen
I am not a celebrity, I did something interesting, it was life changing and the book I've written is not about sport. That seems to fit your criteria. If you type in Drink, Dear Boy? on Amazon you can read the blurb, synopsis and reviews. I'd be interested to know what you decide.
Regards Alwyne Chappell
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In reply to an earlier post on 25 Aug 2010 22:19:16 BDT
monica says:
jenna, somehow I called up your tags. If you don't speak Irish English this mightn't mean anything to you, but I'm sorry for your troubles. . . . Cheers and good luck.
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Posted on 26 Aug 2010 02:31:57 BDT
JC Hall says:
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (last year's Booker winner) - biog/novel cross about Thomas Cromwell. Fab.

Otherwise, it's worth remembering that a biog is just a story - if you're into the topic it helps, but a good writer can make anyone fascinating. This Thing of Darkness by Harry Thompson isn't an easy read but is an extraordinary story about a brilliant man who did incredible and heroic things that changed the world, in spite of a severe mental illness.

Enjoy!
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In reply to an earlier post on 26 Aug 2010 16:42:08 BDT
Marie H. says:
I think you would like Ice Bound by Jerri Nielsen, and Rules of Engagement by Tim Collins. These are a nice way into biographies, but a really good biography is Harpo Speaks, its about Harpo Marx, one of the famous brothers. Celebrity was not so much in evidence then so its really good. Do not rule out Frank Skinners autobiography its superb.
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      Discussion in:  biography discussion forum
      Participants:  273
      Total posts:  362
      Initial post:  19 Aug 2010
      Latest post:  2 Oct 2012
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