define autobiography genre

Autobiography

Definition of autobiography.

Autobiography is one type of biography , which tells the life story of its author, meaning it is a written record of the author’s life. Rather than being written by somebody else, an autobiography comes through the person’s own pen, in his own words. Some autobiographies are written in the form of a fictional tale; as novels or stories that closely mirror events from the author’s real life. Such stories include Charles Dickens ’ David Copperfield  and J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in The Rye . In writing about personal experience, one discovers himself. Therefore, it is not merely a collection of anecdotes – it is a revelation to the readers about the author’s self-discovery.

Difference between Autobiography and Memoir

In an autobiography, the author attempts to capture important elements of his life. He not only deals with his career, and growth as a person, he also uses emotions and facts related to family life, relationships, education, travels, sexuality, and any types of inner struggles. A memoir is a record of memories and particular events that have taken place in the author’s life. In fact, it is the telling of a story or an event from his life; an account that does not tell the full record of a life.

Six Types of Autobiography

There are six types of autobiographies:

• Autobiography: A personal account that a person writes himself/herself.
• Memoir : An account of one’s memory.
• Reflective Essay : One’s thoughts about something.
• Confession: An account of one’s wrong or right doings.
• Monologue : An address of one’s thoughts to some audience or interlocuters.
• Biography : An account of the life of other persons written by someone else.

Importance of Autobiography

Autobiography is a significant genre in literature. Its significance or importance lies in authenticity, veracity, and personal testimonies. The reason is that people write about challenges they encounter in their life and the ways to tackle them. This shows the veracity and authenticity that is required of a piece of writing to make it eloquent, persuasive, and convincing.

Examples of Autobiography in Literature

Example #1:  the box: tales from the darkroom by gunter grass.

A noble laureate and novelist, Gunter Grass , has shown a new perspective of self-examination by mixing up his quilt of fictionalized approach in his autobiographical book, “The Box: Tales from the Darkroom.” Adopting the individual point of view of each of his children, Grass narrates what his children think about him as their father and a writer. Though it is really an experimental approach, due to Grass’ linguistic creativity and dexterity, it gains an enthralling momentum.

Example #2:  The Story of My Life by Helen Keller

In her autobiography, The Story of My Life , Helen Keller recounts her first twenty years, beginning with the events of the childhood illness that left her deaf and blind. In her childhood, a writer sent her a letter and prophesied, “Someday you will write a great story out of your own head that will be a comfort and help to many.”

In this book, Keller mentions prominent historical personalities, such as Alexander Graham Bell, whom she met at the age of six, and with whom she remained friends for several years. Keller paid a visit to John Greenleaf Whittier , a famous American poet, and shared correspondence with other eminent figures, including Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Mrs. Grover Cleveland. Generally, Keller’s autobiography is about overcoming great obstacles through hard work and pain.

Example #3:  Self Portraits: Fictions by Frederic Tuten

In his autobiography, “Self Portraits: Fictions ,” Frederic Tuten has combined the fringes of romantic life with reality. Like postmodern writers, such as Jorge Luis Borges, and Italo Calvino, the stories of Tuten skip between truth and imagination, time and place, without warning. He has done the same with his autobiography, where readers are eager to move through fanciful stories about train rides, circus bears, and secrets to a happy marriage; all of which give readers glimpses of the real man.

Example #4:  My Prizes by Thomas Bernhard

Reliving the success of his literary career through the lens of the many prizes he has received, Thomas Bernhard presents a sarcastic commentary in his autobiography, “My Prizes.” Bernhard, in fact, has taken a few things too seriously. Rather, he has viewed his life as a farcical theatrical drama unfolding around him. Although Bernhard is happy with the lifestyle and prestige of being an author, his blasé attitude and scathing wit make this recollection more charmingly dissident and hilarious.

Example #5:  The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin

“The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin ” is written by one of the founding fathers of the United States. This book reveals Franklin’s youth, his ideas, and his days of adversity and prosperity. He is one of the best examples of living the American dream – sharing the idea that one can gain financial independence, and reach a prosperous life through hard work.

Through autobiography, authors can speak directly to their readers, and to their descendants. The function of the autobiography is to leave a legacy for its readers. By writing an autobiography, the individual shares his triumphs and defeats, and lessons learned, allowing readers to relate and feel motivated by inspirational stories. Life stories bridge the gap between peoples of differing ages and backgrounds, forging connections between old and new generations.

Synonyms of Autobiography

The following words are close synonyms of autobiography such as life story, personal account, personal history, diary, journal, biography, or memoir.

Related posts:

• The Autobiography of Malcolm X

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autobiography

Definition of autobiography

Examples of autobiography in a sentence.

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'autobiography.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

auto- + biography , perhaps after German Autobiographie

1797, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing autobiography

• semi - autobiography

Dictionary Entries Near autobiography

autobiographist

Cite this Entry

“Autobiography.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/autobiography. Accessed 22 Apr. 2024.

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autobiography

What is autobiography definition, usage, and literary examples, autobiography definition.

An  autobiography  (awe-tow-bye-AWE-gruh-fee) is a self-written  biography . The author writes about all or a portion of their own life to share their experience, frame it in a larger cultural or historical context, and/or inform and entertain the reader.

Autobiographies have been a popular literary genre for centuries. The first Western autobiography is attributed to Saint Augustine of Hippo for his 13-book work titled  Confessions , written between 397 and 400 CE. Some autobiographies are a straightforward narrative that recollects a linear chain of events as they unfolded. The genre has expanded and evolved to include different approaches to the form.

The word  autobiography  comes from the Ancient Greek  auto  (“self”) +  bios  (“life”) +  graphein  (“to write”) = “a self-written life.” It is also known as autography .

The History of Autobiography

Scholars regard Augustine’s  Confessions  as the first Western autobiography. Other autobiographical works from antiquity include Jewish historian Flavius Josephus’s  Vita  (circa 99 CE) and Greek scholar Libanius’s  Oration I  (374 CE). Works of this kind were called apologias, which essentially means “in my defense.” Writers approached these works not as acts of self-documentation but as self-defense. They represented a way to explain and provide rationale for their life, work, and escapades. There was also less focus on their emotional lives.

The Book of Margery Kempe , written in 1438 by an English Christian mystic, is the earliest known autobiography in English. (Though it didn’t see full publication until the 20th century.) Other early English-language biographies of note include:

• Lord Herbert of Cherbury’s 1764 memoirs
• John Bunyan’s  Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners  in 1666
• Jarena Lee’s  The Life and Religious Experience of Jarena Lee  (the first autobiography of an African American woman)

Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s  Confessions was published in 1782. It paved the way for the more thoughtful, emotionally centered autobiographies seen today. Autobiography as a literary genre emerged a few years later, when British scholar William Taylor first used the term to describe a self-written biography. He did so disparagingly, suggesting the form was  pedantic . In 1809, English Romantic poet Robert Southey used the term more seriously to describe self-written biographies.

Starting in the 20th century, more young people started writing autobiographies. Perhaps the most famous example is Anne Frank’s  The Diary of a Young Girl , about her time hiding from the Nazis in an Amsterdam attic. The 21st century saw an increase in autobiographical essay collections and memoirs by younger celebrities, including:

• Anna Kendrick
• Mindy Kaling
• Gabourey Sidibe
• Mike Birbiglia
• Lena Dunham
• Chelsea Handler

Autobiographies are not immune to controversy. One notable scandal involved author James Frey’s  A Million Little Pieces . Originally billed as a memoir, evidence later emerged that Frey invented key parts of the story. This example underscores how easily authors can cross over into autofiction—fictional autobiography—and how seriously readers take authors’ responsibility to accurately and honestly market their books.

Types of Autobiographies

There are a few different types of self-written works that qualify as autobiography.

Standard Autobiographies

In the most traditional form, authors recount their life or specific formative events from their life. This approach often utilizes a chronological format of events, but it doesn’t necessarily have to. An author’s approach might include a framing device such as flashbacks, in which they move from the present to the past as they remember their lives. For example, Broadway star Patti LuPone’s self-titled autobiography begins on the opening night of  Gypsy  in 2004 before moving back in time to LuPone’s childhood. An author could take a more stream-of-consciousness style, in which one memory links to another by a common theme. Irish writer Seán O’Casey narrates his six-volume  Autobiographies  in this manner

This is a type of autobiography that is narrower in scope and focus. It places greater emphasis on particular memories, thoughts, and feelings. A standard autobiography can certainly cover some of this same ground—most do—but the memoir is more interested in individual events or defined portions of the author’s life and the emotions and lessons behind them.

Henry David Thoreau is a notable memoirist. In Walden , he reflects on his time spent living in solitude in the woods of Massachusetts and what he learned about life and nature throughout this experience. Another example is  The Year of Magical Thinking  by Joan Didion, which relates the death of her husband and its impact on her life and work. Another is  Wild  by Cheryl Strayed, wherein Strayed remembers her time hiking the Pacific Crest Trail during a period of great change in her life.

Autofiction

The fictionalized autobiography, or autofiction, is another type of autobiography. The author presents their story not as fact but as fiction. This method gives them considerable space to take creative license with events and characters, thereby blurring the lines between reality and fiction. The overall goal is less about the author wanting to obscure facts and make things up and more a matter of taking another tactic to delve into their experiences in service of self-discovery.  Taipei  by Tao Lin is a work of autofiction. The central character, Paul, mirrors Lin’s own life and experiences, from the literary world of New York City to his ancestral roots in Taiwan.

Spiritual Autobiographies

These autobiographies center on the author’s religious or spiritual awakening and the subsequent journey their faith has taken them on. Common elements include struggles and doubt, a life-altering conversion, periods of regression, and sharing the “message.” These all act as endorsements of the author’s faith. Augustine’s  Confessions , Paramahansa Yogananda’s  Autobiography of a Yogi , and Augusten Burroughs’s  Toil & Trouble: A Memoir  are all spiritual autobiographies.

Autobiography vs. Biography

Both autobiographies and  biographies  are records of real lives, but there is one major distinction. A person other than the book’s subject writes a biography, while the subject themselves writes an autobiography. In this way, an autobiography is essentially a biography of the self. The biographer’s job is typically more involved, entailing detailed research into the life of the subject. The autobiographer, however, is usually not burdened by this because they lived through the events they write about. They may need only to confirm dates and stories to accurately relate the pertinent details.

The Function of Autobiography

An autobiography allows the author to tell the true story of their own life. This is the reason why autobiographies have always been written by famous people. History tends to remember notable individuals for just one significant contribution or event and, even then, the public’s perception of it may be inaccurate. Writing an autobiography allows the author to share the real story and put it into the larger context of their life and times.

Most readers pick up an autobiography expecting some degree of subjectivity from the author. After all, the events chronicled happened to the author, so the writing will of course have a biased  perspective . There are advantages to this subjectivity, though. The reader gets the real story directly from the person who lived it, unvarnished by others’ opinions or erroneous historical data.

One way this subjectivity is problematic is that the author may not possess the ability to see the story they’re telling from other perspectives. For example, they may not acknowledge any hurt they caused others, dangerous behaviors they engaged in, or the “other side” of a controversial event in which there are equally valid opposing viewpoints and experiences. Any of these deficiencies can result in a somewhat skewed narrative.

Writers Known for Autobiography & Autobiography Books

• Maya Angelou,  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings ,  Gather Together in My Name
• Jung Chang,  Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China
• Isak Dinesen,  Out of Africa ,  Shadows on the Grass
• Carrie Fisher,  Wishful Drinking ,  Shockaholic
• Anne Frank,  The Diary of a Young Girl
• Ernest Hemingway,  A Moveable Feast
• Karl Ove Knausgård,  My Struggle
• Frank McCourt,  Angela’s Ashes
• Anaïs Nin,  The Diaries of Anaïs Nin
• Marcel Proust,  Remembrance of Things Past
• Patti Smith,  Just Kids ,  M Train
• Mark Twain, The Autobiography of Mark Twain
• Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
• Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X
• Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie: An Autobiography
• Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
• Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi: An Autobiography 

Examples of Autobiographies

1. Maya Angelou,  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Angelou’s autobiography is the first installment in a seven-volume series chronicling the life of the legendary poet, teacher, actress, director, dancer, and civil rights activist. Given all those roles, it’s easy to see why Angelou’s life story makes for interesting reading.

This volume centers primarily on her early life in Stamps, Arkansas, and the devastating effects of a childhood rape. It also explores racism in the American South. It discuses the important role reading plays in helping young Maya deal with the sexual assault and pervasive prejudice in her environment.

2. Helen Keller,  The Story of My Life

Keller’s autobiography details her first 20 years, starting with the childhood illness that caused her blindness and deafness. She discusses the obstacles she had to overcome and the life-changing relationship she shared with her teacher, Anne Sullivan, who helped her learn to read and write. Keller also documents her friendships with several famous figures of her day, including Alexander Graham Bell, John Greenleaf Whittier, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and First Lady Frances Cleveland.

3. Vinh Chung,  Where the Wind Leads

Chung’s autobiography recalls the harrowing story of a Vietnamese refugee and his journey to make the American Dream his own. Born in South Vietnam, Chung comes of age in a changing political climate that eventually compels his family to flee the country. Their voyage takes them through the South China Sea, run-ins with pirates, resettlement in Arkansas, and Chung’s graduation from Harvard Medical School.

How to Write an Autobiography

Autobiography is a truly universal art form and is accessible to anyone, whether you're in high school or 100 years old. Exploring the process of writing an autobiography deserves an article in itself, but the process should include these steps:

• Determine your "why." What lessons do you want to impart via your story, and why are they worth sharing with a broader audience?
• Draft an autobiographical outline. It should include information about your upbringing, impactful moments throughout your life, stories of failure and success, and meaningful mentors.
• Begin with the easiest sections. Getting started is often the greatest hurdle, so begin by writing the chapters that feel most accessible or enjoyable.
• Write your first draft. Once you write the first chapters, it will feel easier to write the rest. Capitalize on your momentum and write a full draft.
• Step away. As with anything, stepping away from your work will help foster fresh perspectives when you return.
• Edit and re-write your draft. Your first draft will probably benefit from thorough revisions, as will your second draft, and maybe your third. Continue to edit and revise until it feels right.
• Ask for help. Bring in a trusted family member or friend or professional editor to help with final edits.

Further Resources on Autobiography

ThoughtCo. shares some  important points to consider before writing an autobiography .

The Living Handbook of Narratology delves into the  history of the autobiography .

MasterClass breaks autobiography writing down into  eight basic steps .

Pen & the Pad looks at the  advantages and disadvantages of the autobiography .

Lifehack has a list of  15 autobiographies everyone should read at least once .

Related Terms

• Frame Story
• Point of View

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(page 1) p. 1 Introduction

• Published: July 2018
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Autobiography continues to be one of the most popular forms of writing, produced by authors from across the social and professional spectrum. It is also central to the work of literary critics, philosophers, historians, and psychologists, who have found in autobiographies not only an understanding of the ways in which lives have been lived, but the most fundamental accounts of what it means to be a self in the world. The Introduction describes what autobiography means and compares it to other forms of ‘life-writing’. Autobiographical writing is seen to act as a window on to concepts of self, identity, and subjectivity, and into the ways in which these are themselves determined by time and circumstance.

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In its modern form, may be taken as writing that purposefully and self‐consciously provides an account of the author's life and incorporates feeling and introspection as well as empirical detail. In this sense, autobiographies are infrequent in English much before 1800. Although there are examples of autobiography in a quasi‐modern sense earlier than this (e.g. Bunyan's conversion narrative, Grace Abounding, 1666, and Margaret Cavendish', duchess of Newcastle's ‘A True Relation’, 1655–6) it is not until the early 19th cent. that the genre becomes established in English writing: Gibbon's Memoirs (1796) are a notable exception.

From 1800 onwards the introspective Protestantism of an earlier period and the Romantic Movement's displeasure with the fact/feeling distinction of the Enlightenment provided for personal narratives of a largely new kind. They were characterized by a self‐scrutiny and vivid sentiment that produced what is now referred to, following Robert Southey (1809), as autobiography . Early in the 19th cent. Wordsworth gives in The Prelude (1805) a sustained reflection upon the circumstances of he himself being the subject of his own work; and in the second half of the century Newman in his Apologia pro Vita Sua (1864) publicly and originally reveals a personal spiritual journey. This latter, with its public disclosure of the private domain, had a dramatic and far‐reaching influence upon the intelligentsia of late Victorian society.

In the 20th cent. autobiography became increasingly valued not so much as an empirical record of historical events but as providing an epitome of personal sensibility among the intricate vicissitudes of cultural change. Vera Brittain achieved a seriousness of observation and affect to provide in Testament of Youth (1933) a major work on the conduct of the First World War. In the area of more domestic but no less social concerns J. R. Ackerley in his My Father and Myself (1968) constructed an autobiography of painful frankness in a disquisition upon his unusual family relations, his affection for his dog, and the tribulations of his homosexuality. More recently Tim Lott in The Scent of Dead Roses (1996) discussed the suicide of his mother and amalgamated autobiography, family history, and social analysis in a virtuoso performance of control and pathos. The truthfulness or not of autobiography is essentially a matter that must be left to biographers and philosophers. The plausibility of an autobiography, however, must find its authentication by the degree to which it can correspond to some approximation of its context.

From:   autobiography   in  The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature »

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What is an Autobiography? Definition, Elements, and Writing Tips

POSTED ON Oct 1, 2023

Written by Audrey Hirschberger

What is an autobiography, and how do you define autobiography, exactly? If you’re hoping to write an autobiography, it’s an important thing to know. After all, you wouldn’t want to mislabel your book.

What sets an autobiography apart from a memoir or a biography? And what type of writing is most similar to an autobiography? Should you even write one? How? Today we will be discussing all things autobiographical, so you can learn what an autobiography is, what sets it apart, and how to write one of your own – should you so choose. 

But before we get into writing tips, we must first define autobiography. So what is an autobiography, precisely? 

Need A Nonfiction Book Outline?

This Guide to Autobiographies Contains Information On:

What is an autobiography: autobiography meaning defined.

What is an autobiography? It’s a firsthand recounting of an author’s own life. So, if you were to write an autobiography, you would be writing a true retelling of your own life events. 

Autobiography cannot be bound to only one type of work. What an autobiography is has more to do with the contents than the format. For example, autobiographical works can include letters, diaries, journals, or books – and may not have even been meant for publication. 

An autobiography is what many celebrities, government officials, and important social figures sit down to write at the end of their lives or distinguished careers. 

Of course, the work doesn’t have to cover your whole life. You can absolutely write an autobiography in your 20s or 30s if you’ve lived through events worth sharing!

If an autobiography doesn’t cover the entire lifespan of the author, it can start to get confused with another genre of writing. So what’s an autobiography most similar to? And how can you tell it apart from other genres of writing? Let’s dive into the details. 

What type of writing is most similar to an autobiography?

A memoir is undoubtedly what type of writing is most similar to an autobiography. So what is the difference between an autobiography vs memoir ?

Simply put, a memoir is a book that an author writes about their own life with the intention of communicating a lesson or message to the reader. It doesn’t need to be written in chronological order, and only contains pieces of the author’s life story. 

An autobiography, on the other hand, is the author’s life story from birth to present, and it’s much less concerned with theme than it is with communicating a “highlight reel” of the author’s biggest life events. 

In addition to memoirs, there is also some confusion between autobiography vs biography . A biography is a true story about someone’s life, but it is not about the author’s life. 

Is an autobiography always nonfiction?

When many people define autobiography, they say it is a true or “nonfiction” telling of an author’s life – but that’s not always the case.

There is actually such a thing as autobiographical fiction .

Autobiographical fiction refers to a story that is based on fact and inspired by the author’s actual experiences…but has made-up characters or events. Any element in the story can be embellished upon or fabricated. 

Even the information in a standard “nonfiction” autobiography should be taken with a grain of salt. After all, anything written from the author’s perspective may contain certain biases, distortions, or unconscious omissions within the text. 

So if being nonfiction isn’t a defining characteristic of an autobiography, what is an autobiography defined by? 

The key elements of an autobiography

What’s an autobiography like from cover to cover? It should contain these key elements:

• A personal narrative : It is a firsthand account of the author's life experiences.
• A chronological structure : An autobiography typically follows a chronological order, tracing the author's life from birth to present.
• Reflection and insight : The book should contain the author's reflections, insights, and emotions about key life events.
• Key life events : The book should highlight significant events, milestones, and challenges in the author's life.
• Setting and context : There should be descriptions of the time period, cultural background, and environment to help the reader understand the author’s life.
• Authenticity : The author should be honest and sincere in presenting their life story.
• A personal perspective : An autobiography is written from the author's unique point of view.
• A strong conclusion : The ending of the book should reflect on the author's current state or outlook.

Famous Autobiography Examples

Now that you know what an autobiography is, let’s look at some famous autobiography examples .

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (1947)

Perhaps no autobiography is more famous than The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. Her diary chronicles her profound thoughts, dreams, and fears as she hides with her family in the walls during the Holocaust. 

Anne's words resonate with the enduring spirit of hope amid unimaginable darkness.

The Autobiography of Ben Franklin by Benjamin Franklin (1909)

Benjamin Franklin's autobiography follows Franklin’s life from humble origins to one of America's greatest forefathers. While originally intended as a collection of anecdotes for his son, this autobiography has become one of the most famous works of American literature. 

Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela (1994)

Long Walk to Freedom narrates Nelson Mandela's epic odyssey from South African prisoner to revered statesman. This masterpiece of an autobiography is a portrait of resilience against the backdrop of apartheid – and his words are a bastion for courage and human rights. 

Now you know what an autobiography is, and some examples of successful autobiographies, so it’s time to discuss what goes into actually writing one. 

Who Should Write an Autobiography?

Celebrity autobiographies are popular for a reason – the people who wrote them were already popular. 

The main purpose of an autobiography is to portray the life experiences and achievements of the author. If you haven’t made any massive achievements that people are already aware of, an autobiography might not be for you. Instead, you should learn how to write a memoir . 

After all, what’s an autobiography worth if no one reads it?

If you have made an important contribution to society, or have amassed a massive following of fans, then writing an autobiography could be a fabulous idea.

An autobiography is what allows you to claim your rightful place in history. It provides a legacy for your life, helps you to better understand your life’s journey, and can even be deeply therapeutic to write. 

But then comes the next problem: how to write an autobiography.

Tips on Writing Your Own Autobiography 

While memoirs are the books that teach life lessons, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give your autobiography meaning. The best autobiographies paint a vivid tapestry of personal growth and introspection. 

You don’t just want to tell the reader about your life – you want them to feel like they are living it with you.

And it’s not just about painting a picture with your prose. A lot of thought should go into everything from autobiography titles to page count. To get started, here are five tips for writing an autobiography:

• Know your audience : Understand who will read your autobiography and speak to them while writing.
• Be candid and authentic : A life seen through rose-colored glasses isn’t relatable. You should include your failures as well as your triumphs, and humanize yourself so your story resonates with your reader.
• Do your research : Of course you know what happened in your life, but how many details do you actually remember? You may need to sift through photos, archives, and diaries – and interview people close to you. Consider adding the photos to your book. 
• Identify key themes : Identify key events and life lessons that have shaped you. Reflect on how these themes have evolved over time.
• Edit and edit again : Write freely first, then edit rigorously. Seek feedback from trusted individuals and consider professional editing to ensure clarity and coherence in your narrative. NO ONE writes perfectly the first time. 

So there you have it, you are well on your way to understanding (and writing) an autobiography. 

If you'd still like more guidance for writing your autobiography, you can check out our free autobiography template . We can’t wait for you to share your life story with the world. 

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The only (free) autobiography template you need – 4 simple steps.

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autobiography

[ aw-t uh -bahy- og -r uh -fee , -bee- , aw-toh- ]

• a history of a person's life written or told by that person.

/ ˌɔːtəʊbaɪˈɒɡrəfɪ; ˌɔːtəbaɪ- /

• an account of a person's life written or otherwise recorded by that person
• A literary work about the writer's own life. and Isak Dinesen's Out of Africa are autobiographical.

Discover More

Derived forms.

• ˌautobiˈographer , noun

Other Words From

• auto·bi·ogra·pher noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of autobiography 1

Example Sentences

In so doing, she gave us an autobiography that has held up for more than a century.

His handwritten autobiography reawakens in Lee a longing to know her motherland.

His elocution, perfected on stage and evident in television and film, make X’s autobiography an easy yet informative listen.

The book is not so much an autobiography of Hastings — or even Netflix’s origin story.

By contrast, Shing-Tung Yau says in his autobiography that the Calabi-Yau manifold was given its name by other people eight years after he proved its existence, which Eugenio Calabi had conjectured some 20 years before that.

Glow: The Autobiography of Rick JamesRick James David Ritz (Atria Books) Where to begin?

Hulanicki was the subject of a 2009 documentary, Beyond Biba, based on her 2007 autobiography From A to Biba.

And it was also during the phase of the higher autobiography.

“Nighttime was the worst,” Bennett wrote in his autobiography.

Then I picked up a book that shredded my facile preconceptions—Hard Stuff: The Autobiography of Mayor Coleman Young.

No; her parents had but small place in that dramatic autobiography that Daphne was now constructing for herself.

His collected works, with autobiography, were published in 1865 under the editorship of Charles Hawkins.

But there is one point about the book that deserves some considering, its credibility as autobiography.

I thought you were anxious for leisure to complete your autobiography.

The smallest fragment of a genuine autobiography seems to me valuable for the student of past epochs.

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autobiography noun

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Earlier version

• autobiography in OED Second Edition (1989)

What does the noun autobiography mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun autobiography . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

How common is the noun autobiography ?

How is the noun autobiography pronounced, british english, u.s. english, where does the noun autobiography come from.

Earliest known use

The earliest known use of the noun autobiography is in the late 1700s.

OED's earliest evidence for autobiography is from 1797, in the writing of William Taylor, reviewer and translator.

autobiography is formed within English, by compounding; perhaps modelled on a German lexical item.

Etymons: auto- comb. form 1 , biography n.

Nearby entries

• autobasidium, n. 1895–
• autobio, n. 1856–
• autobiog, n. 1829–
• autobiographal, adj. 1845–
• autobiographer, n. 1807–
• autobiographic, adj. 1818–
• autobiographical, adj. 1807–
• autobiographically, adv. 1822–
• autobiographical novel, n. 1832–
• autobiographist, n. 1820–
• autobiography, n. 1797–
• autobiopic, n. 1977–
• auto body, n. 1904–
• auto-boot, n. 1981–
• auto-boot, v. 1984–
• auto-booting, adj. 1983–
• autobox, n. 1977–
• autobracketing, n. 1985–
• auto-burglar, n. 1884
• autocade, n. 1924–
• auto camp, n. 1904–

Meaning & use

The next dissertation concerns Diaries, and Self-biography . We are doubtful whether the latter word be legitimate: it is not very usual in English to employ hybrid words partly Saxon and partly Greek: yet autobiography would have seemed pedantic.

This very amusing and unique specimen of autobiography .

Geology (as Sir C. Lyell has so happily expressed it) is ‘the autobiography of the earth’.

We live in an age when men treat art as if it were meant to be a form of autobiography .

The autobiography in your letter..has pleased me a good deal.

Dent's will be pleased to hear that my Welsh book, a sort of provincial autobiography , is coming on well.

An autobiography is a book a person writes about his own life and it is usually full of all sorts of boring details.

The Cockney beauty's autobiography ..has become a surprise hit, debuting at number four in the best-seller lists.

• story 1533– With possessive adjective or genitive. A person's account of the events of his or her life or a part of it. Cf. life story , n. , and also sense 8.
• autography 1661– = autobiography , n. rare .
• memoirs 1676– In plural . Autobiographical observations; reminiscences. Frequently modified by a possessive.
• idiography a1734 Autobiography; writing about oneself. Obsolete . rare .
• self-biography 1796– An account of the life of an individual written by himself or herself; an autobiography. Also: the genre comprising such work.
• autobiography 1797– An account of a person's life given by himself or herself, esp. one published in book form. Also: the process of writing such an account; these…
• reminiscence 1797– Chiefly in plural . A recollection or memory of a past fact or experience recounted to others; spec. (usually in plural ) a person's collective…
• autobiog 1829– = autobiography , n.
• autobio 1856– = autobiography , n.
• auto 1881– = autobiography , n.
• curriculum vitae 1902– A course; spec. a regular course of study or training, as at a school or university. (The recognized term in the Scottish Universities.) curriculum …
• biodata 1947– ( plural ) biographical details, esp. summarizing a person's educational and employment history, academic career, etc.; (with singular agreement) =…
• vita 1949– A biography, the history of a life; spec. = curriculum vitae n. at curriculum , n.
• c.v. 1971– = curriculum vitae n. at curriculum , n.

Pronunciation

• ð th ee
• ɬ rhingy ll

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence <petal> /ˈpɛtl/ but <petally> /ˈpɛtl̩i/.

• a trap, bath
• ɑː start, palm, bath
• ɔː thought, force
• ᵻ (/ɪ/-/ə/)
• ᵿ (/ʊ/-/ə/)

Other symbols

• The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
• The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
• Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.

View the pronunciation model here .

* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in <bitter>

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence <petal> /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but <petally> /ˈpɛdl̩i/.

• i fleece, happ y
• æ trap, bath
• ɑ lot, palm, cloth, thought
• ɔ cloth, thought
• ɔr north, force
• ə strut, comm a
• ər nurse, lett er
• ɛ(ə)r square
• æ̃ sal on

Simple Text Respell

Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.

b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values

• arr carry (British only)
• a(ng) gratin
• o lot (British only)
• orr sorry (British only)
• o(ng) salon

autobiography typically occurs about six times per million words in modern written English.

autobiography is in frequency band 5, which contains words occurring between 1 and 10 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands

Frequency of autobiography, n. , 1790–2010

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.

The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.

For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole , n.¹, mole , n.², mole , n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.

Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.

Frequency of autobiography, n. , 2017–2023

Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.

Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the corpus.

Compounds & derived words

• autobiog , n. 1829– = autobiography, n.
• autobiographal , adj. 1845– = autobiographical, adj.
• autobio , n. 1856– = autobiography, n.
• auto , n.³ 1881– = autobiography, n.

Entry history for autobiography, n.

autobiography, n. was revised in June 2011.

autobiography, n. was last modified in July 2023.

oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:

• further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
• new senses, phrases, and quotations.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into autobiography, n. in July 2023.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

OED First Edition (1885)

• Find out more

OED Second Edition (1989)

• View autobiography in OED Second Edition

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Citation details

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the history and evolution of the genre of autobiography: a critical study

2013, Galaxy International Multidisciplinary Research Journal

Related Papers

Philippa Kelly

• ‘On the Genre of Autobiography: Typology and Evolution’, The Delhi University Journal of the Humanities and the Social Sciences, Vol. 2, pp 76-86

Professor Rosy Singh

In this paper I explore autobiography, a subgenre of literary writing at the intersection of other disciplines like history and anthropology. Most theoreticians classify autobiography as literary nonfiction; others who refuse to take these self-explorations at face value derisively refer to them as fiction. The most intriguing signifier of an autobiography is the first-person 'I', the subject as well as the object of the autobiographical narrative. This 'I' is however all the time in a flux and, by definition, the story of a Being written by the person himself-on a daily basis as a diary, in retrospect as memoirs, scattered in the works in a disguised manner or recorded as oral history-is full of contradictions and complexities. The genre is traditionally rooted in the West in the Catholic tradition of confessions. Like the genre of novel, autobiography too is not indigenous to the Indian literary landscape. I refer to Saint Augustine's Confessions, Günter Grass' Peeling the Onion, Gandhi's The Story of my Experiments with Truth and autobiographies of Dalit writers Omprakash Valmiki (Joothan), Baby Kamble (The Prisons we Broke) and Vasant Kamble (Growing up Untouchable in India) in order to trace the evolution of this genre and also to compare the typology of these texts which are otherwise very different in terms of content. The intricate relationship of autobiography to memory is also discussed.

Charles Ivan Armstrong

This paper is focused on the reconsideration of the limits and advances of the genre of autobiography. Given the recent boom in autobiography and personal narratives this timely topic poses a great challenge to current literary and cultural studies. Autobiography frequently takes the form of a disturbance, upsetting the expectations and classifications of both general public and literary critics. What presuppositions does the genre of autobiography build upon, and how should we respond when more strictly literary genres integrate autobiographical elements? This paper will explore selected, representative examples of how autobiography and autobiographically inclined literary works have challenged pervading norms over the last two centuries. The use of autobiographical elements in literature has repeatedly been part of an estranging revitalization of more or less settled literary forms, in addition to contributing to the reimagining of nationality through the example of representative or marginal identities, such as in the case of W. B. Yeats. The examples will span from the Romanticism of William Wordsworth and Lord Byron, via the 19th century call for uncompromising “sincerity” and the ensuing experiments of Modernism, to more recent instances of confessionalism in writers such as Robert Lowell and Karl-Ove Knausgård. The borders and dialogue between life and writing will be in focus in this paper, and the degree to which critical terms text, context and paratext help us understand and clarify their complex interaction will be subject to discussion.

Memoria Y Civilizacion Anuario De Historia

James Amelang

Radosław Piętka

Some thoughts on the different ways different academic disciplines-- above history and literary studies-- approach the subject of early modern autobiography. A revised Spanish version is also available in Chronica Nova, 32, 2006, pp. 143-157 (see Journal Articles).

Blackwell Companion to Late Antique Literature, edited by E. Watts and S. McGill

Jeanne-Nicole Mellon Saint-Laurent

This article discusses the three related literary forms of autobiography, biography, and hagiography as they developed in late antiquity; their characteristics; methodological challenges; and current approaches to their classification and interpretation. Sections on autobiography and biography focus on Greek and Latin literature of the fourth to sixth centuries, while the section on hagiography primarily explores the Syriac tradition in order to provide a more holistic picture of late antique life-writing in the Mediterranean world and the Near East.

Rethinking History

Jaume Aurell

Literature Compass

Max Saunders

This essay approaches the large but surprisingly under-theorized topic of the relation between autobiography and fiction, concentrating on the period between 1880 and 1930, arguing for a new account of the relation between Modernism and life-writing. It introduces and analyses a key essay from 1906 by Stephen Reynolds, author of A Poor Man’s House, which, strikingly, coins the post-modern-sounding term ‘autobiografiction’. It argues that Reynolds’ central concept sheds light on the vexed theoretical question of the relation between autobiography and fiction, and in ways that reach further than either Reynolds or the essay’s few commentators have appreciated; in short, that ‘autobiografiction’ is potentially a much vaster topic than his essay countenances. The second section discusses the significance of the concept of ‘autobiografiction’ from the points of view of literary history and literary theory. It argues that Reynolds’ essay not only offers a powerful analysis of the literature of the previous quarter-century, but also suggests how the literature of the following decades – of Modernism – can be reconsidered in its light. Such attention enables a re-description of Modernism: instead of the conventional account of its quest for the impersonal, the movement can be seen as developing these fin-de-siècle experiments in fusing life-writing and fiction. Reynolds’ essay appears at a pivotal moment as Edwardian authors such as Edmund Gosse evince an anxious awareness of the radical potential of autobiografiction; and when Modernists such as Joyce and Proust embark on their most profound engagements with it: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and A la recherche du temps perdu. The essay goes on to argue that the issues raised by Reynolds enable a more sophisticated theoretical approach to the relation between autobiography and fiction, and explores the ambiguities which inhere in the term ‘autobiographical’ when applied to fictional works. Where Reynolds outlines the rationale for autobiografiction in fairly defensive terms, I argue for an appreciation of its radical potentialities. The study concludes by considering the trope, identified by Philippe Lejeune in Modernism, but here traced back to Aestheticism, that fiction constitutes a writer’s true autobiography. This is placed in a broader philosophical and aesthetic context of reading fiction as autobiography, and autobiography as fiction.

Life Writing

Experimentation and theorising on forms of life writing from the field of history has grown substantially in recent decades, as historians understand how autobiographical narrative may contribute to understanding both the past and our processes of accessing it. The introduction to this special issue on ‘History and Autobiography’ outlines some theoretical debates emerging from the intersection of history with different forms of self-representation, and highlights some of the main points examined by the contributors. Some contributors explore the convergence of history and life writing through an autobiographical voice, while others work theoretically or critically. Beyond these different approaches, all the essays explore to what extent autobiography serves historical writing and comprehension, and examine the theoretical and practical consequences of this convergence.

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Autobiography Genre

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An autobiography is a written account of the life of the writer. Autobiographical accounts are written in first person and may include important public life events as well as private affairs, personal reflections, and emotional reactions.

What is an Autobiography?

An autobiography is a written account of the life of the writer. Of necessity, autobiographies do not span the entire life of the writer, but generally cover from birth until the time of writing. These accounts may include important public life events as well as private affairs, personal reflections, and emotional reactions. A subset of the autobiography is the memoir, which is smaller in scope than an autobiography and often captures only a particular portion of a writer’s experience. A memoir may be more artistic in style and focus on events that relate to a particular theme, historical time span, or period of public relevance. Elie Wiesel's memoir Night , for instance, focuses only on the years he spent in concentration camps during the Holocaust.

Both autobiographies and memoirs are naturally subjective. They are written in first person and include the reactions and opinions of the writer. At times, autobiographies of notable figures are created through collaboration with a professional writer or through the sole efforts of a ghost writer. Ghost writers and collaborators generally interview a subject at length before writing, and thus attempt to convey the opinions and style of the subject as if he or she was actually writing the account.

Biographies have become quite common in the present day, but historically the genre developed slowly. St. Augustine’s Confessions , written in the late fourth century, is widely considered to be the first Western autobiography. Throughout the Renaissance a few educated citizens recorded their lives; notable among them was Benvenuto Cellini, a 16th century artist who believed that all great men should leave a record of their accomplishments in their own words. This model changed as time went on, and many began to see the autobiography as an agent for social change. The 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries saw the rise of the captivity and slave narratives, most of which promulgated a particular religious, political, or social message. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass , for example, shed light on the cruelties of slavery and played an important role in the American abolitionist movement.

Increasingly, modern readers have found that a life does not need to be highly accomplished or long to merit an autobiography. The famous Diary of Anne Frank is a simple account of an ordinary girl living under extraordinary circumstances, yet her story has been read by millions the world over. All manner of athletes, actors, writers, and singers publish their autobiographies each year. Even memoirs of YouTubers are making solid sales in today’s market. The broad origins of these autobiographies has helped to expose readers to a wider variety of experience and cultural awareness.

Autobiographies can be highly influential, given the fact that those who tell history are often those who shape it. In other words, much of what we know today about particular historical figures is derived from the pictures they painted in their own autobiographies. Today’s biographies continue to shape the narrative of our times. These autobiographical records bring renown to their subjects and capture their stories for generations of readers to come.

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Literature in the autobiography genre.

• " Brown Girl Dreaming " by Jacqueline Woodson
• The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave by Frederick Douglass
• The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
• Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
• The Story of My Experiments With Truth by Mahatma Gandhi
• A Writer's Diary by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
• Night by Elie Wiesel
• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba
• I am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai

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Memoir Or Autobiography? How To Choose The Right Genre

A memoir and autobiography are similar genres that detail a life story.

In literary circles, the definition between the two is sometimes a little fuzzy.

Both record the author’s life story and are written in the first-person point of view. That is, I was born, I lived, and I married the man/woman of my dreams.

Perhaps the best way to define each genre is to say that one is a factual biography, and the other is a memory of a particular time.

In This Article

Memoir vs. autobiography

You are in the process of writing your story.

But which genre will you choose when the day comes to publish your book?

You can usually select only two genre categories with most major self-publishing services.

So you might be tempted to choose both.

It might not seem like a big deal.

But depending on how you write your story, you might want to categorize your book in the most appropriate genre.

For a quick definition, Writer’s Digest says this.

An autobiography focuses on the chronology of the writer’s entire life, while a memoir covers one specific aspect of the writer’s life.

With that said, let’s have a look at some tangible differences between a memoir and an autobiography.

What is a memoir?

The main feature of a memoir is that it is about a specific time in an author’s life.

It is often a memory or reminiscence of a life-changing event and documents the story from the aspect of challenge through to resolution.

More focused than an autobiography, a memoir is an intimate look at a moment in time. Source: Celadon Books

In other words, the storyline will detail an experience that perhaps involves periods of sadness, difficulty, friendship, and happiness.

Some memoirs touch on life subjects such as divorce, illness, professional challenges, or family issues.

Similar to a novel, it is a story with a protagonist. The only difference is that it is not fiction, and the protagonist is the author.

But because it is a story, an author can use a range of storytelling literary devices when writing it.

There can be suspense, drama, danger, a climax, and a dénouement .

One notable aspect of a memoir is that it doesn’t necessarily deal with many hard facts.

Because it is a memory from the author’s viewpoint, a memoir focuses more on the feelings and emotions of the time to drive the plot.

What is an autobiography?

If you remove the prefix, you have a biography, which gives you a clue to the meaning.

A biography deals with facts from a third-person point of view . It usually covers a person’s entire life and is written by someone else.

Elvis Presley, the famous American rock and roll singer, was born in 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi.

He lived in Memphis, Tennessee. The world mourned when he died in 1977.

When you put the auto prefix back, it is impossible for an author to write their own full biography.

An autobiography can only cover the period up to the present because the author is still alive.

Unlike a memoir, it is far more fact-based than emotional. It is not delving into feelings as deeply.

Usually, it follows a strict chronological order of events that is heavy on facts and details and is always written in the first person.

For celebrities, politicians, and people of fame, the book could be written by a ghostwriter.

But a strict definition is not so easy.

For example, The Living Handbook of Narratology uses this definition.

Notoriously difficult to define, autobiography in the broader sense of the word is used almost synonymously with “life writing” and denotes all modes and genres of telling one’s own life.

More specifically, autobiography as a literary genre signifies a retrospective narrative that undertakes to tell the author’s own life, or a substantial part of it, seeking (at least in its classic version) to reconstruct his/her personal development within a given historical, social and cultural framework.

When you are writing, the process will be much less about telling a story. It will be more about documenting a collection of facts in the correct time order.

Does it matter which one you choose?

In the end, you could say that there is very little difference between an autobiography and a memoir. Most books in these genres are a mixture of the two styles of writing.

It would be difficult reading if there were no story, only a list of facts and figures.

Every book needs emotion and characters that readers can connect with.

Scribe Media makes a good point about any differentiation.

Memoirs are autobiographies without the elitist attitude.

It’s like saying a dog is different from a canine. Or a car is different from an automobile.

It’s up to you as the author to decide what you are writing.

But in all honesty, it isn’t easy to separate the two. A memoir is an autobiography, and the reverse is true.

How you tell your life, or part of your life story from beginning to end, is the most important ingredient.

Good writing is always good writing.

But it is challenging to write a story using the first-person point of view.

Jane Friedman gives a clue about how to use this POV to create a story.

First-person POV is fixed, in that it’s limited to what you knew and experienced at the time of a given scene. However, the fact that your perspective changed over time is what makes a memoir a story.

To create the most powerful story, use your perspective today to identify scenes that were aha moments, where your perspective on your theme changed. The moment when you faced a fear directly. The moment you escaped someone else’s expectations. The moment you realized you were in love with the wrong person.

If you focus first on the inner journey, you’ll find the best scenes to bring that transformation to life.

The decision you make about your particular genre hardly matters because your story will fit into both.

But if your memory is the basis of your story, you might want to call it your memoir.

Related reading: Will Self-Publishing Save The Literary Fiction Genre For Authors?

About The Author

Derek Haines

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5 thoughts on “memoir or autobiography how to choose the right genre”.

I definitely couldn’t fit my autobiography into one volume, it would make War and Peace look like a novella! I’ve written three memoirs so far and have only covered a nine-year period of my life. At least three more to come – if I live long enough to write them. I have to be in the right/write mood.

It sounds like you definitely qualify for an autobiography and not a memoir, Ann.

I have a variety of writing I would like to bring to a book for my family its a hodge-podge of poems-essays-rants and part my life story

lol so this entire post can be summed up ‘they’re the same thing, go about your day’.

Very useful, thank you!! Having just published what I thought would be a single volume, but realising later that there would have to be at least a second one — which I have just started work on — I think some ideas picked up here will colour this, my second effort in prose, having written only poetry all my life!

Guido Comin aka PoetaMatusèl

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Biography Genre Definition – Complete List of Book Genres

by Mark Malatesta | Jun 26, 2018 | Book Genres Nonfiction

Home » Book Genres Nonfiction » Biography Genre Definition – Complete List of Book Genres

Biography Genre Definition –  What’s the best definition for the biography genre? A biography is an account of a person’s life written by someone else. Biographies are true stories about real people. They are set within a real historical framework with the unique social and political conditions that existed during the subject’s life. Biographies can be about people who are alive or dead. Most often they’re about someone who was significant (popular (or unpopular) politicians and/or celebrities).

Scroll below now to see 25 biography nonfiction genre examples, or click here to see all nonfiction genres .

Biography Genre Definition – Examples

Review this list of popular examples to help you get a better understanding of the biography nonfiction genre.

1. 1776 by David McCullough

2. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

3. Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas

4. Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie

5. Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard

6. Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson

7. Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera

8. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

9. John Adams by David McCullough

10. Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder

11. Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie

12. No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt by Doris Kearns Goodwin

13. Peter the Great: His Life and World by Robert K. Massie

14. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

15. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin

16. The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester

17. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris

18. The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard

19. The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir

20. The Wives of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser

21. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham

22. Truman by David McCullough

23. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

24. Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Stephen E. Ambrose

25. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

Biography Genre Definition – Related Book Genres

* Autobiography Definition

* Celebrity Nonfiction Book Genre

* Entertainment Book Genre

* Memoir Definition

* Narrative Nonfiction Genre

* General Nonfiction Book Genre

Click here now to see all nonfiction genres .

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