Hottest Memoirs and Tell-All Biographies of the Season

A Memoir of My Former Self: A Life in Writing

"Revisiting these pieces, with their fierce wit, their dark humour and compassion, is like hearing the voice of an old friend you had not expected to encounter again... A reminder of what a voice we have lost, and how fortunate we are that she left us so much." Stephanie Merritt, via The Observer

Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune

"A lively, well-written and satisfyingly detailed account of the family that came to own New York... Astor provides a fascinating history of the city, from the populist riots in 1849 stirred up by a production of Macbeth at the Astor Opera House to the gay scene that thrived for decades in the bar of the Astor Hotel that once stood on Broadway at 44th Street." Moira Hodgson, The Wall Street Journal

My Name Is Barbra

"With her long-awaited memoir, Barbra Streisand offers a funny and frank look at her career, six decades in. At a whopping 992 pages, it appears that the Hollywood and Broadway legend... isn’t skimping on the details of her rarefied life." Shannon Carlin, TIME

The Upstairs Delicatessen: On Eating, Reading, Reading about Eating, and Eating While Reading

"One of the most eccentric memoirs I've read in years: Garner, a longtime New York Times critic, boils (dices and purées) his existence down to a pair of obsessions--books and food--so completely, it's both honest and hard to say where the man ends and M.F.K. Fisher begins." Christopher Borrelli, via Chicago Tribune

A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, a History, a Memorial

"A witty and scathing look at what it means to be a refugee, an immigrant, and an American in a world that doesn't see you as you see yourself." Shannon Carlin, via TIME

Every Man for Himself and God Against All: A Memoir

"This book will be a boon to those people who, after dinner, sometimes like to unwind by reading choice morsels from books aloud. There are some instant classics here." Dwight Garner, via The New York Times

Sonic Life: A Memoir

"Wanna look cool this fall (and/or fill the Just Kids-sized hole in your literary heart)? Pick up the memoir from Moore, founding member of Sonic Youth, which tells the story of his rise from small-town music fan to rock legend—and which by the way comes with a blurb from Colson Whitehead." Emily Temple, via LitHub

The Woman in Me

"You can sense Spears gaining her power back, inch by inch. The Woman in Me is a worthy act of self-resurrection." Julianne Escobedo Shepherd, via Los Angeles Times

Creep: Accusations and Confessions

"Without a doubt, Creep confirms that Myriam Gurba is one of our great American intellectuals, one who expertly utilizes a rapier wit to slice away the façade of hypocrisy, bigotry, bullying, and crime that marks our contemporary moment. She speaks truth to power with panache and lawyer-like logic, producing eloquent and vital essays that simultaneously provoke and entertain." Daniel A. Olivas, Los Angeles Review of Books

Breaking Through: My Life in Science

"Karikó describes her research with a palpable sense of wonder ('Every cell is like a sci-fi city that never sleeps'), successfully distilling complex scientific matters. The result is the rousing story of a remarkable woman and her lifesaving contributions to medicine." Publishers Weekly