Best Memoirs

“Available recommendation signals cluster around Social Sciences, NonFiction, Holocaust lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for decision-making, behavior, or human motivation. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”

“Available recommendation signals cluster around Ceo, NonFiction, Fashion, Business, Biography lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for business judgment, leadership, or practical strategy. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”

“Available recommendation signals cluster around NonFiction, Physics, Science lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for big-picture nonfiction and accessible learning. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”

An Amazon Best Book of the Month For readers of Atul Gawande, Andrew Solomon, and Anne Lamott, a profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir by a young neurosurgeon faced with a terminal cancer diagnosis who attempts to answer the question What makes a life worth living?

“Available recommendation signals cluster around Leadership, NonFiction, Business lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for business judgment, leadership, or practical strategy. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”

“Available recommendation signals cluster around NonFiction, History, For, Men lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for big-picture nonfiction and accessible learning. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Far more than a superb memoir about the highest levels of professional tennis, Open is the engrossing story of a remarkable life. • "Agassi’s memoir is just as entrancing as his tennis game.” —Time “Honest in a way that such books seldom are.” —The New York Times Andre Agassi had his life mapped out for him before he left the crib. Groomed to be a tennis champion by his moody and demanding father, by the age of twenty-two Agassi had won the first of his eight grand slams and achieved wealth, celebrity, and the game’s highest honors. But as he reveals in this searching autobiography, off the court he was often unhappy and confused, unfulfilled by his great achievements in a sport he had come to resent. Agassi writes candidly about his early success and his uncomfortable relationship with fame, his marriage to Brooke Shields, his growing interest in philanthropy, and—described in haunting, point-by-point detail—the highs and lows of his celebrated career.

“Available recommendation signals cluster around Social Sciences, NonFiction, Autobiographies, Autobiography, Politics lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for decision-making, behavior, or human motivation. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”

“Available recommendation signals cluster around NonFiction, Personal Development, For, Men lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for self-improvement and practical behavior change. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”

With its first great victory in the landmark Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, the civil rights movement gained the powerful momentum it needed to sweep forward into its crucial decade, the 1960s. As voices of protest and change rose above the din of history and false promises, one voice sounded more urgently, more passion...

“Available recommendation signals cluster around NonFiction, Fiction, History, Autobiography lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for imaginative storytelling, atmosphere, or character-driven reflection. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”

The riveting, megabestselling, beloved and highly acclaimed memoir of a man, a vocation, and an era named one of the ten best nonfiction titles of the year by Time and Entertainment Weekly.In the midseventies, Steve Martin exploded onto the comedy scene. By 1978 he was the biggest concert draw in the history of standup. In 1981 he quit forever. ...

Tara Westover was 17 the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling homecanned peaches and sleeping with her "headforthehills bag". In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's ...

Sent by their mother to live with their devout, selfsufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local "powhitetrash." At eight years old and back at her mothers side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her ageand has to live with the consequen...

“Available recommendation signals cluster around NonFiction, Entrepreneur, Business lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for business judgment, leadership, or practical strategy. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”

One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose office she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will ...

From the Academy Award?winning actor, an unconventional memoir filled with raucous stories, outlaw wisdom, and lessons learned the hard way about living with greater satisfaction I?ve been in this life for fifty years, been trying to work out its riddle for fortytwo, and been keeping diaries of clues to that riddle for the last thirtyfive. Notes...

"Patti Smith has graced us with a poetic masterpiece, a rare and privileged invitation to unlatch a treasure chest never before breached." Johnny DeppIt was the summer Coltrane died, the summer of love and riots, and the summer when a chance encounter in Brooklyn led two young people on a path of art, devotion, and initiation. Patti Smith would e...

As Sam Walton himself said, this is "...a story about entrepreneurship, and risk, and hard work, and knowing where you want to go and being willing to do what it takes to get there. And it's a story about believing in your idea even when maybe some other folks don't, and about sticking to your guns." It's the story of how Walton parlayed a single d...

“Available recommendation signals cluster around Hiking, NonFiction, Fiction, Adventure, Travel lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for imaginative storytelling, atmosphere, or character-driven reflection. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”

After having a nationally televised panic attack, Dan Harris knew he had to make some changes. A lifelong nonbeliever, he found himself on a bizarre adventure involving a disgraced pastor, a mysterious selfhelp guru, and a gaggle of brain scientists. Eventually, Harris realized that the source of his problems was the very thing he always thought w...

From a former marine and Yale Law School graduate, a powerful account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of Americas white working classHillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisisthat of white workingclass Americans. The decline of this group, a demographic o...

The beloved baseball classic now available in paperback, with a new prologue by Jim Bouton When Ball Four was first published in 1970, it hit the sports world like a lightning bolt. Commissioners, executives, and players were shocked. Sportswriters called author Jim Bouton a traitor and "social leper." Commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to force him to ...

Before Liz Lemon, before "Weekend Update," before "Sarah Palin," Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middleschool gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV.She has seen both these dreams come true.At last, Tina Fey's story ...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The compelling, inspiring, and comically sublime story of one man's comingofage, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followedNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Michiko Kakutani, New York Times USA Today San Francisco Chronicle NPR Esquire Newsday BooklistT...

How a New York Times bestselling author and New Yorker contributor parlayed a strong grasp of the science of human decisionmaking and a woeful ignorance of cards into a lifechanging run as a professional poker player, under the wing of a legend of the gameIt's true that Maria Konnikova had never actually played poker before and didn't even know t...

The path to achieving Zen (a balance between the body and the mind) is brilliantly explained by Professor Eugen Herrigel in this timeless account.This book is the result of the author?s six year quest to learn archery in the hands of Japanese Zen masters. It is an honest account of one man?s journey to complete abandonment of ?the self? and the Wes...

Originally published in 1854, Walden; or, Life in the Woods, is a vivid account of the time that Henry D. Thoreau lived alone in a secluded cabin at Walden Pond. It is one of the most influential and compelling books in American literature. This new paperback editionintroduced by noted American writer John Updikecelebrates the 150th anniversary o...

Eugene B. Sledge was part of the war's famous 1st Marine Division 3d Battalion, 5th Marines. Based on notes that Sledge secretly kept in a copy of the New Testament, With the Old Breed captures with utter simplicity and intense frankness the experience of a Marine in the fierce Pacific Theatre. Here is what saved, threatened, and changed his life...

'An act of consummate literary bravery, a writer known for her clarity allowing us to watch her mind as it becomes clouded with grief.'From one of America's iconic writers, a stunning book of electric honesty and passion. Joan Didion explores an intensely personal yet universal experience: a portrait of a marriage?and a life, in good times and bad?...

The riveting, powerful memoir of the woman whose statement to Brock Turner gave voice to millions of survivors. She was known to the world as Emily Doe when she stunned millions with a letter. Brock Turner had been sentenced to just six months in county jail after he was found sexually assaulting her on Stanford's campus. Her victim impact statemen...

An inspiring personal story of redemption, second chances, and the transformative power within us all, from the founder and CEO of the nonprofit charity: water. At 28 years old, Scott Harrison had it all. A top nightclub promoter in New York City, his life was an endless cycle of drugs, booze, modelsrepeat. But 10 years in, desperately unhappy an...

“Available recommendation signals cluster around NonFiction, History, Art, Autobiography lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for creative discipline, craft, or artistic motivation. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”

“Available recommendation signals cluster around NonFiction, Sports, Travel, Hobbies lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for big-picture nonfiction and accessible learning. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”

The standout memoir from NBA powerhouse Andre Iguodala, the indomitable sixth man of the champion Golden State Warriors. Andre Iguodala is one of the most admired players in the NBA. And fresh off the Warriors' third NBA championship in the last four years, his game has never been stronger.Off the court, Iguodala has earned respect, toofor his su...

Describes one man's transformation upon his acceptance of the principles of Yoga & gives a modern restatement of the importance of the spiritual side of human nature. Illustrated.The book is divided into four sections:Journey: The Transformation: Dr Richard Alpert, PhD into Baba Ram DassFrom Bindu to Ojas: The Core BookCookbook for a Sacred Life: A...

The astonishing national bestseller and hugely entertaining story that completely changed the way we run.An epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurtIsolated by Mexico's deadly Copper Canyons, the blissful Tarahumara Indians have honed the ability to run hundreds of miles without rest or injury. In a riveting narrat...

“Available recommendation signals cluster around Fitness, NonFiction, Personal Development, Health lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for self-improvement and practical behavior change. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”

“Available recommendation signals cluster around Social Sciences, NonFiction, History, Politics lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for decision-making, behavior, or human motivation. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”

A tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that, despite its profound flaws, gave the author the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the be...

Edward Snowden, the man who risked everything to expose the US government?s system of mass surveillance, reveals for the first time the story of his life, including how he helped to build that system and what motivated him to try to bring it down.In 2013, twentynineyearold Edward Snowden shocked the world when he broke with the American intellig...

“Available recommendation signals cluster around Social Sciences, Spirituality, NonFiction, Philosophy lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for decision-making, behavior, or human motivation. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the best chronicle of drugsoaked, addlebrained, rollicking good times ever committed to the printed page. It is also the tale of a long weekend road trip that has gone down in the annals of American pop culture as one of the strangest journeys ever undertaken....

“Available recommendation signals cluster around Social Sciences, Finance, Economics, NonFiction, Business lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for decision-making, behavior, or human motivation. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”

Marc Benioff said everyone at Steve Jobs' memorial service got a copy of this book.

The prescient, pageturning account of a journey in Silicon Valley: a defining memoir of our digital ageIn her midtwenties, at the height of tech industry idealism, Anna Wiener—stuck, broke, and looking for meaning in her work, like any good millennial—left a job in book publishing for the promise of the new digital economy. She moved from New Yor...

#1 New York Times bestselling author and Oscar–winning producer Brian Grazer has written a brilliantly entertaining and eyeopening exploration of curiosity and the lifechanging effects it can have on every person’s life.From Academy Award–winning producer Brian Grazer, New York Times bestseller A Curious Mind offers a brilliant peek into the “cur...

From the New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist: a searingly honest memoir of food, weight, selfimage, and learning how to feed your hunger while taking care of yourself.?I ate and ate and ate in the hopes that if I made myself big, my body would be safe. I buried the girl I was because she ran into all kinds of trouble. I tried to eras...

One of our most influential anthropologists reevaluates her long and illustrious career by returning to her rootsand the roots of life as we know it.When Elizabeth Marshall Thomas first arrived in Africa to live among the Kalahari San, or bushmen, it was 1950, she was nineteen years old, and these last surviving huntergatherers were living as hu...

A bank of clouds was assembling on the notsodistant horizon, but journalistmountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless moreincluding Krakauer'sin guiltridden disarray, would also pro...

The riveting New York Times bestseller about a young man who built more than 250 schools around the world?and the steps anyone can take to lead a successful and significant life.Adam Braun began working summers at hedge funds when he was just sixteen years old, sprinting down the path to a successful Wall Street career. But while traveling he met a...

In lieu of an unrevealing FamousPeopleIHaveKnown autobiography, the owner of the Washington Post has chosen to be remarkably candid about the insecurities prompted by remote parents and a difficult marriage to the charismatic, manicdepressive Phil Graham, who ran the newspaper her father acquired. Katharine's account of her years as subservien...

National BestsellerWinner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography A New York Times Notable BookWinner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru Science Books & Film Prize for Excellence in Science BooksFinalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing AwardOne of the Best Books of the Year: The Wa...

The classic personal account of Watson and Crick?s groundbreaking discovery of the structure of DNA, now with an introduction by Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind.By identifying the structure of DNA, the molecule of life, Francis Crick and James Watson revolutionized biochemistry and won themselves a Nobel Prize. At the time, Watson was only...

A haunting memoir of teaching English to the sons of North Korea's ruling class during the last six months of Kim Jongil's reign Every day, three times a day, the students march in two straight lines, singing praises to Kim Jongil and North Korea: Without you, there is no motherland. Without you, there is no us. It is a chilling scene, but grad...

Finalist for the National Book Award Finalist for the Kirkus Prize Instant New York Times Bestseller Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, New York Post, BuzzFeed, Shelf Awareness, Bustle, and Publishers Weekly An essential read for our times: an eyeopening memoir of workingclass poverty in America that will deepen our understanding of th...

“Available recommendation signals cluster around NonFiction, Comedy, Fiction, Humor lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for imaginative storytelling, atmosphere, or character-driven reflection. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”

One of the most remarkable books Ive ever read. Its truly moving, eyeopening, incredibly vivid.Jon Stewart, The Daily ShowNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BYNPR The Wall Street Journal Bloomberg Business BookishFINALIST FOR THE BOOKS FOR A BETTER LIFE FIRST BOOK AWARD NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERYouve never read a book like The Reason I Jump...

Where do ideas come fromIn Catching the Big Fish, internationally acclaimed filmmaker David Lynch provides a rare window into his methods as an artist, his personal working style, and the immense creative benefits he has experienced from the practice of meditation.Lynch describes the experience of "diving within" and "catching" ideas like fish a...

Obsession, madness, memory, myth, and history combine to achieve a distinctive blend of nature writing and memoir from an outstanding literary innovator.When Helen Macdonald's father died suddenly on a London street, she was devastated. An experienced falconer—Helen had been captivated by hawks since childhood—she'd never before been tempted to tra...

One of the first undocumented immigrants to graduate from Harvard reveals the hidden lives of her fellow undocumented Americans in this deeply personal and groundbreaking portrait of a nation.Writer Karla Cornejo Villavicencio was on DACA when she decided to write about being undocumented for the first time using her own name. It was right after th...

“Available recommendation signals cluster around NonFiction, Basketball, Sports lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for big-picture nonfiction and accessible learning. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”

“Available recommendation signals cluster around NonFiction, Business lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for business judgment, leadership, or practical strategy. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”

“Available recommendation signals cluster around NonFiction, Fiction, History, About, Germany lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for imaginative storytelling, atmosphere, or character-driven reflection. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”

For the first time, Angelou reveals the triumphs and struggles of being the daughter of Vivian Baxter, an indomitable spirit whose petite size belied her largerthanlife presence—a presence absent during much of Angelou’s early life. When her marriage began to crumble, Vivian famously sent threeyearold Maya and her older brother away from their ...

One of the most prominent voices of her generation debuts with an extraordinarily powerful memoir: the story of a childhood defined by the ever looming absence of her incarcerated father and the path we must take to both honor and overcome our origins. For as long as she could remember, Ashley has put her father on a pedestal. Despite having only v...

“Writing about yourself is a funny business…But in a project like this, the writer has made one promise, to show the reader his mind. In these pages, I’ve tried to do this.” —Bruce Springsteen, from the pages of Born to RunIn 2009, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed at the Super Bowl’s halftime show. The experience was so exhilaratin...

“Available recommendation signals cluster around Social Sciences, NonFiction, History, Politics lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for decision-making, behavior, or human motivation. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”

Set in the cruel years of Hungary's Nazi occupation and subsequent communist regime, the bestselling Swimming Across is the stunning childhood memoir of one of the leading thinkers of our time, legendary Intel chairman, Andrew S. Grove. Photos throughout....

“Available recommendation signals cluster around Social Sciences, Spirituality, NonFiction, Philosophy, Personal Development lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for decision-making, behavior, or human motivation. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”

“Available recommendation signals cluster around NonFiction, Business lists, suggesting this book may fit readers looking for business judgment, leadership, or practical strategy. Treat this as discovery context, not a quality guarantee.”