Book Recommendations: Best Auto/Biographies
My favorite genre of book hands down, is Auto/Biography. I believe only true empathy and sympathy can be learned when you realize that everyone has a story. When you expose yourself to more and more stories, ones that may or may not mirror your own, you tend to broaden your level of acceptance and patience. I feel we are so quick to judge someone based on a variety of reasons. But the one that tends to get my goat is judgement at the slightest inconvenience. We have ALL done it. Someone cuts you off in traffic. A colleague dismisses something you say in a meeting. A friend forgets a small detail. This doesn't mean open yourself up to be a doormat and to accept poor treatment - but it is about finding a healthy balance. By being exposed to backstories of little daily interactions, it will keep you grounded and armed with the knowledge and understanding that there may be a weight on the other person that you know nothing about. Most of the time, it also helps you gain perspective that it is indeed - NOT personal. It has nothing to do with you. It gives you thicker skin in knowing that. Not to be so susceptible to the negativity being cast by others. Just because those bad vibes are being thrown out there, does not mean you have to sop it up.
To the stories!
Ordeal, The Truth Behind Deep Throat. The Story of Linda Lovelace. An amazing book, probably should be rated R, and perhaps something you might not want to read on the train on the way to work. Gritty details about how she reluctantly got involved in the sex industry. I feel there is not enough stories told like hers. I read this book in ONE day, could not put it down.
Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia, Jean Sasson I booked a trip to visit family in the UAE and Qatar, and this book was recommended to me. While I knew I would not be spending any time with a royal family, it was a very interesting lens to peer through about the culture expectations and dominance. Sultana is a princess who very rarely played by the rules and often times got herself into trouble. She recognized her royal privilege and witness not only her family members go through hell but her friends who were not of royal lineage succumb to ancient patriarchal traditions of abuse and a society that just accepted it as the way it is.
I'll Never Write My Memoirs, Grace Jones. A model, a glitter disco queen, a music artist, a fashion muse, a gender defying icon, an author. Reading this was like reading about someone who had lived 1000 lives. Full of rich experiences, both positive and negative. Studio 54 performance artist of sorts, a New York socialite, the countless music and art scene shapers in her stories. Her exposure of the worlds I will never know or comprehend is really why I fell in love with this book.