USA: Biography and oral history
Maya Angelou I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings . First of a five-volume autobiography that provides an ultimately uplifting account of how a black girl transcended her traumatic childhood in 1930s Arkansas.Paul Auster (ed) True Tales of American Life (UK)/ I Thought My Father Was God (US). Anthology of true-life stories sent to Auster for a National Public Radio project. Arranged by subject, it's best dipped into at random; among the mawkish and the mundane are just enough quirky, touching and plain crazy tales to make it worth the while. A humanistic and accepting view of America and its people - complications, contradictions and all.
William F. Cody The Life of Hon. William F. Cody, Known as Buffalo Bill . Larger-than-life autobiography of one of the great characters of the Wild West. Particularly treasurable for the moment when he refers to himself more formally as "Bison William."
Henry Hampton and Steve Fayer Voices of Freedom . Hugely impressive oral history of the Civil Rights movement, heavily drawn from the TV series.
Joyce Johnson Minor Characters . Johnson, Jack Kerouac's girlfriend and "muse," tells her own story and those of the other women in the 1950s East Village scene, revealing the stiflingly reactionary male elitism of the Beats.
Florence King Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady . Hilarious autobiography of a girl who grows up with her faded Southern belle grandmother and foul-talking, heavy-smoking mother, only to effect the greatest rebellion of all by falling in love with a woman.
*Malcolm X, with Alex Haley The Autobiography of Malcolm X . Searingly honest and moving account of Malcolm's progress from street hoodlum to political leadership. Written on the hoof over a period of years, it traces the development of Malcolm X's thinking before, during and after his split from the Nation of Islam. The conclusion, when he talks about his impending assassination, is painful in the extreme.
Edmund Morris Theodore Rex . Thoroughly engaging and superbly researched biography of Theodore Roosevelt, tracing the energetic and controversial president's far-reaching achievements between 1901 and 1909.
Muhammad Ali The Greatest . Powerful and entertaining autobiography of the Louisville boy who grew up to become world heavyweight boxing champion. The most memorable parts deal with his fight against the Vietnam draft and the subsequent stripping away of his world championship title.
Tony Parker A Place Called Bird . Fascinating oral history based on interviews with the inhabitants of a tiny town in the very center of Kansas, the heartland of the Midwest.
Ishbel Ross Rebel Rose . Evocative, rebel-yelling biography of Rose Greenhow, glamorous Washington socialite and remarkably brave Confederate spy. Works equally well as an exciting tale of political espionage and an impeccably detailed historical document.
Quinta Scott and Susan Croce Kelly Route 66 . Moving oral histories and monochrome photographs trace the life of the now abandoned 2000-mile highway immortalized in film, novels and song.
Ralph Steadman Scar Strangled Banner . Warped, cynical and crazy underview of America, full of sketches and hacked-about photos, from sometime Hunter S. Thompson collaborator and illustrator.
Joanna L. Stratton Pioneer Women . Original memoirs of women - mothers, teachers, homesteaders and circuit riders - who ventured across the Plains from 1854 to 1890. Lively, superbly detailed accounts, with chapters on journeys, homebuilding, daily domestic life, the church, the cowtown, temperance and suffrage.
Studs Terkel American Dreams Lost and Found . Interviews with ordinary American citizens. As illuminating a guide to US life as you could hope for.
Geoffrey C. Ward, Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns Mark Twain: An Illustrated Biography . Tied in with the superb TV series, this classy and readable volume is filled with essays from various authors interspersed with Twain's own words, taken from published works, personal diaries and letters. These, along with the many rare photographs, shed vivid light on an extraordinarily prolific American icon.
*Frank Waters Book of the Hopi . Extraordinary insight into the traditions and beliefs of the Hopi, prepared through years of interviews and approved by tribal elders.
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