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Hi
I love a good autobiography and appreciate this is a wide subject. Looking for inspiring reads on holiday please.
I like; cycling, cricket, indie music and on the limit of human endurance topics.
Thanks in advance
Any of the Julian Cope books. Not a fan of his music but the books are crazy.
Did the audio of I am Ozzy, not exactly high brow but kept my interest and I generally don't finish books.
Alan Clark Diaries.
Not much cycling or indie music. But plenty of human endurance.
Not on your topic list, however Mr Nice is an easy and interesting read.
I am Ozzy ^^^^ I actually managed to read it but I'd recommend. Bloody hilarious but I suspect not that much involvement from Ozzy.
Space Below My Feet by Gwen Moffat. A fascinating book about one of Britain's early female climbers set in the immediate post WW2 period, and it really is another country.
How about Long Way Round (Ewan McGregor) or Around the World in 80 Days (Michael Palin)
Peter Crouch
Not an autobiography as such but "The Secret Barrister" - stories of the law and how it's broken
Or if you can find a copy, Riding Rockets (I'll lend you mine if you want)
Mad, Bad and Dangerous To Know - Ranulph Fiennes
7 marathons in 7 days on 7 continents weeks after heart surgery, cutting off his own fingers in the garden shed with a hacksaw etc etc. Lives up to it's title
Jupiter's travels ted Simon
Ultra marathon man Dean karnazes (love hate )
Long way round is ok....if you read only the boorman bits....
Ghost trails and be brave be strong by Jill homer
Guy Martin - my autobiography and when you dead you dead.
I prefer the older adventures....
A World of my own Robin Knox Johnson
The Lonely Sea and the Sky Francis Chichester (grumpy bugger but amazing all the same)
The Brendan Voyage Tim Severin
The kon tiki expedition Thor Heyerdahl
Newer stuff like Born to Run Christopher McDougal, Bold Man of the Sea Jim Shekhar The Flying Scotsman Graeme Obree
Any of the Julian Cope books
If you like indie music "Head-On/Repossessed" was the first one I thought of as well!
I assume you've already read "Touching the Void" and "Into Thin Air"?
Karen Darke. Some impressive human endurance, including a bit of cycling.
Scott Jurek - Eat and Run. I'm now reading his new one, North, pretty good so far.
First Light.
+1 First Light
Cold - Ranaulph Fiennes
Ascent - Chris Bonnington
Mark Beaumont - any of his cycling world tour books.
Sean conway - LEJOG
The Boy on the Shed by Paul Ferris.
About growing up in Northern Ireland during the troubles, joining Newcastle FC at 16, recovering from the scrap heap etc to work at the highest levels.
Brutal read but well-written and fascinating.
Eric "Winkle" Brown - "Wings on my sleeve"
+ 1 more for First Light. Riveting and humbling in equal measure.
Legionnaire: Five Years in the French Foreign Legion, Simon Murray. A guy who joined the Legion out of boredom back in the sixties, follows his years in service.
In search of Captain Zero, Alan Weisbecker - a road trip through Central America to find a missing friend.
A short walk in the Hindu Kush, Eric Newby. An Englishman and his mate go off to Afghanistan on a bit of a whim to be the first to climb a major peak there, despite not being mountaineers.
Currently reading Chickenhawk, following a recommendation on a previous STW book thread. It's excellent so far.
Fallen Angel the Fausto Coppi book. Probably my favourite cycling bio. Though A Dog in a Hat also very good.
Second, Mad,Bad and dangerous to Know and Jupiter's Travels. Especially JT, great snapshot of the world as it was.
And not within your criteria but Chuck Yeager bio very good.
How about a biography? I really liked the Gino Bartali book.... Road to Valour...history and bikes!!
Alan Partridge, especially the audiobooks.
If you like indie music “Head-On/Repossessed” was the first one I thought of as well!
Snap. One of my fave two books ever.
*Also ticks 'limits of human endurance' if you count the frankly terrifying road-trip game of 'sock' and also (possibly) the nocturnal power-walking disaster he experienced in Tamworth 😂🤣
Chickenhawk is very good as if First Light.
Coronation Everest is also worth a mention. Not a full-life autobiography but an account of James (now Jan) Morris's experiences as the embedded reporter with The Times on the Everest Expedition of 1953.
Cycling -
Ned Boulting - How I Won The Yellow Jumper
Tim Moore - Gironimo
Time Moore - French Revolutions
Domestique - Charly Wegelius
non-cycing
Tom Jones - Over the Top and Back again (I think)
Stuart Maconie - Cider With Roadies
How about some good, old-fashioned rock'n'roll debauchery? Just finished Moby's autobiography and its brilliant. Really interesting. He doesn't hold back either. I imagine there are a few less than happy people reading the book
I always thought he was quite clean living with all his promotion of veganism and stuff. How wrong I was. Turns out he was a right rum'un. A monumental appetite for drugs and vodka and would shag owt with a pulse. But the account of his descent into paranoia and suicidal depression is pretty harrowing
I imagine there are a few less than happy people reading the book
Well, Natalie Portman was less than thrilled.
45 by Bill Drummond.
All about the KLF and other odd stuff including Zodiac Mindwarp, sonic weapons, Echo and The Bunnymen, a dead cow, pornographic art installations, Nazis and burning a million quid.
Been a while since I read it. Will have to re-visit.
I'm currently reading the biggest, fattest book I've ever owned
Marvellous it is.
If the recent Moby interview in Q mag is anything to go by, his autobiog is a good shout!
A couple of years ago I got to the airport and found I'd left my books at home. In desperation I bought the Geraint Thomas and Sue Perkins books. I found them both excellent, and perfect holiday reading. Others I have enjoyed include Frank Skinner, Mark Radcliffe and, of course, Danny Baker.
But far and away the most unintentionally hilarious was "North Country Squire" by Sir John Craster. A vanity project written by a deluded, self important aristocrat and makes Jacob Rees Mogg look like Rab C Nesbitt.
Tim Moore's books always review well.
Does he put brown envelopes in his review books ?
I find them very forced and hard to read and inevitably give up.
Charley boormans race to dakar is good. And by any means is quite good too.
Paul Howard's two wheels on my wagon is a great insight into how someone went from zero to tour divide completion in short time.
Yes JT being a snap shot of the world of that era is why I like it. I travel alot -j go through areas where he traveled and while some of it sounds familiar you wouldn't travel in some of those areas as a lone traveler on a motorcycle in this day and age - which is a huge shame.
Wiggins my time was another good one- I don't particularly like cyclists auto biogs as they can be quite dry but wiggos and even froomes are both quite good reads.
David Millars racing through the dark was quite a hard read but because of the turmoil and heartwrenching he went through when he hit bottom rather than it being boring. But you had to be in the right frame of mind to read it.
Others I have enjoyed include Frank Skinner, Mark Radcliffe and, of course, Danny Baker.
Frank Skinners biography is absolutely brilliant. The stories of his pre-telly days when he was doing stand up around the midlands working mens clubs, while a barely functioning alcoholic, are both hilarious and heartbreaking.
One of the few books that had me regularly laughing out loud
And if you want utter and complete debauchery then this is the pinnacle:
Though the old adage applies. Its all fun and games until somebody gets killed. It goes from utter lunacy to being very poignant, very quickly. Very much a book of two halves
Tony Hawks' (not the skater) has done a few good ones. I've read the first four, but not the recent stuff.
Round Ireland with a Fridge: His first book was an account of his attempt to hitchhike around Ireland with a fridge to win a bar bet.[10] It sold over 800,000 copies.
Playing the Moldovans at Tennis: His second book, also the result of a drunken bet (with the comedian Arthur Smith), this time involved an attempt to beat each member of the Moldova national football team in a game of tennis, based on the theory that people good at one sport aren't necessarily good at others.[11]
One Hit Wonderland: His third book, describes his attempt, over 10 years after his first, to write a second hit song. This culminates in him performing on Albanian television with Norman Wisdom and Tim Rice.[12]
A Piano in the Pyrenees: The Ups and Downs of an Englishman in the French Mountains: An account of his purchase of a house in the Pyrenees in the south of France, after deciding that the two things he wanted in life were to meet his soul mate, and to purchase an "idyllic house abroad somewhere abroad".[13][14]
The Fridge Hiker's Guide to Life.[15]
Once Upon a Time in the West...Country [16]
I'll second one of Harry's other recommendations, that I ead while I was on my hols, on his recommendation
Chickenhawk manages to nail the absolute madness of the Vietnam war in one book. God only knows how he got out of it alive. Absolutely bonkers
I've just bought another Tony Hawks on my own recommendation.
Once Upon A Time In The West... Counrty.
I want to know how he faired riding his bike into Ilfracombe with a pig under his arm.
Less than £3 on AbeBooks! Charity shop prices delivered to your door. Can't fault that.
On a musical note (sorry) Peter Hook's books are great. If you're into F1 I'd recommend Damon Hill and Mark Webber.
Mo Mowlem.
A very good read about an astonishing wonderful lady. A great insight into the Northern Ireland peace process too.
+1 for First Light. Try 'Hit the road Jac', by Jacqui Furneaux - 'older' lady riding round the world on a motorcycle. Makes Ewan McGregor lok like the media tart that he is. Also 'Jupiter's Travels' by Ted Simon - 70s trip round the world on a Triumph 500. 'Hizzy' by Steve Hislop quite good, too. Oh, and if you like 60s & 70s music, 'White Bicycles' by Joe Boyd.
I like; indie music
ive recently enjoyed john lydon and bez books.
i liked even more, the slit's viv albertines 2 autobiographies. very open, honest and personal, with a touch of humour too.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Clothes-Clothes-Music-Music-Boys/dp/B01N1WXCZT/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1564749196&refinements=p_27%3AViv+Albertine&s=books&sr=1-1
Biography rather than autobiog but Bird Lives by Ross Russell: the biography of Charlie Parker which is a pretty no-holds barred account of a man with talent and also problems, in a hostile environment for someone who isn't white. should get it to read again on my kobo for the holidays, it's been 20yrs since I last read it. If you like things like the Ozzy biog then you'd probably enjoy this too.
I read French revolutions but gave me the impression that the author is a ****. Graham Obree's book is one of the best bike rider books.
It goes from utter lunacy to being very poignant, very quickly. Very much a book of two halves
Interesting. I think it was the same book, but I didn't get to the 2nd half it was so badly written.
Agree with the Frank Skinner one (must be quite an old book now) and Danny Baker's are hilarious, if you like Danny Baker.
Oh yes, the one sadexpunk posted is brill if you're from that era. I lost my copy when a woman I dated borrowed it and lent me the Paula Yates one. The woman made me late for a gig once, so I am stuck with the Paula Yates book. True story 😆
Far and away, the most entertaining and memorable autobiography I've ever read is 'The Moon's A balloon' by David Niven. It takes you back to the heydays of Hollywood and is brilliantly written, brutally honest and very, very funny.
In a cycling vein, I found Tyler Hamilton's autobiography to be good. Very informative about how pro cycling was not too long ago, and things like how much weight they aim to lose etc is fascinating. David Millar's was also pretty good
+1 for Viv Albertine (need to get vol 2, thanks for the reminder).
I also liked Kim Gordon’s book (Girl in a Band).
How about Busy Philipps This will only hurt a little?
+1 for Secret Race (even if it is lining a dopers pockets) knocks Millars into a cocket hat (he didn’t have the balls to break the omertà so **** him!).
Joe Browns The Hard Years was enjoyable.
I also liked Bob Dylan’s Chronicles (hardly indie though)
Spike Milligan ... Adolf Hitler My Part in his Downfall /all his war Memoirs
Unreliable Memoirs by Clive James was hugely funny and irreverent. Published in the 80's but will definitely put a big smile on your face.
Currently reading Mark Beaumont's 'Around the World in 80 days' which is a fascinating insight to a herculean and highly improbable objective, and the sheer focus, tenacity and balls to undertake what most people would consider as sheer lunacy.
Autobiographical in a fictional sense would be Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. A fantastic immersive read.
Laurent Fignon - We were young and carefree
John Lydon - Anger is an energy
OH recommends The Worst Journey In The World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard (documenting the trip to the Antarctic to find Scott's body).
I read French revolutions but gave me the impression that the author is a ****.
He really, really isn't.
A top bloke.
Great stuff, thanks all. Moby looks a good call.