My Favorite Autobiographies of 2022

 

    On October 24, 2022, the world lost a giant, even though he only stood 4' 11". Leslie Jordan was an absolute joy to watch in everything he did as an actor and performer, and, by all accounts, he was an absolute joy to everyone who ever worked with him or spent any time around him. We listened to his most recent autobiography, How Y'all Doing? this year and his first book My Trip Down the Pink Carpet last year, and we enjoyed every second of it. I highly recommend the audio versions with Leslie narrating.

    Penny Marshall's autobiography, My Mother Was Nuts, was originally published in 2012, and it's another audiobook must - I mean, how could you not want to listen to Penny Marshall tell her own story. And who knew that Laverne Defazio was the Queen of the entertainment world? Be prepared for lots and lots of namedropping, but it's not just namedropping. These are real stories, real truths, about herself and her friendships and relationships. (Did you know she dated Art Garfunkel?) It was a very fun listen.

    Mel Brooks is an absolute national treasure, and it will be a dark day when he passes. We also listened to his autobiography, All About Me. Not surprisingly, the book is kind of a frantic ride through his professional career, with each chapter  basically dedicated to a particular work or job, and it is much heavier Mel's professional life than his personal live, but that's OK. If you're a fan of Mel Brooks' work, there is so much to learn here.

    One theme that runs through all these books is friendship. All of these people were (are) fantastic friends and loyal forever. They all believed in helping their friends whenever and however they could, and their friends, returned their love and loyalty.  

    Essayist and humorist David Sedaris returned to top form this year with his release of Happy Go Lucky. I've always been a huge fan of Sedaris, but I honestly haven't loved his last few books. Happy Go Lucky is a return to his best. While he may not be everybody's cup of tea, and his stories about his and his family's weirdness to the nth degree may seem unbelievable, or at least a little exaggerated, his stories are always funny, tragic, insightful, provocative, and evocative all at the same time. In this book, he really focuses on his father who died recently in his late 90s. This is another author who was made for audiobooks.

    Let's go a little more historical for the last recommendation, An Englishman in the Seminole War. John Bemrose arrived in America, alone at the age of 16, in 1831. He found himself headed south to the wilds of Florida and enlisted in the Second Seminole War. In the 1860s, he wrote a series of letters to his son in which he recounted his life in service. They are full of detail about battles and personalities in the war. The letters were kind of forgotten until his great grandson rediscovered them and edited them to create this book. It's a great memoir of a period and events which most Americans know little of. Randal Agostini did an excellent job of editing and transcribing the letters; it reads well.

 

 

Author Spotlight: Stephen Fry

     I've mentioned before that British actor, writer, and raconteur is one of my favorite people. He's kind of like a modern day Mark Twain, I think, and I always enjoy his work. I've also always enjoyed reading and learning mythology of all cultures, so bring the two together, and I'm extremely happy.

    Fry's latest book projects have been the retelling of ancient Greek mythology, in three volumes. Mythos is an overview, from the beginning, literally, of the universe.  Heroes contains the stories of the heroic figures who battle with, for and against, the gods.  Troy  is, just as you would expect, Fry's retelling of the epic of the Trojan War. Everything you love about mythology is contained in these volumes, along with Fry's keen wit and insight.  And, of course, these should go on your audiobook list in order to get the full effect of Fry's narration as you're commuting or working out.

    

    And I've already written about his Victorian Secrets and Edwardian Secrets. These are actually Audible originals, and they are podcasts, so there sound effects, music, and interviews with historians included as well. They are great reviews of the seamier, and steamier, side of the periods, stories that you don't find in history books, but stories that we are all interested in.

    Once you're on the Fry bandwagon, look up some of his older books as well.  Stephen Fry In America,  from 2010,  is his travelogue of the USA. Typical British guy trying to figure America out, in the fashion of Charles Dickens, Michael Palin, and Bill Bryson. There was also a video series that aired on PBS, and it's currently available on Amazon Prime Video.

    Fry's also a novelist, of course, and history lovers would be most interested in his alternate history/time travel book, Making History, the story of a graduate student and Holocaust survivor joining forces to try to change the course of history.

Not-So-Jolly-Old England

     I've been on a run of Audible books about life in Victorian and Edwardian England lately, books about life and crime in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

    Technically speaking, Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets and Stephen Fry's Edwardian Secrets aren't books; they are podcasts only available through Audible. Full disclosure: I could listen to Stephen Fry narrate or discuss absolutely any topic in the world., so naturally I would be a fan of these podcasts. Each podcast consists of twelve episodes that not only feature Fry's narration, but, as befitting any podcast worthy of the title, music, sound effects, and interviews with historians. The podcasts cover both the "upstairs" and "downstairs" views of life in the United Kingdom, so to speak, revealing what actually went on behind the closed doors of palaces and hovels alike. No topic is left untouched, so some of the chapters are best for adult ears. Topics include sex, crime, entertainment, drug and alcohol use, and race just to name a few.  When you've completed an episode, I can pretty much guarantee that you will have learned something new and something that piques your interests.

        The Five, by Hallie Rubenhold, is about one of the most notorious episodes of British history, Jack the Ripper's murder spree in the Whitehall district of London in 1888.  There have been probably hundreds of stories, books, and plays about Jack the Ripper and the mystery of his identity, but, until The Five, very few people bothered to look into the lives of the five victims. They were reduced to streetwalkers who were horribly mutilated by the unknown Ripper. Rubenhold  actually investigates and goes into great detail about the five women. Each woman becomes a real character, with her own personality and problems, and it turns out that the newspapers and police of the day perpetuated assumptions and lies about that women that persist till this day. For example, none of the women was actively involved in prostitution at the time of her murder, although some of them had been sex workers at some point in their lives. Also, they were mostly likely murdered while they were asleep.  

    I've most recently finished The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream.  Dr. Thomas Neill Cream was, at one time, as notorious as Jack the Ripper, at least in the UK, but he was every bit as brazen and outrageous as Jack the Ripper. Born in Scotland in 1850, Cream immigrated with his family to Canada as a child. His father became a wealthy businessman, and Thomas became a doctor, living and practicing in various places in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. For years, he got away with murder, literally, poisoning mostly female sex workers or women who came to him for an illegal abortion. He was quite vocal about his habit of killing women and even sent several letters aimed at blackmailing various people, threatening to accuse them of the murders if they didn't pay him. He was actually caught numerous times, even sentenced to life imprisonment in Illinois at one point, but he was released, and he moved to London to continue his murders. Scotland Yard finally caught up to him, and his trial was one of the most interesting and impactful trials in the 19th century.

 

Listening to History: Audio Books

By Jeff Burns

I have a very short commute, thankfully, only 5-10 minutes one way.  Nevertheless, I’ve developed the habit of keeping some audio book or course in my car stereo.   So whenever I’m in my car, I have the option of learning some history. 

There are a number of great podcasts available, and that might be a future blog topic.  However, I want to talk about two great sources of audio lectures.  You’re sure to find something of interest in these collections.

First up is the Portable Professor series from Barnes and Noble.  These are full courses taught by well-known authors and historians.  Each package consists of 14 35-minute lectures and includes a guidebook.   I own Masters of Enterprise:  How the Titans of American Business Shaped the US Economy by H.W. Brands, To Lead A Nation: The Presidency in the 20^th Century by Robert Dallek, Shaping justice:  Landmark cases of the US Supreme Court by Kermit Hall, and Everything You’ve Been Taught Is Wrong:  Fact, Fiction, and Lies in American History by James W. Loewen.  Each one is engaging, challenging, and insightful. 

They’re relatively inexpensive, especially if, like me, you find them  in the clearance section of the Barnes and Noble Store.  You can also find them on the Barnes and Noble website, ebay, libraries, and used book stores.

Another great source is The Great Courses.  They record first rate lectures on just about any subject imaginable by some of the greatest university lecturers and package them thorough outlines or guidebooks to follow along.  So far, I’ve enjoyed The Skeptic’s Guide to American History by Mark Stoler, Books That Have Made History by J. Rufus Fears, and The American Identity by Patrick Allitt.  They’ve all been terrific.  The individual lectures a bit longer than Portable Professor, 45-50 minutes each, but each lecture is extremely interesting.

While the full retail price on the website can be pretty high, the Great Courses Company often runs sales and has special offers.  I purchased mine through ebay, and again, you can find them in libraries and second hand markets for a more affordable price.

Jump right in and listen to history as you drive, work out, craft, or whatever.