25 Best Memoirs of All-Time
November 1, 2024
I鈥檝e always felt that there鈥檚 something special about memoirs. While I love fiction, there鈥檚 something so intimate 鈥� almost transgressive 鈥� about memoir. It鈥檚 as if the author were whispering all their secrets into your ear. While I know that taste is subjective, here鈥檚 my list of the 25 best memoirs of all time. (If you鈥檙e looking for something more recent, check out this list of the Best Books of 2024.)
If you are interested in pursuing your own future writing career, you may enjoy these posts:
25 Best Memoirs of All-Time
1)听, by Margo Jefferson
In her National Book Circle Award-winning book, Margo Jefferson introduces us to her upper-middle-class black family in Chicago. Constrained by the family motto 鈥� 鈥淎chievement. Invulnerability. Comportment.鈥� 鈥� Jefferson examines her own struggles with mental health. Writing in the New York Times, 鈥�There鈥檚 sinew and grace in the way she plays with memory, dodging here and burning there, like a photographer in a darkroom.鈥�听听
2)听, by Marjane Satrapi
Marjane Satrapi tells the story of her childhood and young adulthood in Tehran. She is 10 when the Shah is overthrown and Iran becomes a theocracy. When the oppression escalates, Satrapi鈥檚 parents send her to Vienna. Of Persepolis, , 鈥淸It] dances with drama and insouciant wit.鈥澨�
Best Memoirs of All-Time (Continued)
3)听, by Edna O鈥橞rien
When her novel, The Country Girls, was published in 1960, it was burned in public. In this memoir, O鈥橞rien traces her trajectory 鈥� from rural Ireland, convent school, elopement and divorce, to the wild parties of 1960s London with celebrities and pop stars. In her review in The Guardian, , 鈥渃rystalline and true.鈥澨�
4)听, by Sonali Deraniyagala
In December of 2004, Sonali Deraniyagala was vacationing in Sri Lanka with her husband, their two sons, and her parents. Gazing out at the ocean, she saw the water begin to rise. As she and her husband fled with their children, the tsunami overtook them. When Deraniyagala awakens, her husband and children are gone. She soon finds out that her entire family perished, along with approximately 230,000 others.听
Wave tells the story of how Deraniyagala managed to survive this trauma. No less than Wave, 鈥渢he most exceptional book about grief [she鈥檚] ever read鈥mmaculately unsentimental and raggedly intimate鈥efiantly flooded with light.鈥澨�
Best Memoirs of All-Time (Continued)
5)听, by Jan Morris
In one of the earliest memoirs to discuss the trans experience, Jan Morris discusses the process of becoming the woman she always felt she was. Though some of what Morris writes has not aged well, it remains, as 鈥渁 sympathetic guide, not so much to present-day transgender struggles as to trans joy.鈥澨�
6)听: On Becoming a Mother, by Rachel Cusk
Though perhaps better known for her fiction, Cusk鈥檚 memoir is bracing in its description of motherhood. Whether dealing with sleep deprivation or considering her second pregnancy with 鈥渢he cheerless acceptance of a convict,鈥� Cusk pulls no punches. In spite of all this (or perhaps because of it), 鈥渨holly original and unabashedly true.鈥�
Best Memoirs of All-Time (Continued)
7)听, by Hilary Mantel
In this rage-fueled memoir, Hillary Mantel details the banal oppression of femininity. Suffering from endometriosis and dismissed by doctors, Mantel struggles to become the writer she knows herself to be. Appropriately biblical, this memoir is the 鈥�鈥澨�
8)听, by Jesmyn Ward听
In the space of four years, Jesmyn Ward loses five men close to her, mostly to violence. She resolves to tell their stories, and, through them, to tell the story of what it means to be a Black man in the United States. Too often, America is a world 听
Best Memoirs of All-Time (Continued)
9)听, by Zo毛 Bossiere
In this striking memoir, Zo毛 Bossiere describes growing up genderfluid in a trailer park in Tuscon, Arizona. In the harsh desert landscape, Zo毛 tries to figure out what it means to live in a world of enforced gender binaries. at the book鈥檚 鈥減rofound sense of place and empathy for the people of this place.鈥�
10)听, by Mary Karr
Mary Karr takes the reader on a sizzling tour of her childhood in East Texas. Karr does her best to understand her mother, who, married six times and with a secret family to boot, suffers a alcohol-fueled psychotic breakdown that haunts her daughter鈥檚 life.
Best Memoirs of All-Time (Continued)
听11)听, by Alison Bechdel
In this critically-acclaimed graphic novel, Alison Bechdel tells of her life as the daughter of the town鈥檚 funeral home director (the 鈥渇un home鈥�). When Bechdel goes to college and comes out as gay, she finds out that her father is gay as well. Shortly after this revelation, Alison鈥檚 father kills himself by stepping in front of a truck. Jess Sutcliffe calls it 鈥�鈥澨�
12)听, by Maxine Hong Kingston
As a girl, Maxine Hong Kingston is split between the California her parents have immigrated to and the China of her mother鈥檚 stories. The women her mother tells her about are fierce and free, completely at odds with the societal oppression out of which they emerge. Though published in 1976, its 鈥�鈥� still have the power to shock.听
Best Memoirs of All-Time (Continued)
13)听, by Vivian Gornick
Published in 1987, Vivian Gornick鈥檚 moving memoir about her mother examines the difficult loves that sustain and perplex. As Gornick walks the streets of New York with her now aging mother, we hear of the dramas and satisfactions of a Bronx tenement. Ultimately, each is confronted with the other, 鈥�鈥澨�
14)听, by Kao Kalia Yang
In this memoir, Kao Kalia Yang gives voice to her parents鈥� moving immigration story. After the Vietnam War, Kang鈥檚 family is forced to flee Laos. Yang herself is born in a refugee camp 鈥� when her parents arrive in the US, they strive both to work as well as educate themselves and their children.听
Best Memoirs of All-Time (Continued)
15.听, by Deborah Jackson Taffa
Born on a California Yuma reservation and raised in Navajo territory in New Mexico, Deborah Jackson Taffa strives to navigate the generational trauma inflicted on Native Americans. Torn between assimilation and resistance, Taffa attempts to rediscover the mythologies and storytelling traditions of her culture.
16)听, by Lucy Sante
In this touching (and frequently hilarious) memoir, Lucy Sante tells the story of how she decided to transition to become a woman. At nearly 70, Lucy has to relearn how to be in the world, a relearning that is at once liberating and terrifying.听听
Best Memoirs of All-Time (Continued)
17)听, by Shayla Lawson
Though Shayla Lawson鈥檚 book might be mistakenly shelved in the travel section, it is, in reality, about the liberatory potential of vulnerability and openness. As Lawson moves through the world 鈥� Black, nonbinary, and disabled 鈥� her readers see how self-transformation can be mapped into the human heart.听听
18)听, by Sarah LaBrie听
When her mother suffers a schizophrenic break, LaBrie begins to examine the history of mental illness that snakes through her family. As her mother鈥檚 condition worsens, LaBrie considers the unfair pressure on Black people to hide mental health struggles. Linda Villarosa writes that 鈥渢his grim and messy story feels urgent and imaginative.鈥澨�
Best Memoirs of All-Time (Continued)
19)听, by Chris La Tray
A beautiful book that deals with questions of identity, history, and the possibilities of change, Becoming Little Shell traces La Tray鈥檚 exploration of his own Native heritage. Along the way, he navigates the ongoing effects of settler colonialism and institutionalized racism.听
20)听, by Jennifer Romolini
A trenchant critique of 鈥渓eaning in,鈥� 鈥渕aking it,鈥� and 鈥渞ise and grind,鈥� Romolini鈥檚 book examines the damage capitalism does to our bodies, minds, and spirits. Even when Romolini lands a coveted C-suite job, she pushes herself to the breaking point. Ultimately, she realizes that external metrics of achievement will never be enough.听
Best Memoirs of All-Time (Continued)
21)听, by Malcolm X and Alex Haley听
A classic of the American Civil Rights Movement, The Autobiography of Malcolm X tells the story of Malcolm Little鈥檚 journey from Nebraska, to New York, to prison, and then to fame as Malcolm X. We learn of his time in the Nation of Islam, his journey to Mecca, his conversion to Sunni Islam, and eventual assassination in 1965.听
22)听, by Anne Frank
First published in 1947, Anne Frank鈥檚 diary details her family鈥檚 attempts to hide from the Nazis during WWII. Though they manage to stay hidden for over two years, the family is eventually betrayed and sent to concentration camps. Though Anne was only 15 when she died, her words still warn of the threat of authoritarianism.听
Best Memoirs of All-Time (Continued)
23)听, by Maya Angelou
The world was not kind to a precocious Black girl in the 1930s and 40s. Angelou鈥檚 story of triumph 鈥� from Stamps, Arkansas all the way to the inauguration of Bill Clinton 鈥� is the story of an America that enacts violence of all kinds on Black bodies.听
24)听, by A.M. Homes
In this powerful memoir, Homes tells the reader how she came to meet her biological parents when she was in her mid-thirties. Though Homes wants to connect with these biological relatives, she finds that she cannot give life to their relationship. Of The Mistress鈥檚 Daughter, its 鈥渇ierce and eloquent鈥� examination of the self.听
Best Memoirs of All-Time (Continued)
25)听, by Maggie Nelson
There鈥檚 no halfway with Maggie Nelson. You either love her genre-bending exploration of love, motherhood, and gender, or you鈥檙e wrong. Nelson鈥檚 insightful, political, theoretically-informed love story deserves to be read and re-read.听
Best Memoirs of All-Time – Wrapping Up
When I read a good memoir, I鈥檓 filled with empathy and hope for the world. I hope at least one of these memoirs makes you wonder at the unbridled beauty of humanity.听
If you鈥檝e found this article interesting, I鈥檝e also written on 1984, Frankenstein, The Great Gatsby, Hamlet, The Crucible, Beloved, Brave New World, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Macbeth, Jane Eyre, and Of Mice and Men.听
Additional Resources
- 101 Best Audiobooks of All Time听
- 30 Literary Devices High School Students Should Know
- 101 Books to Read Before You Die
