Good Books and the Random Movie: Biography

Showing posts with label Biography. Show all posts

12 April 2025

Thunder Songs: Essays

Thunder Songs: Essays by Sasha LaPointe is a collection of biographical stories on what it means to her to be a proud, queer Indigenous woman.

Drawing on a rich family archive as well as the anthropological work of her late great-grandmother, Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe explores themes ranging from Indigenous identity and stereotypes to cultural displacement and environmental degradation to understand what our experiences teach us about the power of community, commitment, and conscientious honesty.

Unapologetically punk, the essays in Thunder Song segue from the miraculous to the mundane, from the spiritual to the physical, as they examine the role of art—in particular music—and community in helping a new generation of Indigenous people claim the strength of their heritage while defining their own path in the contemporary world.

This is an important book for anyone living on stolen lands - which is most of us in the US.

LaPointe, Sasha. (2024). Thunder Songs: Essays. Berkeley: Counterpoint.

27 June 2024

Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver

Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver by Jill Heinerth is a spooky exploration into the most dangerous thing you can do on Earth!

I have always been equal parts fascinated and scared of caves. Imaging exploring on underwater!

From Penguin Random House:

As one of the most celebrated cave divers in the world, Jill Heinerth has seen the planet in a way almost no one has. In a workday, she might swim below your home, through conduits in volcanoes or cracks in the world's largest iceberg. She's an explorer, a scientist's eyes and hands underwater—discovering new species and examining our finite freshwater reserves—and a filmmaker documenting the wonders of underwater life. Often the lone woman in a male-dominated domain, she tests the limits of human endurance at every tight turn, risking her life with each mission. To not only survive in this world but excel, Jill has had to learn how to master self-doubt like no other.

Heinerth, Jill. (2019). Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver. New York: Ecco.

25 December 2021

Diamond Doris: The True Story of the World's Most Notorious Jewel Thief

Diamond Doris: The World's Most Notorious Jewel Thief by Doris Payne and Zelda Lockhart is a fun, fast read about a very successful thief.

Doris grew up in West Virginia in a coal mining town. At eight years old, she decided she had to protect her mother from her abusive father. That was also when she decided she would never get married.

Not long after, Doris realized that it was easy to distract the shop person she was talking to, to the point of them losing track of their merchandise. Thus began a seven decade long career that spanned the globe.

This is a great memoir. Super fun read about a bad ass woman who told a psychologist when asked why she did it, that the jewelers wanted her to take the diamonds to absolve them of thier guilt for selling African diamonds.

Payne, Doris & Zelda Lockhart. (2019). Diamond Doris: The True Story of the World's Most Notorious Jewel Thief. NY: Amistad.

11 June 2021

The Best We Could Do

The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir by Thi Bui is a beautifully told story of her family history.

This is the story of a Vietnamese family from generations before the American war, to living in the United States to raise the next generation.

Beginning with the birth of her first child - the first drawing is a very pregnant belly - Thi looks back at her family and their history as she takes on the role of teacher for the next generation.

The history of Vietnam from colonization, war, politics to her family in a refugee camp and emigrating to the US, this is a beautifully told story of hardship and choices for a better life.

This is an example of why immigration is beneficial to both the people leaving to start again, and the nation that receives their knowledge and different way of looking at things. Immigration makes a country stronger.

Bui, Thi. (2017). The Best We Could Do. New York: Abrams.

28 November 2020

Buddhism: An Introduction to the Buddha's Life, Teachings, and Practices

Buddhism: An Introduction to the Buddha's Life, Teachings and Practices by Joan Duncan Oliver is a lovely way to discover an ages old philosophy.

Oliver is a great writer who has chosen to start this introduction with the life of the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. Through the growth and changing of Buddhism as it spreads, including details on the three main traditions, this is an excellent primer on a beautiful way of life.

This is a great book to get you started if you are interested in Buddhism or meditation.

Oliver, Joan Duncan. (2019). Buddhism: An Introduction to the Buddha's Life, Teachings and Practices. New York: St. Martin's Press.

12 July 2018

Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamout Sellout

Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamout Sellout by Laura Jane Grace and Dan Ozzi is an autobiography of my favorite punk singer, the front woman of Against Me!

Laura Jane Grace is as famous for being transgendered as she is for her music. But it took her a long time to come to terms that she was born into the wrong body. There were hints in her music along the way, but it was a long time before she could admit to herself who she really was. And a long road from there to coming out and transitioning.

This is a raw, wide-open, memoir. Laura has kept journals since elementary school. With the help of Dan Ozzi, she puts her story down on paper, not skipping the hard parts - including drug abuse, being called a sellout for signing with a record label, and becoming a parent.

She chose the title as a statement. Very punk of her, but as it is a bigoted slur, she now cringes to hear others used the word that has not yet been fully reclaimed by the trans community.

This may be the most honest memoir you will ever read. Also, LGJ is flawless on stage - born to play the guitar for a crowd of screaming fans. She is also the author of one of my all time favorite albums: New Wave by Against Me!

Grace, Laura Jane. (2016). Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Sellout. New York: Hatchet Books.

21 September 2015

Honor Girl

Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash is an autobiographical graphic novel of the summer she figured out that she likes girls - and the first girl she loved.

Maggie spent every summer at Camp Bellflower for Girls in Appalachia. Most of the other girls at the camp are from Kentucky, but her parents drive her from Atlanta. Her mother and her grandmother went to Camp Bellflower and Maggie is sure that nothing has changed in the entire history of the camp.

Each morning the girls start their day with a Civil War reenactment, where they yell Gray and Blue at each other for twenty minutes. The girls are separated by age and choose activities for the summer. Maggie is improving her shooting skills and is one of two girls competing for an award.

Maggie is joined by a cast of girls, from her best friend Shannon, to her new friend Tennis Bethany, to her first love Erin, in this lovely coming out story. Thrash tells her story with wit and sensitivity. Though it has a different feel, fans of Alison Bechdel's Fun Home will delight this novel.

Thrash, Maggie. (2015). Honor Girl. New York: Candlewick Press.

02 August 2012

Wild

Wild by Cheryl Strayed is the story on one woman's trek up the Pacific Crest Trail from Mohave, California to just outside of Portland, Oregon.

Strayed tells her story of a life that has fallen apart due to her mother's death and then spiraled out of control until she had to do something to change it. That something came from a book she saw while in line at an outdoor store - a book on hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, part 1: California.

Though Strayed had never been backpacking, the idea slowly grew in her head. And four years after her mother's death, she flew to Mohave, California with a giant backpack she named Monster, two bags of gear she somehow needed to fit inside Monster, and the book that had set her on this path.

What follows is a touching, raw, and sometimes laugh-out-loud journey of learning to walk in the woods while being striped down to the essence of her self and becoming the person she is today.

While the book is full of pain - from too small boots that steal toenails, to recovering from a devastating loss - reader's will consider a backpacking trip of their own before completing the book - I am thinking the 10-day hike across Ireland (from Dublin to Dingle) for myself.

Strayed, Cheryl. (2012). Wild. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

26 May 2011

The Choosing

The Choosing: A Rabbi's Journey from Silent Nights to High Holy Days by Andrea Myers is the story of her conversion to Judaism and path to becoming a rabbi.

At times The Choosing is as funny as David Sedaris's Naked. Filled with humorous, sometimes painful memories of family, Andrea has chosen moments in her life that make her the person she is today. Throughout all the stories, the love her family feels for her is evident in their actions.

In the style of rabbis since the beginning of the written word, Rabbi Myers brings events in her life back to the traditions and meanings within Judaism. The Choosing will show a different perspective on holidays - one that can only be achieved by a mixing of cultures - from the Hanukah stockings on the fireplace, to the stealing of chickens on Rosh Hashanah - readers will be entertained, educated, and inspired by the honest, sometimes raw, descriptions and stories.

Myers, Andrea. (2011). The Choosing: A Rabbi's Journey from Silent Nights to High Holy Days. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

09 April 2010

Kingston by Starlight

Kingston by Starlight by Christopher John Farley is a fictionalized account of the famous Irish pirate Anne Bonny and her shipmates Calico Jack and Read.

Anne Bonny, one of the most famous female pirates, joined a privateer ship disguised as a man named Bonn. She sailed under Captain Jack Rackman, known as Calico Jack. Their ship was infamous in the waters around Jamaica.

Beautifully written, Farley creates a story where gender is fluid, mystery and adventure reign, and Bonn's life unfolds as a heroic man and a passionate woman intent to live life to the fullest in spite of the societal norms of the day. Kingston by Starlight is an excellent pirate story as well as a tender account of the path of one's heart.

This book reminds me some of the writing of Anne-Marie MacDonnald and the stories of Ellen Kushner.

Farley, Christopher John. (2005). Kingston by Starlight. New York: Three Rivers Press.

12 September 2008

The Lady Rode Bucking Horses: The Story of Fannie Sperry Steele, Woman of the West

The Lady Rode Bucking Horses by Dee Marvine is the biography of Fannie Sperry Steele, honoree of the Cowboy Hall of Fame.

Fannie Amanda Sperry was born in March of 1887 in the Montana Territory, the fourth of five children. Possibly due to the fact that her father had a medical condition that kept him off of horseback Fannie's mother and all five children became excellent riders.

Fannie was five when she was given her own horse, and caught and broke her first wild horse when she was barely a teenager. She rode in her first bucking horse contest (not yet called a rodeo) at a local fair when she was fourteen. That first ride started a career that led her to the title Lady Bucking-Horse Champion of the World - first crowned at the Calgary Stampede in 1912 (now the largest rodeo event in North America).

Marvine's book details a fascinating story of a strong, brave woman who loved horses. It is a great read that captures a unique perspective of history.

One sentence review: This compelling biography of a little known American legend follows Fanny Sperry Steele from birth in the mountains of the Montana Territory in 1887 to her first bucking horse competition at the age of fourteen to her crowning at Lady Bucking Horse Champion of the World.

Marvine, Dee. (2005). The Lady Rode Bucking Horses. Guildford, CT: TwoDot.

25 March 2007

Fun Home

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic is Alison Bechdel's memoir. This is the only graphic novel I have ever read other than Maus by Art Spiegelman. I know of Alison's Dykes to Watch Out For comic. But I had never read it. The only comic I ever read with any consistency was Life In Hell.

I have to say that even in comic form, Alison Bechdel has a way with words. She conveys what she is trying to say through the text as much as through her illustrations.

Bechdel, Alison. (2006). Fun Home: A family tragicomic. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co.

21 February 2007

naked

Naked by David Sedaris is outrageously funny. It is a great book to read out loud (if you can stop laughing enough to continue).

Naked is a memoir, sort of. I would have to guess that it is an exaggerated memoir with some embellishment thrown in. I don't even know what to say about it. He makes fun of his family and himself, usually a theme I wouldn't find all that funny. But, like South Park, he picks on everyone so thoroughly it doesn't seem biased or offensive.

I don't know; somehow it just works. Check it out.

Sedaris, David. (1997). Naked. Boston: Back Bay Books.