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The Best New Biographies and Memoirs to Read in 2024

This year sees some riveting and remarkable lives—from artist ai weiwei to singer-songwriter joni mitchell—captured on the page..

A life story can be read for escapist pleasure. But at other times, reading a memoir or biography can be an expansive exercise, opening us up to broader truths about our world. Often, it’s an edifying experience that reminds us of our universal human vulnerability and the common quest for purpose in life.

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Biographies and memoirs charting remarkable lives—whether because of fame, fortune or simply fascination—have the power to inspire us for their depth, curiosity or challenges. This year sees a bumper calendar of personal histories enter bookshops, grappling with enigmatic public figures like singer Joni Mitchell and writer Ian Fleming , to nuanced analysis of how motherhood or sociopathy shape our lives—for better and for worse.

SEE ALSO: The Best Addiction Memoirs for the Sober Curious

Here we compile some of the most rewarding biographies and memoirs out in 2024. There are stories of trauma and recovery, art as politics and politics as art, and sentences as single life lessons spread across books that will make you rethink much about personal life stories. After all, understanding the triumphs and trials of others can help us see how we can change our own lives to create something different or even better.

Zodiac: A Graphic Memoir by Ai Weiwei and illustrated by Gianluca Costantini

Ai Weiwei , the iconoclastic artist and fierce critic of his homeland China, mixes fairy tales with moral lessons to evocatively retrace the story of his life in graphic form. Illustrations are by Italian artist Gianluca Costantini . “Any artist who isn’t an activist is a dead artist,” Weiwei writes in Zodiac , as he embraces everything from animals found in the Chinese zodiac to mystical folklore tales with anamorphic animals to argue the necessity of art as politics incarnate. The meditative exercise uses pithy anecdotes alongside striking visuals to sketch out a remarkable life story marked by struggle. It’s one weaving political manifesto, philosophy and personal memoir to engage readers on the necessity of art and agitation against authority in a world where we sometimes must resist and fight back.

Alphabetical Diaries by Sheila Heti

Already well-known for her experimental writings, Sheila Heti takes a decade of diary entries and maps sentences against the alphabet, from A to Z. The project is a subversive rethink of our relationship to introspection—which often asks for order and clarity, like in diary writing—that maps new patterns and themes in its disjointed form. Heti plays with both her confessionals and her sometimes formulaic writing style (like knowingly using “Of course” in entries) to retrace the changes made (and unmade) across ten years of her life. Alphabetical Diaries is a sometimes demanding book given the incoherence of its entries, but remains an illuminating project in thinking about efforts at self-documentation.

Splinters: Another Kind of Love Story by Leslie Jamison

Unlike her previous work The Empathy Exams , which examined how we relate to one another and on human suffering, writer Leslie Jamison wrestles today with her own failed marriage and the grief of surviving single parenting. After the birth of her daughter, Jamison divorces her partner “C,” traverses the trials and tribulations of rebound relationships (including with “an ex-philosopher”) and confronts unresolved emotional pains born of her own life living under the divorce of her parents. In her intimate retelling—paired with her superb prose—Jamison charts a personal history that acknowledges the unending divide mothers (and others) face dividing themselves between partners, children and their own lives.

Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring by Brad Gooch

Whether dancing figures or a “radiant baby,” the recognizable cartoonish symbols in Keith Haring ’s art endure today as shorthand signs representing both his playfulness and politicking. Haring (1958-1990) is the subject of writer Brad Gooch ’s deft biography, Radiant , a book that mines new material from the archive along with interviews with contemporaries to reappraise the influential quasi-celebrity artist. From rough beginnings tagging graffiti on New York City walls to cavorting with Andy Warhol and Madonna on art pieces, Haring battled everything from claims of selling out to over-simplicity. But he persisted with work that leveraged catchy quotes and colorful imagery to advance unsavory political messages—from AIDS to crack cocaine. A life tragically cut short at 31 is one powerfully celebrated in this new noble portrait.

The House of Hidden Meanings by RuPaul Charles

In The House of Hidden Meaning , celebrated drag queen, RuPaul , reckons with a murky inner world that has shaped—and hindered—a lifetime of gender-bending theatricality. The figurative house at the center of the story is his “ego,” a plaguing barrier that apparently long inhibited the performer from realizing dreams of greatness. Now as the world’s most recognizable drag queen—having popularized the art form for mainstream audiences with the TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race —RuPaul reflects on the power that drag and self-love have long offered across his difficult, and sometimes tortured, life. Readers expecting dishy stories may be disappointed, but the psychological self-assessment in the pages of this memoir is far more edifying than Hollywood gossip could ever be.

Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne

Patric Gagne is an unlikely subject for a memoir on sociopaths. Especially since she is a former therapist with a doctorate in clinical psychology. Still, Gagne makes the case that after a troubled childhood of antisocial behavior (like stealing trinkets and cursing teachers) and a difficult adulthood (now stealing credit cards and fighting authority figures), she receives a diagnosis of sociopathy. Her memoir recounts many episodes of bad behavior—deeds often marked by a lack of empathy, guilt or even common decency—where her great antipathy mars any ability for her to connect with others. Sociopath is a rewarding personal exposé that demystifies one vilified psychological condition so often seen as entirely untreatable or irreparable. Only now there’s a familiar face and a real story linked to the prognosis.

Ian Fleming: The Complete Man by Nicholas Shakespeare

Nicholas Shakespeare is an acclaimed novelist and an astute biographer, delivering tales that wield a discerning eye to subjects and embrace a robust attention to detail. Ian Fleming (1908-1964), the legendary creator of James Bond, is the latest to receive Shakespeare’s treatment. With access to new family materials from the Fleming estate, the seemingly contradictory Fleming is seen anew as a totally “different person” from his popular image. Taking cues from Fleming’s life story—from a refined upbringing spent in expensive private schools to working for Reuters as a journalist in the Soviet Union—Shakespeare reveals how these experiences shaped the elusive world of espionage and intrigue created in Fleming’s novels. Other insights include how Bond was likely informed by Fleming’s cavalier father, a major who fought in WWI. A martini (shaken, not stirred) is best enjoyed with this bio.

Knife: Meditations after an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie

Salman Rushdie , while giving a rare public lecture in New York in August 2022, was violently stabbed by an assailant brandishing a knife . The attack saw Rushdie lose his left hand and his sight in one eye. Speaking to The New Yorker a year later , he confirmed a memoir was in the works that would confront this harrowing existential experience: “When somebody sticks a knife into you, that’s a first-person story. That’s an ‘I’ story.” Knife: Meditations after an Attempted Murder is promised to be his raw, revelatory and deeply psychological confrontation with the violent incident. Like the sword of Damocles, brutality has long stalked Rushdie ever since the 1989 fatwa issued against the author, following the publication of his controversial novel, The Satanic Verses . The answer to such barbarity, Rushdie is poised to argue, is by finding the strength to stand up again.

The Art of Dying: Writings, 2019–2022 by Peter Schjeldahl (Release: May 14)

Peter Schjeldahl (1942-2022), longstanding art critic of The New Yorker , confronted his mortality when he was diagnosed with incurable lung cancer in 2019. The resulting essay collection he then penned, The Art of Dying , is a masterful meditation on one life preoccupied entirely with aesthetics and criticism. It’s a discursive tactic for a memoir that avoids discussing Schjeldahl’s coming demise while equally confirming its impending visit by avoiding it. Acknowledging that he finds himself “thinking about death less than I used to,” Schjeldahl spends most of the pages revisiting familiar art subjects—from Edward Hopper ’s output to Peter Saul ’s Pop Art—as vehicles to re-examine his own remarkable life. With a life that began in the humble Midwest, Schjeldahl says his birthplace was one that ultimately availed him to write so plainly and cogently on art throughout his career. Such posthumous musings prove illuminating lessons on the potency of American art, with whispered asides on the tragedy of death that will come for all of us.

Traveling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell by Ann Powers (Release: June 11)

Joni Mitchell has enjoyed a remarkable revival recently, even already being one of the most acclaimed and enduring singer/songwriters. After retiring from public appearances for health reasons in the 2010s, Mitchell, 80, has returned to the spotlight with a 2021 Kennedy Centers honor , an appearance accepting the 2023 Gershwin Prize and even a live performance at this year’s Grammy Awards . It’s against this backdrop of public celebration of Mitchell that NPR music critic Ann Powers retraces the life story and musical (re)evolution of the singer, from folk to jazz genres and rock to soul music, across five decades for the American songbook. “What you are about to read is not a standard account of the life and work of Joni Mitchell,” she writes in the introduction. Instead, Powers’ project is one showing how Mitchell’s many journeys—from literal road trips inspiring tracks like “All I Want” to inner probings of Mitchell’s psyche, such as the song “Both Sides Now”—have always inspired Mitchell’s enduring, emotive and palpable output. These travels hold the key, Powers says, to understanding an enigmatic artist.

• SEE ALSO : Will Keen On Playing Vladimir Putin On Broadway in ‘Patriots’

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The Best New Biographies of 2023

CJ Connor is a cozy mystery and romance writer whose main goal in life is to make their dog proud. They are a Pitch Wars alumnus and an Author Mentor Match R9 mentor. Their debut mystery novel BOARD TO DEATH is forthcoming from Kensington Books. Twitter: @cjconnorwrites | cjconnorwrites.com

View All posts by CJ Connor

Read on to discover nine of the best biographies published within the last year. Included are life stories of singular people, including celebrated artists and significant historical figures, as well as collective biographies.

The books included in this list have all been released as of writing, but biography lovers still have plenty to look forward to before the year is out. A few to keep your eye out for in the coming months:

• The World According to Joan Didion by Evelyn McDonnell (HarperOne, September 26)
• Einstein in Time and Space by Samuel Graydon (Scribner, November 14)
• Overlooked: A Celebration of Remarkable, Underappreciated People Who Broke the Rules and Changed the World by Amisha Padnani (Penguin Random House, November 14).

Without further ado, here are the best biographies of 2023 so far!

Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo

Ellen and William Craft were a Black married couple who freed themselves from slavery in 1848 by disguising themselves as a traveling white man and an enslaved person. Author Ilyon Woo recounts their thousand-mile journey to seek safety in the North and their escape from the United States in the months following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act.

The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel

Written over a period of 11 years with exclusive journalistic access to the subject, author Michael Finkel explores the motivations, heists, and repercussions faced by the notorious and prolific art thief Stéphane Breitwieser. Of special focus is his relationship with his girlfriend and accomplice, Anne-Catherine Kleinklaus.

King: A Life by Jonathan Eig

While recently published, King: A Life is already considered to be the most well-researched biography of Civil Rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. published in decades. New York Times bestselling journalist Jonathan Eig explores the life and legacy of Dr. King through thousands of historical records, including recently declassified FBI documents.

Why Willie Mae Thornton Matters by Lynnée Denise

This biography is part of the Why Music Matters series from the University of Texas. It reflects on the legendary blues singer’s life through an essay collection in which the author (also an accomplished musician) seeks to recreate the feeling of browsing through a box of records.

Young Queens: Three Renaissance Women and the Price of Power by Leah Redmond Chang

Historian Leah Redmond Chang’s latest book release focuses on three aristocratic women in Renaissance Europe: Catherine de’ Medici, Elizabeth de Valois, and Mary, Queen of Scots. As a specific focus, she examines the juxtaposition between the immense power they wielded and yet the ways they remained vulnerable to the patriarchal, misogynistic societies in which they existed.

Daughter of the Dragon: Anna May Wong’s Rendezvous with American History by Yunte Huang

Anna May Wong was a 20th-century actress who found great acclaim while still facing discrimination and typecasting as a Chinese woman. University of California professor Yunte Huang explores her life and impact on the American film industry and challenges racist depictions of her in accounts of Hollywood history in this thought-provoking biography.

Twice as Hard: The Stories of Black Women Who Fought to Become Physicians, from the Civil War to the 21st Century by Jasmine Brown

Written by Rhodes Scholar and University of Pennsylvania medical student Jasmine Brown, this collective biography shares the experiences and accomplishments of nine Black women physicians in U.S. history — including Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the first Black American woman to earn a medical degree in the 1860s, and Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders.

Larry McMurtry: A Life by Tracy Daugherty

Two years after the Pulitzer Prize-winning author’s death, this biography presents a comprehensive history of Larry McMurtry’s life and legacy as one of the most acclaimed Western writers of all time.

The Kneeling Man: My Father’s Life as a Black Spy Who Witnessed the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. by Leta McCollough Seletzky

Journalist Leta McCollough Seletzky examines her father, Marrell “Mac” McCollough’s complicated legacy as a Black undercover cop and later a member of the CIA. In particular, she shares his account as a witness of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel.

Are you a history buff looking for more recommendations? Try these.

• Best History Books by Era
• Books for a More Inclusive Look at American History
• Fascinating Food History Books

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Make Your Own List

Best Biographies

The best biographies of 2023: the national book critics circle shortlist, recommended by elizabeth taylor.

Winner of the 2023 NBCC biography prize

G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century by Beverly Gage

Talented biographers examine the interplay between individual qualities and greater social forces, explains Elizabeth Taylor —chair of the judges for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle award for biography. Here, she offers us an overview of their five-book shortlist, including a garlanded account of the life of J. Edgar Hoover and a group biography of post-war female philosophers.

Interview by Cal Flyn , Deputy Editor

The Grimkés: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family by Kerri K. Greenidge

Mr. B: George Balanchine’s Twentieth Century by Jennifer Homans

Metaphysical Animals: How Four Women Brought Philosophy Back to Life by Clare Mac Cumhaill & Rachael Wiseman

Up from the Depths: Herman Melville, Lewis Mumford, and Rediscovery in Dark Times by Aaron Sachs

1 G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century by Beverly Gage

2 the grimkés: the legacy of slavery in an american family by kerri k. greenidge, 3 mr. b: george balanchine’s twentieth century by jennifer homans, 4 metaphysical animals: how four women brought philosophy back to life by clare mac cumhaill & rachael wiseman, 5 up from the depths: herman melville, lewis mumford, and rediscovery in dark times by aaron sachs.

I t’s a pleasure to have you back , Elizabeth—this time to discuss the National Book Critics Circle’s 2023 biography shortlist. You’ve been chair of the judging panel for a while, so you’re in a great position to tell us whether it has been a good year for biography.

That comes through in the shortlist, I think. There’s a real range here. I think any reader is bound to find something to appeal to their tastes.

Shaping a shortlist seems quite like arranging a bouquet. A clutch of peony, begonia, or orchid stems…each may be lovely, an exemplar in its own way. We aspire to assemble a glorious arrangement—a quintet of blooms that reflect the wildly varied human experiences represented in the verdant garden of biography.

Let’s talk about G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century first, then, shall we? It is your 2023 winner of the NBCC’s prize for best biography; it also won a Pulitzer Prize . It’s also, and correct me if I’m wrong, the most traditional of the biographies that made the list.

G-Man is traditional in as much as Beverly Gage captures the full sweep of Hoover’s life, cradle to grave: 1895 to 1972. In that way, structurally G-Man sits aside the epics of David McCullough ( Truman , John Adams ) and Ron Chernow ( Grant , Alexander Hamilton ).

Unlike those valorized national leaders, Hoover answered to no voters. The quintessential ‘Government Man,’ a counselor and advisor to eight U.S. presidents , of both political parties, he was one of the most powerful, unelected government officials in history. He reigned over the Federal Bureau of Investigations from 1924 to 1972. Hoover began as a young reformer and—as he accrued power—was simultaneously loathed and admired. Through Hoover, Gage skilfully guides readers through the full arc of 20th-century America, and contends: “We cannot know our own story without understanding his.”

In G-Man , Yale University professor Gage untangles the contradictions in Hoover’s aspirations and cruelty, and locates the paradoxical American story of tensions and anxieties over security, masculinity, and race.

“This year, many biographies were deeply rooted in American soil that required years of research to till”

Hoover lived his entire life in Washington D.C., and Gage entwines his story in the city’s evolution into a global power center and delves deeply into the dark childhood that led him to remain there for college. Critical to understanding Hoover, Gage demonstrates, was his embrace of the Kappa Alpha fraternity; its worldview was informed by Robert E. Lee and the ‘Lost Cause’ of the South , in which racial equality was unacceptable. He shaped the F.B.I. in his image and recruited Kappa Alpha men to the Bureau.

For Hoover, Gage writes, Kappa Alpha was a way to measure character, political sympathies, and, of course, loyalty. One of those men was Clyde Tolson, and Gage documents their trips to nightclubs, the racetrack, vacations, and White House receptions. Hoover did not acknowledge that he and Tolson were a couple, but in the end their separate burial plots were a few yards from one another.

While Hoover feels very much alive on the page, Gage captures the full sweep of American history, chronicling events from the hyper-nationalism of the early part of the century, moving into the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., making use of newly unclassified documents. When Hoover’s F.B.I. targeted Nazis and gangsters, there was clarity about good guys and bad guys. But by the mid-century, as the nation began to fracture, he regarded calls for peace and justice as threats to national security. Among the abuses of power committed by Hoover’s F.B.I., for instance, was the wiretapping and harassment of King.

Beyond Hoover’s malfeasance, Gage emphasizes that Hoover was no maverick. He tapped into a dark part of the national psyche and had public opinion on his side. Through Hoover, Americans could see themselves, and, as Gage argues, “what we valued and refused to see.”

A biography like this does make you realize how deeply world events might be impacted or even partially predicted by the family background or the personalities of a small number of key individuals.

We should step through the rest of the books on your 2023 biography shortlist. Let’s start with Kerri K. Greenidge’s The Grimkés: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family , which is the story not only of the Grimké Sisters Sarah and Angelina, two well-known abolitionists, but Black members of their family as well.

I was eager to read The Grimkés as I had admired Greenidge’s earlier biography, Black Radical , about Boston civil rights leader and abolitionist newspaper editor William Monroe Trotter. Greenidge, a professor at Tufts University, brings her unique, perceptive eye to African American civil rights in the North.

Now Greenidge’s The Grimkés sits on my bookshelf next to The Hemingses of Monticello , the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Annette Gordon-Reed who exposed the contradictions of one of the most venerated figures in American history, Thomas Jefferson. In the Grimke family, Greenidge has found a gnarled family tree, deeply rooted in generations of trauma.

Sisters Sarah and Angelina Grimke have been exalted as brave heroines who defied antebellum Southern piety and headed northward to embrace abolition. Greenridge makes the powerful case that, in clinging to this mythology, a more troubling story is obscured. In the North, as the Grimké sisters lived comfortably and agitated for change, they enjoyed the financial benefits of their slaveholding family in South Carolina.

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After the Civil War, they learned that their brute of a brother had fathered at least two sons with a woman whom he had enslaved. The sisters provided some financial assistance in the education of these two young men, one attended Harvard Law School and the other Princeton Divinity School—and did not let their nephews forget it.

Not only does Greenidge provide a revisionist history of the Grimke sisters, but she also takes account of the full Grimké family and extends their story beyond the 19th century. She delves into the dynamics of racial subordination and how free white men who conceive children — whether from rape or a relationship spanning decades with enslaved women—destroy families. Generations of children are haunted by this history.  Poignantly, Greenidge evokes the life and work of the sisters’ grandniece Angelina (‘Nana’) Weld Grimké , a talented—and troubled—queer playwright and poet, who carried the heavy weight of the generational trauma she inherited.

This sounds like a family saga of the kind you might be more likely to find in fiction.

Let’s turn to Mr B . : George Balanchine’s 20th Century by Jennifer Homans, the story of the noted choreographer. Why did this make your shortlist of the best biographies of 2023?

The perfect match of biographer and subject! A dancer who trained with Balanchine’s School of American Ballet in New York and is now dance critic for The New Yorker, Homans has written a biography of the man known as ‘the Shakespeare of Dance.’ In felicitous prose, Homans channels the dancer’s experience onto the page, from the body movements that can produce such beauty to the aching tendons and ligaments. Training is transformation, Homan writes, and working with Balanchine was a kind of metamorphosis tangled with pain. She evokes the dances so vividly that one can almost hear the music.

“At the heart of biography is the quest to understand the interplay between individual and social forces”

Homans captures Balanchine in a constant state of reinvention, tracing his life from Czarist Russia to Weimar Berlin , finally making his way to post-war New York where he revitalized the world of ballet by embracing modernish, founding New York City Ballet in 1948. Balanchine was genius whose personal history shape-shifted over the years. Homans grounds Mr. B in more than a hundred interviews, and draws from archives around the world.

Homans captures Balanchine’s charisma and cultural importance, but Mr. B. is no hagiography. Homans grasps the knot of sex and power over women used in his work. He married four times, always to dancers. They were all the same kind of swan-necked, long-waisted, long-limbed women, and although Homans does not write this, his company often sounds more like a cult than art.

And, of course, there is the matter of weight, which Homans dealt with directly, as did Balanchine. He posted a sign: ‘BEFORE YOU GET YOUR PAY—YOU MUST WEIGH.’

I don’t think I’ve ever considered reading a ballet biography before, but it sounds fascinating.

The next book on the NBCC’s 2023 biography shortlist brings us to Oxford, England. This is Metaphysical Animals: How Four Women Brought Philosophy Back to Life by Clare Mac Cumhaill and Rachael Wiseman.

At the outset of World War II , a quartet of young women, Oxford students—Elizabeth Anscombe, Iris Murdoch, Philippa Foot, and Mary Midgley—were “bored of listening to men talk about books by men about men,” as Mac Cumhaill, a Durham University professor, and Wiseman, a lecturer at the University of Liverpool, write. In their marvelous group biography, MacCumhaill and Wiseman vivify how the friendships of these women congealed to bring “philosophy back to life.”

As their male counterparts departed for the front lines, this brilliant group of women came together in their dining halls and shared lodging quarters to challenge the thinking of their male colleagues. In the shadows of the Holocaust and Hiroshima, these friends rejected the logical positivists who favoured empirical scientific questions. They didn’t really create a distinct philosophical approach as much as they shared an interest in the metaphysics of morals.

Brilliant. A book that is ostensibly ‘improving’ but which turns out to be absolutely chock-full of gossip sounds perfect to me. Let’s move on to the fourth book on the NBCC’s 2023 biography shortlist, which is Up from the Depths: Herman Melville, Lewis Mumford, and Rediscovery in Dark Times by Aaron Sachs.

A biography about writing biography ! Very meta, and very much in the interdisciplinary tradition of American Studies. In his gorgeous braid of cultural history, Cornell University professor Sachs   entwines the lives and work of poet and fiction writer Herman Melville (1819-1891) and the philosopher and literary critic Lewis Mumford (1895-1990), illuminating their coextending concerns about their worlds in crisis.

While Melville is now firmly ensconced in the American canon, most appreciation and respect for him was posthumous. The 20th-century Melville revival was largely sparked by a now overlooked Mumford, once so prominent that he appeared on a 1936 Time  magazine cover.

Sachs brilliantly provides the connective tissue between Melville and his biographer Mumford so that these writers seem to be in conversation with one another, both deeply affected by their dark times.

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As Mumford grappled with tragedies wrought by World War I, the 1918 flu pandemic and urban decay, Melville had dealt with the bloody Civil War , slavery , and industrialization. In a certain way, this book is about the art of biography itself, two writers wrestling with modernity in a bleak world. In delving into Melville’s angst, Mumford was thrust into great turmoil. Sachs evokes so clearly and painfully this bond that almost did Mumford in, and writes that “Melville, it turns out, was Mumford’s white whale.”

There’s a real sense of range in this shortlist. But do you get a sense of there being certain trends in biography as a genre in 2023?

In many ways, this is a golden era for biography. There are fewer dull but worthy books, more capacious and improvisational ones. More series of short biographies that pack a big punch. We see more group biographies and illustrated biographies. But just as figures and groups once considered marginal are being centered, records that document those lives are vanishing.

The crisis in local news and the homogenization of national and international news will soon be a crisis for biographers and historians. Where would historians be without the ‘slave narratives’ from the Federal Writers Project , or the Federal Theatre Project ? Reconstruction of public events—federal elections, national tragedies, and so on—may be possible, but we lose that wide spectrum of human experience. We need to preserve these artifacts and responses to events as they happen. Biographies are time-consuming labors of love and passion, and are often expensive to produce. We need to ensure that we are generating and saving the emails, the records, the to-do lists of ordinary life.

The affluent among us will always be able to commission histories of their companies or families, but are those the only ones that will endure?

June 30, 2023

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Elizabeth Taylor

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Spring 2023 Announcements: Memoirs & Biographies

While this season’s titles focus largely on identity, fans of celebrity memoirs have offerings from Paris Hilton and Elliot Page, among others, to look forward to.

Beyond This Harbor: Adventurous Tales of Heart and Home

Rose Styron. Knopf, June 13 ($32, ISBN 978-0-525-65902-0)

Poet, journalist, and Amnesty International USA cofounder Styron reflects on her marriage to Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist William Styron and their shared literary life.

King: A Life

Jonathan Eig. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, May 16 ($35, ISBN 978-0-374-27929-5)

Journalist and PEN/ESPN Award winner Eig takes an in-depth look at the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and his lasting impact on social justice and American history. 100,000-copy announced first printing.

A Living Remedy: A Memoir

Nicole Chung. Ecco, Apr. 4 ($28.99, ISBN 978-0-063-03161-6)

Chung recounts her father’s death from kidney disease, her mother’s cancer diagnosis, and the complicated bonds between a daughter and her adoptive parents. 75,000-copy announced first printing.

Pageboy: A Memoir

Elliot Page. Flatiron, June 6 ($29.99, ISBN 978-1-250-87835-9)

Umbrella Academy star Page opens up about coming out as transgender, his personal relationships, and his experiences in Hollywood. 750,000-copy announced first printing.

Paris: The Memoir

Paris Hilton. Dey Street, Mar. 21 ($29.99, ISBN 978-0-063-22462-9)

Socialite Hilton reveals the woman behind the carefully crafted public persona. 200,000-copy announced first printing.

A Renaissance of Our Own: A Memoir & Manifesto on Reimagining

Rachel Elizabeth Cargle. Ballantine, May 16 ($28.99, ISBN 978-0-593-13473-3)

Activist and The Cut contributor Cargle crafts a guide to personal transformation that doubles as a toolkit for cultural liberation.

Sink: A Memoir

Joseph Earl Thomas. Grand Central, Feb. 21 ($28, ISBN 978-1-538-70617-6)

Thomas details growing up in a dysfunctional, abusive family and plunging headfirst into the world of geek culture to escape his grim environment.

True West: Sam Shepard’s Life, Work, and Times

Robert Greenfield. Crown, Apr. 11 ($30, ISBN 978-0-525-57595-5)

Former Rolling Stone editor Greenfield examines the meteoric rise of actor and playwright Sam Shepard, along with his relationships with pop culture trailblazers.

Women We Buried, Women We Burned: A Memoir

Rachel Louise Snyder. Bloomsbury, Mar. 7 ($29, ISBN 978-1-635-57912-3)

Guggenheim Fellow Snyder chronicles her path from being a teenage runaway to a globe-trotting reporter determined to amplify the voices of those who are ignored or silenced. 100,000-copy announced first printing.

You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir

Maggie Smith. One Signal, Apr. 11 ($28, ISBN 978-1-982-18585-5)

Poet Smith recounts the breakdown of her marriage and her struggle to reach a place of self-forgiveness.

Memoirs & Biographies Listings

Abrams Image

Boyslut: A Memoir and Manifesto by Zachary Zane (May 9, $26, ISBN 978-1-4197-6471-4). Sex and relationship columnist Zane mines his experiences as a bisexual man in essays that deconstruct conventions and stigmas attached to sex, sexual identity, and relationships.

Leg: The Story of a Limb and the Boy Who Grew from It by Greg Marshall (June 13, $28, ISBN 978-1-4197-6360-1). Marshall recalls his Utah childhood and how he has navigated adulthood as a gay man with cerebral palsy.

Toxic: The Story of Nine Famous Women in the Tabloid 2000s by Sarah Ditum (July 25, $27, ISBN 978-1-4197-6311-3) examines the misogynistic celebrity culture of the 2000s and some of the women who were mistreated by the media.

Forager: Field Notes for Surviving a Family Cult: A Memoir by Michelle Dowd (Mar. 7, $28, ISBN 978-1-64375-185-6). Journalism professor Dowd recalls growing up in an apocalyptic cult founded by her grandfather, and how she gathered the courage to escape.

Top Billin’: Stories of Laughter, Lessons, and Triumph by Bill Bellamy (Apr. 25, $27.99, ISBN 978-0-06-323762-9). The actor and former MTV VJ offers a no-holds-barred look at his time at MTV in the 1990s. 100,000-copy announced first printing.

Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America by Abraham Riesman (Mar. 28, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-982169-44-2) chronicles the ascent of former WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, from his impoverished Southern youth to his reign as a billionaire businessman and champion of the Republican Party.

Black Ball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood, and the Generation That Saved the Soul of the NBA by Theresa Runstedtler (Mar. 7, $29, ISBN 978-1-64503-695-1) offers an “illuminating” reappraisal of the world of 1970s professional basketball, according to PW ’s starred review, that foregrounds the racial equality and social justice efforts of Black players.

Breakup: A Marriage in Wartime by Anjan Sundaram (Apr. 11, $26, ISBN 978-1-64622-115-8). Journalist Sundaram takes stock of the physical, mental, and emotional toll of war reportage as he grapples with his responsibilities as a husband and a father to a newborn.

Coffee House

In Vitro: On Longing and Transformation by Isabel Zapata, trans. by Robin Myers (May 9, $16.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-56689-675-7), ruminates on motherhood, pregnancy, and in vitro fertilization.

Counterpoint

Life B: Overcoming Double Depression by Bethanne Patrick (May 16, $26, ISBN 978-1-64009-129-0). Expanding on an article published on Elle.com , Patrick excavates her maternal family history to understand how mental illness and trauma have shaped her identity.

When the World Didn’t End: A Memoir by Guinevere Turner (May 23, $28, ISBN 978-0-593-23759-5) describes how growing up in the Lyman Family cult irrevocably altered Turner’s idea of home and shattered her fragile understanding of the world.

Earth to Moon: A Memoir by Moon Unit Zappa (May 9, $28.99, ISBN 978-0-06-311334-3). The daughter of musician Frank Zappa recounts a whirlwind coming-of-age in 1980s California and forging a sense of self free from her father’s celebrity.

Pat in the City: My Life of Fashion, Style, and Breaking All the Rules by Patricia Field (Feb. 14, $35, ISBN 978-0-06-304832-4). “Costume designer Field makes a sparkling debut with this recollection of her influential career,” according to PW ’s review.

Choosing to Run: A Memoir by Des Linden (Apr. 4, $28, ISBN 978-0-593-18664-0). Two-time Olympian and 2018 Boston Marathon winner Linden details the highs and lows of being a professional athlete and offers words of encouragement to help tackle life’s challenges.

A Life of One’s Own: Nine Women Writers Begin Again by Joanna Biggs (May 9, $28.99, ISBN 978-0-06-307310-4) combines memoir, criticism, and biography to explore the lives and works of nine influential women writers.

Twentieth-Century Man: The Wild Life of Peter Beard by Christopher Wallace (July 4, $29.99, ISBN 978-0-06-306641-0) provides a warts-and-all biography of naturalist and wildlife photographer Peter Beard, whose passion for adventure matched his thirst for decadence.

Grand Central

Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother & Daughter Ponder Life’s Big Questions by Laura Dern and Diane Ladd (Apr. 25, $30, ISBN 978-1-5387-2037-0). Academy Award–winning actor Dern and her mother, BAFTA-winning actor Ladd, reflect on life and their relationship. 500,000-copy announced first printing.

Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain by Andrew McCarthy (May 9, $28, ISBN 978-1-5387-0920-7). Former Brat Pack member McCarthy details his trek with his eldest son across Spain’s Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route. 100,000-copy announced first printing.

Orphan Bachelors by Fae Myenne Ng (May 9, $28, ISBN 978-0-8021-6221-2) examines the 1882 Exclusion Act and the immigration service’s mid-20th-century Confession Program, and how they shaped her family’s history and life in San Francisco.

Belonging: A Daughter’s Search for Identity Through Love and Loss by Michelle Miller (Mar. 14, $27.99, ISBN 978-0-06-322043-0). CBS journalist Miller details her search for her birth mother, a white-passing Chicana hospital worker who had an affair with Miller’s Black doctor father. 60,000-copy announced first printing.

The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag by Sasha Velour (Apr. 4, $35, ISBN 978-0-358-50808-3) traces the cultural evolution of drag and its ability to serve as both artistic expression and collective activism. 75,000-copy announced first printing.

Chita: A Memoir by Chita Rivera (Apr. 25, $27.99, ISBN 978-0-06-322679-1). Three-time Tony Award–winning actor Rivera recounts the challenges she overcame during her life and career.

Directions to Myself: A Memoir of Four Years by Heidi Julavits (June 27, $27, ISBN 978-0-451-49851-9). The founding editor of The Believer contemplates how to prepare her young son for life’s disappointments and heartaches while reflecting on her childhood in Maine.

Through the Groves: A Memoir by Anne Hull (June 20, $26.99, ISBN 978-0-8050-9337-7). Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Hull recalls her childhood in 1960s Florida, her parents’ dysfunctional marriage, and the growing pains of girlhood.

We Are Too Many: A Memoir [Kind Of] by Hannah Pittard (May 2, $26.99, ISBN 978-1-250-86904-3) puts a magnifying glass on the author’s marriage, which ended after her husband had an affair with her best friend.

Winnie and Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage by Jonny Steinberg (May 2, $35, ISBN 978-0-525-65685-2) offers a portrait of the marriage between former South African president Nelson Mandela and his wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. 60,000-copy announced first printing.

A Place for Us: A Memoir by Brandon J. Wolf (May 2, $28.99, ISBN 978-1-5420-3646-7). LGBTQ activist Wolf chronicles his search for chosen family after leaving his rural Oregon hometown, and later turning grief into action following the 2016 Pulse nightclub mass shooting in Orlando.

Holding Fire: A Reckoning with the American West by Bryce Andrews (Feb. 7, $27.99, ISBN 978-0-358-46827-1) reconsiders the settling of the American West, and the roles violence and firearms played in it.

The Critic’s Daughter: A Memoir by Priscilla Gilman (Feb. 7, $28.95, ISBN 978-0-393-65132-4) recounts life in 1970s New York as the daughter of critic Richard Gilman and literary agent Lynn Nesbit, as well as the secrets uncovered after their divorce.

How Not to Kill Yourself: A Portrait of the Suicidal Mind by Clancy Martin (Mar. 28, $30, ISBN 978-0-593-31705-1). Expanding on his Huffington Post essay “I’m Still Here,” philosophy professor Martin recalls his suicide attempts and considers the philosophical roots of self-destruction.

Penguin Press

Mott Street: A Chinese American Family’s Story of Exclusion and Homecoming by Ava Chin (Apr. 25, $28, ISBN 978-0-525-55737-1). Chin, an M.F.K. Fisher Prize winner, unearths her Chinese American family’s past and reckons with the effects of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

Random House

Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World by Christian Cooper (May 9, $28, ISBN 978-0-593-24238-4). The author ruminates on growing up in the 1970s, the beauty of the natural world, and his 2020 Central Park confrontation that made international headlines.

The Forgotten Girls: A Memoir of Friendship and Lost Promise in Rural America by Monica Potts (Apr. 18, $28, ISBN 978-0-525-51991-1). Journalist Potts researches poverty in rural Arkansas as she tries to make sense of the fate of her childhood best friend.

The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science by Kate Zernike (Feb. 28, $30, ISBN 978-1-982131-83-8) chronicles the efforts of MIT molecular biologist Nancy Hopkins and others to get the university to acknowledge discrimination against women on its science faculty.

Owner of a Lonely Heart: A Memoir by Beth Nguyen (July 4, $27, ISBN 978-1-982196-34-9). American Book Award winner Nguyen writes of new parenthood and coming to terms with her mother, who stayed in Vietnam at the end of the war.

Seven Stories

A Matter of Appearance: A Memoir of Chronic Illness by Emily Wells (Mar. 21, $20, ISBN 978-1-64421-276-9) combines memoir and literary analysis to detail a childhood marked by ballet dancing and a mysterious chronic illness, as well as the author’s eventual path to wellness.

Simon & Schuster

Good Girls: A Story and Study of Anorexia by Hadley Freeman (Mar. 7, $27.99, ISBN 978-1-982-18983-9). Guardian writer Freeman grapples with her history of anorexia nervosa and examines how treatments for the eating disorder have changed over the years.

Moby Dyke: An Obsessive Quest to Track Down the Last Remaining Lesbian Bars in America by Krista Burton (June 6, $28, ISBN 978-1-66800-053-3) visits America’s dwindling lesbian bars and celebrates the sanctity of queer spaces.

St. Martin’s

The Education of Kendrick Perkins by Kendrick Perkins, with Seth Rogoff (Feb. 21, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-250-28034-3). Perkins, an ESPN commentator and former NBA player, opens up about his ascent from small-town Texas athlete to championship winner.

Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City by Jane Wong (May 16, $27.95, ISBN 978-1-953534-67-5) reflects on identity and growing up on the 1980s Jersey shore as the daughter of working-class Asian American parents.

Nobody Needs to Know by Pidgeon Pagonis (June 20, $28.99, ISBN 978-1-5420-2946-9). Activist Pagonis charts their path to self-acceptance as a person who was born intersex and challenges society’s misconceptions and stigmas about gender identity.

Univ. of Chicago

On Christopher Street: Life, Sex, and Death After Stonewall by Michael Denneny (Mar. 17, $22.50 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-226-82463-5). Christopher Street magazine cofounder Denneny spotlights the queer community of 1970s and ’80s New York City, incorporating as well his journal entries, articles, and interviews.

Don’t Call Me Home: A Memoir by Alexandra Auder (Apr. 25, $27, ISBN 978-0-593-29995-1). The actor recounts her upbringing as the daughter of Warhol muse Viva and French filmmaker Michael Auder, and considers the impact of family on self-fulfillment.

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The 14 fall 2023 pop culture memoirs and biographies we're most excited to read

From Barbra to Peloton instructors, there's no shortage of great pop culture reads this fall.

Here at EW, we're pop culture junkies.

If there's a behind-the-scenes story or a personal hot take from a celeb, we are here for it. Chances are, if you're reading this you are too. And this fall, there is no shortage of engrossing, juicy new memoirs and biographies shedding light on all corners of the entertainment industry.

From Old Hollywood (Charlie Chaplin, Lena Horne, Greta Grabo) to the music industry (Barbra Streisand, Britney Spears, Geddy Lee) to the virtual gym (Cody Rigsby), pop culture figures across the gamut are telling their stories (or receiving new evaluation) in a slew of new titles hitting shelves this season.

Here are the 14 pop culture memoirs and biographies we're most excited about in fall 2023.

Ideal Beauty: The Life and Times of Greta Garbo by Lois W. Banner

Historian and biographer Lois Banner ( Marilyn: The Passion and The Paradox ) takes one of Hollywood's most enigmatic figures as her latest subject. Drawing on over a decade of research in archives across ​​Sweden, Germany, France, and the United States, Banner examines the shadowy personal life of the woman most famous for stating, "I want to be alone." While Garbo captivated audiences with her beauty and mysterious persona, this book offers an insightful portrait of her private life, interrogating her feminism, sexuality, mental health, and more. Garbo rose to fame on the silent screen, but this new biography gives voice to her life in unparalleled fashion. (Sept. 5) — Maureen Lee Lenker

XOXO, Cody by Cody Rigsby

With XOXO Cody , the beloved Peloton instructor shows he has range. His memoir aims to make readers laugh and tear up in equal measure. He delivers his hot takes and humorous advice about living life right while also diving into the difficult moments in his life that shaped the adult he is. As he delves into growing up gay and his issues with his parents, Rigsby provides an opportunity for folks to get to know him better. XOXO Cody is inspiring and raw, but also a great reminder that laughing our way through something is a solid option. (Sept. 12) — Alamin Yohannes

Leslie F*cking Jones by Leslie Jones

Saturday Night Live alum Leslie Jones is known for her disarming frankness, and in her new memoir, Leslie F*cking Jones , the comic invites readers even deeper inside her brutally honest thoughts. Jones' sense of humor is intact even as she opens up about her experiences with childhood sexual abuse, abortion, and family tragedy, as well as the racism and sexism she's fought in stand-up comedy and from online trolls who made her life hell after she was cast in the women-led Ghostbusters . SNL fans will be especially interested in her tales from the show, including who she did and did not get along with, and hilarious details of an unaired sketch about killing Whoopi Goldberg . (Sept. 19) —Jillian Sederholm

Sondheim: His Life, His Shows, His Legacy by Stephen M. Silverman

Stephen Sondheim may have died in 2021, but his spirit lives on among the Broadway faithful. This month alone marks the premiere of the third Sondheim revival since his passing, as well as the premiere of Here We Are , a posthumous presentation of the Luis Buñuel-inspired musical he was working on until the end. Somewhere between a biography and a coffee-table book, Stephen M. Silverman's new title makes a perfect companion to our current age of Sondheim remembrance. The master of the modern musical is chronicled with textual highlights of his life story (with Sondheim's sardonic wit on display in frequent direct quotes), but also helpfully accompanied by many, many photos of his legendary Broadway career — and the actors, artists, and celebrities he crossed paths with along the way. (Sept. 19) — Christian Holub

Thicker Than Water by Kerry Washington

In her memoir, Kerry Washington bares it all. After a long-kept family secret is revealed, the actress and producer looks back at her life to share what she has overcome and learned over the years. From past traumas to wisdom she's received through her roles, Washington is bringing fans into her world like never before. Through these stories, she tells readers of her fight to redevelop her own understanding of family as she started her own. Thicker Than Water is a poignant and captivating exploration of how she became the woman she is today. (Sept. 26) — A.Y.

Worthy by Jada Pinkett Smith

Though Jada Pinkett Smith has spent the last couple of years peeling back the layers on Red Table Talk , she still feels like people misunderstand her. In Worthy, she attempts to tell her story, her way. From Baltimore to Hollywood, and through suicidal ideation to self-acceptance and healing, Pinkett Smith recounts her journey to reflection and healing. (Oct. 4) — Yolanda Machado

Thank You: Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin by Sly Stone

In the late '60s, Sly Stone was the embodiment of cool, an impossibly stylish funk master and preternatural hitmaker. He was also a man who carted around a violin case filled with cocaine wherever he'd go. If his drug use could conjure magic in the studio, it also destroyed the Sly and the Family Stone frontman's relationships, wiped out his earnings, and made him a recluse. Now 80 years old and sober, the living legend is finally releasing his memoir, a cautionary tale and the story of one of rock's true great visionaries. (Oct. 17) — Jason Lamphier

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

Britney Spears is finally ready to tell her story the way she's never been able to before. One of the world's biggest and most misunderstood pop icons is releasing her memoir, The Woman In Me , a little over two years after revealing harrowing details in open court about how her life wasn't her own under the conservatorship of her father for over 13 years. Now that the court-ordered conservatorship has been dissolved, Spears' chronicles her "brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope," allowing her fans to finally see the woman behind the music. (Oct. 24) — Sydney Bucksbaum

Being Henry: The Fonz...and Beyond by Henry Winkler

The guy who played one of the coolest characters ever on-screen is also known as one of the nicest ever off it. So how exactly did mild mannered Henry Winkler transform himself into the Fonz? The Emmy-winning actor takes us inside his original Happy Days audition as part of a memoir that goes through Winkler's entire career — from The Lords of Flatbush through Barry . And yes, he explains in full detail why in the world he jumped that damn shark. (Oct. 31) —Dalton Ross

Lena Horne: Goddess Reclaimed by Donald Bogle

Donald Bogle, revered historian of Black Hollywood, tackles one of the most iconic Black Golden Age stars — Lena Horne. Using a combination of interviews, press accounts, studio archives, and historical research, Bogle offers up a lush portrait of Horne, from her professional triumphs and bitter disappointments to her activism and role in breaking barriers for Black performers and Black women throughout her career. Bogle tells Horne's story accompanied by stunning photographs in this coffee table-style book that allows for never-before-published images of Horne to shine. (Oct. 31) — M.L.L.

Charlie Chaplin vs. America: When Art, Sex, and Politics Collided by Scott Eyman

While Charlie Chaplin's life has been chronicled many times, biographer Scott Eyman ( John Wayne: The Life and Legend; Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise ) drills down on Chaplin's fall from grace and exile from America in the back half of the Little Tramp's career. In the wake of the Red Scare and Chaplin's own sexual scandals, he was denied re-entry into the United States in 1952 following a trip to Europe. Eyman examines the events leading to this exile, the political turmoil at play, and Chaplin's years making his final two films in London. It's both a fascinating historical study and a cautionary tale about the perils of hysteria and extremism pervading government practices. (Oct. 31) — M.L.L.

My Name Is Barbra by Barbra Streisand

For years now, Barbra Streisand has spoken of her long-gestating memoir, and it's finally here. In her inimitable way, Streisand tells the story of her life, from her childhood in Brooklyn to her legendary Broadway breakout in Funny Girl to her success in Hollywood as an actress and director. Full of her signature frankness and dry humor, the memoir gives fans an unprecedented look at Streisand's life, from her personal struggles to her professional triumphs, all with a reminder that through the decades, nobody was going to rain on her parade. (Nov. 7) — M.L.L.

My Effin' Life by Geddy Lee

Living in the limelight may be the universal dream for some, but for Rush frontman Geddy Lee, it's simply another chapter in his effin' excellent life. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer — who played bass, keyboards, and sang on the progressive rock band's biggest hits — holds nothing back in his highly-anticipated memoir. From being named after his grandfather who was murdered during the Holocaust to sharing intimate tales of life on the road with bandmates Alex Lifeson and the late Neil Peart, Lee puts aside the alienation and gets on with the fascination surrounding his extraordinary life in an honest, hilarious, and heartfelt way all his own. (Nov. 14) — Emlyn Travis

The Path to Paradise: A Francis Ford Coppola Story by Sam Wasson

If he had only made The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola would already be remembered as one of the most successful American directors of all time. But his ambitions always went far beyond that, and the filmmaker promises he has one more masterpiece on the way in the form of the mysterious utopian magnum opus Megalopolis . This new book by Sam Wasson (who already proved himself one of the great modern chroniclers of the New Hollywood era with the Chinatown making-of story The Big Goodbye ) chronicles the road to heaven Coppola trod after descending to Hell with Apocalypse Now. The Vietnam War epic is already the subject of much reporting, but Wasson boasts unprecedented access to Coppola's personal archive — as well as a first-hand look at the making of a movie we can't wait to see. (Nov. 28) — C.H.

Related content:

• RuPaul gets emotional announcing new memoir about his life before Drag Race : 'I reveal so much of myself'
• Patrick Stewart's 'intense' theater training led to him having a tantrum on Star Trek set
• David Letterman auditioned for Airplane! against his better judgment: 'I can't act'

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17 New Books Coming in June

A biography of Joni Mitchell, two hotly anticipated horror novels, a behind-the-scenes exposé about Donald Trump’s years on “The Apprentice” and more.

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Fire Exit , by Morgan Talty

In Talty’s novel, Charles — who was raised on a Penobscot reservation in Maine before being asked to leave because he wasn’t Native — reflects on his life and what he has lost in the years since his expulsion.

Tin House, June 4

Godwin , by Joseph O’Neill

O’Neill’s new novel is about soccer in the way his acclaimed book “Netherland” was about cricket, which is to say that it’s less about the sport itself than what it signifies in an unfair world. A restless technical writer joins a sports scout on a global search for an African soccer prodigy, whom they’ve seen only on video. The story builds into a study of greed, labor and ambition.

Pantheon, June 4

The Friday Afternoon Club , by Griffin Dunne

His father was the Vanity Fair journalist Dominick Dunne; his uncle the screenwriter John Gregory Dunne ; his uncle’s wife the essayist Joan Didion . With this memoir, Griffin Dunne, best known as an actor and producer, becomes the latest published author in the clan, sharing stories of his family and their celebrity encounters.

Penguin Press, June 11

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New Biography Movie Release Dates

Have you been looking for a comprehensive list of every Biography movie premiering this month and in the future? Look no further, our Biography movie release date schedule below is the most up to date and comprehensive list of every Biography movie release date!

You can find our list of Biography TV series release dates here . Additionally, our full list of every TV series release date can be found here!

2024 Biography Movies

Our list was curated using data from sources such as IMDB , Wikipedia and Fandango .

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New Mitch McConnell Biography on His ‘Personal and Political Life’ Coming out This Year

The book's synopsis added that it will also offer readers “an intimate, personal window” into the lawmaker’s life

A new book on former Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell is heading to shelves soon.

Publisher Simon & Schuster announced that the biography on the lawmaker, The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America, and Lost his Party by journalist and author Michael Tackett will be released later this year.

The novel will delve into McConnell’s “personal and political life” — which includes his journey from Kentucky into the U.S. Senate — and feature “never-before-told revelations” from his life, according to a synopsis of the book.

It will also offer readers “an intimate, personal window” into the lawmaker’s life drawn from “thousands of pages of archival materials, letters and more than 100 interviews with associates, colleagues and McConnell himself.”

Simon and Schuster

Some of the topics covered include snippets from his early life, like his “battle with polio as a young child” and “teenage infatuation with politics.” Tackett will also cover McConnell's image as a “pragmatic, moderate legislator” when he first joined the Senate in 1985 and his “steady rightward drift over nearly 40 years in Congress as his politics evolved,” according to a statement from the publisher.

However, it will also cover McConnell’s obstacles in his later years in the Senate, which were brought on by “the rise of an almost unrecognizable Republican party” with Donald Trump ’s presidency, along with “a reactive populism” that he would “struggle to control,” per the synopsis.

“Featuring expert reporting and unprecedented access, The Price of Power is required reading for anyone interested in understanding one of America’s most influential legislators and the inner workings of our government,” says the press release. 

The book’s topic is a familiar one for Tackett, who has spent three decades writing about national politics and has covered nine presidential elections as a journalist. He has reported for a number of publications, including the Associated Press, New York Times , Bloomberg News and the Chicago Tribune and worked as national editor for US News & World Report . 

Never miss a story — sign up for  PEOPLE's free daily newsletter  to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The new book comes four months after McConnell announced his plans to step down as Republican Senate leader in February. The lawmaker also noted at the time that, while he was stepping down, he would still remain in Congress through the remainder of his term, which expires in 2027.

“I turned 82 last week. The end of my contributions are closer than I’d prefer," he said during the announcement. "I am no longer the young man sitting in the back, hoping colleagues would remember my name. It is time for the next generation of leadership."

The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America, and Lost his Party will come out on Oct. 29 and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.

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Kafka (2024) Season 1: How Many Episodes & When Do New Episodes Come Out?

By Ayesha Zafar

Viewers of Kafka (2024) Season 1 are wondering how many episodes there are in the series and when each new episode comes out. The German-Austrian biography-drama series delves into the life of Franz Kafka. A renowned writer, his personal journey was turbulent. His strained bond with an authoritarian father and complicated romantic involvements with women greatly influenced his creative prowess.

Here’s how many episodes are in Kafka (2024) Season 1 and on what day new episodes come out.

How many episodes are in Kafka (2024) Season 1?

Kafka Season 1 has 7 episodes.

According to IMDb , Kafka (2024) Season 1 episode list is as follows:

• Episode 1: Max
• Episode 2: Felice
• Episode 3: Familie
• Episode 4: Bureau
• Episode 5: Milena
• Episode 6: Dora
• Episode 7: Kafka und ich – Wer war der legendäre Schriftsteller?

Kafka (2024) Season 1 premiered on June 6, 2024. Created by Reiner Stach, the series shows Max as a well-known writer, brimming with enthusiasm and creativity. However, his main goal is to elevate his pal Franz to fame. Brod is also a passionate ladies’ man, constantly engaged in various romantic entanglements. He exudes warmth and serves as the driving force in the narrative. Regrettably, the odds are he lacks skill as a writer, and, in fact, Kafka is fully cognizant of this.

The cast of Kafka Season 1 includes Joel Basman as Franz Kafka, David Kross as Max Brod, and Nicholas Ofczarek as Hermann Kafka. Additionally featured are Liv Lisa Fries as Milena Jesenská, Lia von Blarer as Felice Bauer, Tamara Romera Ginés as Dora Dymant, Robert Stadlober as Felix Weltsch, Verena Altenberger as Robert Musil, and Judith Altenberger as Erna Bauer. David Schalko has directed the series.

When do new Kafka (2024) Season 1 episodes come out?

All episodes of Kafka (2024) Season 1 are currently available to watch on ChaiFlicks . There are no new episodes.

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After achieving marginal success in rap and hip-hop, Jelly Roll has emerged as a Grammy-nominated country music star with hit songs like “Save Me,” “Son of a Sinner,” and “Need a Favor.”

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1984-present

Latest News: Jelly Roll Wins First ACM Award for Lainey Wilson Duet

“No pun intended, this song saved me,” Jelly Roll said in his acceptance speech. “I was in a dark place.” The 39-year-old, whose real name is Jason DeFord, released the single in May 2020. Since then, he has released his first two major studio albums, debuted at the Grand Ole Opry, and won the CMA Award for New Artist of the Year.

Quick Facts

Prison and drug addiction, rap and hip-hop beginnings, “save me” and ascent to country stardom, wife and children, weight loss, who is jelly roll.

Jelly Roll is a multigenre singer and songwriter known for hit songs like “Son of a Sinner,” “Save Me,” and “Need a Favor.” Unafraid to embrace an underdog persona, he overcame a tumultuous adolescence and early adulthood—that included several stints in prison and drug addiction—to achieve his music dreams. This turbulent past has helped inspire some of his most famous songs. Although he started in rap and hip-hop, the Tennessee native has emerged as a country music star . In April 2023, he won three CMT Music Awards and, later that November, was named CMA’s New Artist of the Year. He was also nominated for Best New Artist at the 2024 Grammy Awards.

FULL NAME: Jason Bradley DeFord BORN: December 4, 1984 BIRTHPLACE: Nashville, Tennessee SPOUSE: Bunnie Xo (2016-present) CHILDREN: Bailee and Noah ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Sagittarius

Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason Bradley DeFord, was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on December 4, 1984, and grew up in the city’s Antioch neighborhood. His father, Horace “Buddy” DeFord, ran a wholesale meat business and had a side hustle as a bookie. Jelly Roll also has three older half-siblings: brothers Roger and Scott and a sister named Shelby.

Jelly Roll’s mother, who struggled with drug addiction and mental health issues, gave him his nickname—and now, stage name—in his youth because he was a “chubby kid.” The singer said his mother, whose name hasn’t been made public, was why he first fell in love with music and became a good storyteller.

Around age 9 or 10, he wrote his first rap song. “I just remember thinking, ‘I want to make music that makes people feel like this music makes my mother feel,’” he said during a May 2022 interview with the Bobby Bones Show . Once he reached eighth grade, he started passing out mixtapes of his music in a high school parking lot.

Jelly Roll’s parents divorced when he was 13. After that, Jelly Roll felt responsible for taking care of his mom and began selling drugs. “When [my father] left, I was like, ‘Somebody’s got to do what he was doing, at least trying to figure out some money,’” he said . According to Billboard , he also included free mixtapes of his raps in cocaine sales.

Jelly Roll maintained a close relationship with his father, who died of cancer in March 2019. The singer credits Buddy with teaching him to “hate racism” and “how to carry myself as a man.”

Watch the documentary Jelly Roll: Save Me on Hulu

Jelly Roll was first arrested when he was 14, and revealed in the 2023 documentary Jelly Roll: Save Me that he went to jail 40 times for various offenses. One of the most serious charges was aggravated robbery when he was 16. He was charged as an adult and faced up to 20 years in prison, though he ultimately served a little over a year in jail and received more than seven years’ probation. “I hadn’t hit my last growth spurt. I was charged as an adult years before I could buy a beer, lease an apartment, get a pack of cigarettes,” he told Billboard . “I feel like the justice system at that point kind of parked me on my only set path.”

Because of Tennessee’s zero-tolerance policy for violent offenders, the charge is still on the singer’s record. As a result, he can’t vote, volunteer at nonprofits, or own a firearm.

In addition to selling drugs, Jelly Roll has admitted his own struggles with abusing substances like cough syrup, Xanax, and cocaine. The singer now visits rehabilitation facilities to help educate and inspire other people working through addiction.

At age 23, Jelly Roll was incarcerated for drug dealing. He was in prison on May 22, 2008, when he learned from a correctional officer that he had become a father. He credits the birth of his daughter, Bailee, as the catalyst that turned his life around. “It’s like a Damascus Road experience in the Bible,” he told podcaster Joe Rogan. “I immediately was like, ‘I’ve got to do something. I’ve got to quit this s—. I’ve got to figure it out.”

Shortly after, Jelly Roll was transferred to the education unit and earned his GED in prison. He was released in 2009.

From 2010 through 2015, Jelly Roll lived out of a van as he focused on making a living through music. Shortly after his release from prison, he uploaded a video clip to YouTube called “10 Minute Freestyle,” showing him freestyle rapping about his drug dealing, incarceration, and other elements of his past. The video caught the attention of rapper Lil Wyte, who was starting his own record label and wanted to collaborate with Jelly Roll for the 2011 album Year Round . The two worked with fellow rapper BPZ on the project and called themselves SNO.

Jelly Roll said Wyte was one of the first artists to recognize his potential as a singer. “I’ll never forget Wyte looking at me and going: ‘That’s what you need to do,’” he told HipHopDx. “I didn’t know anything about music, so I was like, ‘Nah, I’m just harmonizing.’ Now I know what a harmony is, and it’s the opposite of what I was doing.”

In 2011, Jelly Roll’s album with Nashville rapper Haystak titled Strictly Business ranked a modest No. 67 on Billboard ’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. He collaborated with Wyte again for the 2013 album No Filter , which hit No. 17 on the Top Rap Albums chart. Then, in 2017, he partnered with his friend Struggle Jennings for a rap album titled Waylon & Willie— named after Waylon Jennings , Struggle’s step-grandfather, and Willie Nelson . The pair turned the album into a series with three more releases over the next three years.

Jelly Roll occasionally sang on these albums but was hesitant to do so for an entire track. That would change on what became one of his top songs.

Written and posted to YouTube within two days in May 2020, “Save Me” was one of the first songs Jelly Roll released without any rap elements. With its highly personal theme of coping with hopelessness, not to mention the singer’s impressive vocals, the song drew the attention of music executives. “I saw that pain, vulnerability, that tenderness,” said Jon Loba , the BMG Nashville record label president. “I loved his vocal. I just said, ‘That’s a country song.’ I was convinced his storytelling, his heart, and his brand would be accepted by our genre.”

Jelly Roll signed with BMG, which counts country heavy hitters like Jason Aldean , Dustin Lynch, and Lainey Wilson among its clients. The singer soon began achieving more mainstream success. In September 2021, he released his first major studio album, Ballads of the Broken , which included the singles “Dead Man Walking” and “Son of a Sinner.” The latter debuted on the Country Airplay chart in March 2022 and reached the top spot 10 months later in January 2023.

On November 9, 2021, Jelly Roll debuted at the famous Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and began establishing himself as a rising country star. By February 2023, he had spent 25 weeks atop Billboard ’s Emerging Artists chart—the most in history. Soon after, he won three CMT Music Awards in April, including Breakthrough Male Video of the Year for “Son of a Sinner.” He also kicked off a 44-city Backroad Baptism Tour across the United States.

In June 2023, Jelly Roll released another studio album, Whitsitt Chapel , which quickly rose to No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and featured an updated version of “Save Me” with Wilson. The two performed the track at the ACM Awards and during the season finale of the TV singing competition show American Idol .

In September 2023, Jelly Roll received five nominations for the CMA Awards, considered country music’s biggest honors. Among the categories were Male Vocalist of the Year and New Artist of the Year. “Just being recognized by my peers and by the industry for the work we put in is amazing, especially for my people, this is a win for all the underdogs and forgotten,” he said . Jelly Roll won for New Artist of the Year at the annual ceremony on November 8 in Nashville and gave two live performances to bookend the show.

Additionally, his emotional acceptance speech went viral for its inspiring message. “There is something poetic about a 39-year-old man winning New Artist of the Year. I don’t know where you’re at in your life or what you’re going through, but I want to tell you to keep going, baby. I want to tell you success is on the other side of it. I want to tell you that the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror for a reason because what’s in front of you is so much more important than what’s behind you!” he said.

Jelly Roll was soon nominated for his first two Grammy Awards: Best New Artist and Best Country Duo/Group Performance for his collaboration with Lainey Wilson on “Save Me.” Although he didn't win that night, he more than made up for it at the CMT Awards in April 2024 with three victories—including overall Video of the Year for “Need a Favor.”

In 2015, Jelly Roll met model Bunnie Xo following his concert at the Country Saloon in Las Vegas. Although Bunnie was in a relationship then, the two kept in touch and began dating soon after. On August 31, 2016, Jelly Roll proposed to Bunnie during a Yelawolf and Deftones concert in Las Vegas, and the two were married at a nearby courthouse that night.

Bunnie, who has achieved her own success as the host of the popular Dumb Blonde podcast since 2019, has played an important role in Jelly Roll’s family relationships. Before their marriage, the singer welcomed two children, a daughter named Bailee Ann and a son named Noah Buddy, with two different women.

After learning of Bailee’s May 2008 birth while in prison, Jelly Roll met his daughter on her second birthday in 2010. Her mother—who is only known publicly by her first name, Felicia—at first refused to let the singer see Bailee until he could become a consistent presence in her life.

In addition to becoming a stepmother to Bailee, Bunnie helped Jelly Roll gain custody of his daughter after Felicia became addicted to drugs and went to prison. Despite this, they have all remained on friendly terms, with Bunnie even inviting Felicia to appear on an episode of Dumb Blonde in 2020.

Now a teenager, Bailee is a singer and songwriter like her dad. She appears with Jelly Roll in the “Tears Could Talk” music video and has surprised fans by performing the song with her father at live shows.

Jelly Roll’s son, Noah, was born in August 2016. Jelly Roll has generally been secretive about his son out of respect for Noah’s mother, Melisa, but opened up during an August 2023 interview on the Taste of Country Nights podcast. “With Bailee, I’m the full-time parent—I’m the judge, the jury, and the executioner when it comes to decisions with her,” he said. “And it’s way more of a co-parenting… actually, it’s way more of me just supporting [Melisa] when it comes to my son, so I try not to ever get in the way of what she’s building over there.” Bunnie is also active in Noah’s life and introduced him to fans in a short TikTok video in July 2023.

Jelly Roll has been candid about his weight struggles, admitting he weighed more than 500 pounds as recently as 2015.

In an August 2018 post to Instagram , the singer said he made changes to his lifestyle in 2016 and lost 200 pounds—but eventually gained 60 of them back. “I wanna sky dive, bungee jump, ride a bull, parasail, ride roller coasters,” he wrote. “I want to LIVE a normal life and have a normal relationship with food.”

More recently, Jelly Roll revealed in February 2024 he had begun training for his first 5K race. He told People he had lost more than 70 pounds by April, and has a goal of eventually shedding another 100. “I’ve been really kicking ass, man. I’m doing two to three miles a day, four to six days a week,” he said, adding that he also spends time in the sauna and is eating healthier.

According to Celebrity Net Worth , Jelly Roll’s total net worth is estimated at around $4 million as of September 2023.

• I want to be a guidepost of hope for people to know that losers can win. That who you were isn’t who you are.
• I got baptized in here some 20 years ago and have since done nothing but go to prison, treat a bunch of people wrong, make a lot of mistakes in life, turn it around, then go on to be a f—ing multimillionaire and help as many people as I possibly can. It’s the f—ing wildest story ever to me.
• I never lived in the present because I was so haunted by the past, and I think I’m finally starting to let my past go enough that I can actually be present.
• Music is like human nature. It evolves or dies. Artists should always be pushing the boundaries of what’s uncomfortable, and I plan to be doing that the rest of my career.
• The windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror for a reason, because what’s in front of you is so much more important than what’s behind you.
• I once heard a man say that you don’t change until the pain to remain the same is greater than the pain it takes to change.

Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn’t look right, contact us !

Tyler Piccotti first joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor in February 2023, and before that worked almost eight years as a newspaper reporter and copy editor. He is a graduate of Syracuse University. When he's not writing and researching his next story, you can find him at the nearest amusement park, catching the latest movie, or cheering on his favorite sports teams.

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There's a Brand New Taylor Swift Book for Kids Coming Out This Month

If they loved the Little Golden Book biography, you need to get them this one.

We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.

With a choice of picture books, chapter books and even a Mad Libs activity book, you're bound to find something for a Swiftie-to-be, mini Swiftie, teen Swiftie and even full-grown adult Swiftie. Pre-order them now so you don't miss out. Add 'em to Easter baskets or wrap them up for birthday gifts . Or if you did manage to score Eras tickets and haven't gifted them yet, slip them inside the pages for the surprise of a lifetime.

And be sure to tell them that Taylor herself once said that reading made her a better songwriter because it helped her learn how to "paint a picture with a song."

If you're looking for more great reads for kids, be sure to check out our latest Kids' Book Awards , as well as more stories here:

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Let's Meet Taylor: Story of a Superstar

• Format: Picture Book
• Release Date: March 26, 2024

For preschool Swifties who want to know more about their idol, here's a sweet picture book biography with just the right amount of text to hold their attention. The 32-page book begins with little Taylor on her Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania and follows her music career. Ages 3+

Who Is Taylor Swift?

• Format: Chapter Book
• Release Date: April 2, 2024

Tweens weren't born when Taylor Swift first made it big. This well-done, 108-page biography spotlights the pop star's childhood and gradually rise to stardom. A universally relatable nugget that many kids may be surprised to discover: Taylor had trouble making friends in middle school. Ages 8+

Taylor Swift: A Little Golden Book Biography

Format: Little Golden Book Release Date: May 2, 2023

If you haven't picked up this book yet, are you really a fan? It's sold more copies than any other Little Golden Book since the imprint was established in 1942. The illustrations have a retro feel, and we love that the story emphasizes that Taylor has a supportive mom. Ages 5+

Mad Libs: For the Fans: Taylor Swift Edition

• Format: Activity Book
• Release Date: February 6, 2024

If there ever were an activity book that lends itself to being Taylor themed, it's got to be Mad Libs — where you fill in blank space (get it?) with adjectives, verbs and other parts of speech to create zany stories. The 21 topics in this edition are riffs on Taylor Swift hits ("Fall Too Well") or her fandom ("Bonding Over Bracelets"). It's all great fun to play with fellow Swifties, but couldn't they have made it 22? Ages 8+

You Are Fearless: A Book for the Littlest Taylor Swift Fans

• Release Date: February 13, 2024

A modern Oh, The Places You'll Go , this picture book rocks as either a graduation or baby shower gift — a sign of a true unicorn. Empowering, heartfelt (but not too cheesy) text is whimsically illustrated, especially the scene of Taylor and her cats. We also heart the last lines: "You exceed my wildest dreams, baby! And your era has just begun." Ages 3+

The Essential Taylor Swift Fanbook

• Format: Graphic Novel-esque
• Release Date: March 2, 2024

With short blocks of text and tons of full-color photos, graphic novel fans will gravitate to this pick. They'll see pics of Taylor's cats, her style evolution, and take a quiz to find their Taylor look. Ages 8+

Taylor Swift: The Whole Story

• Format: Young adult

A solid 320-page read chock-full of details, this biography is every grown Swiftie's guidebook to TayTay's life. It was first published 10+ years ago, but just recently updated so, yes, it includes the Eras tour and Taylor's relationship with Travis. It's going to be released only in paperback, so don't mix it up with the older hardcover version. Ages 11+

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