EducatedTara Westover2018Random Housepp. 352 The book is an autobiography and focuses on Tara’s life when she grew up in a conservative Mormon family and neighbourhood. There have been other influences in her life, perhaps why she has been able to shake her constraining part. The descriptions are vivid and many times, disturbing. I did sometimes…
What I Know for Sure Oprah Winfrey 2014 MacMillan pp. 239 ‘What I know for sure’ presents insights that Winfrey has gathered from her life. I used to watch Oprah’s show when I was growing up and this book seemed like a capsule of everything that I had gathered from that. The story of Oprah’s…
An Unsuitable Boy Karan Johar (with Poonam Saxena) 2017 Penguin India pp. 352 I picked up this book because I wanted to read something light, and positive. The resonating image of Karan Johar is of a chirpy, happy, rich, over the top Bollywood celebrity and I thought how terse would his auto biography be! It…
Unladylike: A Memoir Radhika Vaz 2015 Aleph pp. 217 Unladylike, like the name suggests, is a memoir of Radhika Vaz. The title couldn’t be more apt, given the way she is living her life. Unladylike breaks away from stereotypes. But on a deeper reading you would feel that almost every girl and woman in India…
Cracking the Code- My Journey in Bollywood Ayushmann Khurana & Tahira Kashyap 2015 Rupa pp. 158 I am not a movie buff and I am not an aspiring actor. I do not get inspired to read biographies of famous people. Yet, I picked up Khurana’s (& Tahira’s) book. This should be an indication that I…
A Double LifeAlyque Padamsee(with Arun Prabhu)1999Penguin Bookspp. 304A Double Life is an autobiographical account of Alyque Padamsee. After Stephen Hawking’s, quite surprisingly, this turned out to be the most inspiring biography I have read so far. Not that I have read many! To be fair to Padamsee, his life is definitely inspiring. Leading two successful…
Autobiography of an Autism EntrepreneurMythili Chari2017 Amarabharathi pp. 175 As the title suggests, the autobiographical writing by Chari details out her experiences in the field of educating children with autism, and her initiative of setting up her own institute. The anecdotal account begins with her childhood experiences and reminisces about what she considers are significant…
Name of the Book: One Little FingerAuthor: Malini ChibYear of Publication: 2011No. of Pages: 197Publisher: Sage About the Book:The book is an autobiography of Malini Chib, a woman who has cerebral palsy. Now a prolific writer and speaker, the book presents the trials and tribulations that Chib and her family faced through her growing up…
Name: I am MalalaAuthor: Malala Yousafzai (with Christina Lamb)Publisher: Weidenfeld and NicholsonYear of Publication: 2013No. of Pages: 276 About the Book:I am Malala is the autobiographical account of Malala Yousafzai. Written in 2013, the book presents details of her life and her campaign for education that led upto her shooting by members of the Taliban…
Name: A Book of Memory: Confessions and Reflections Author: Sudhir KakarNo. of Pages: 318Year of Publication: 2011Publisher: VikingAbout the Book:Kakar is as lucid as ever in this autobiographical writing. Not surprisingly, he has academised it as well. At the same time he has shared many vivid descriptions of his life or maybe, we should say, reconstructions…
