✍️ Biography & Memoir · United States
Best Biography & Memoir Books from United States
Biography and memoir are the literature of real lives. United States has produced some of the most internationally recognised works in biography & memoir, with titles that have appeared on major prize lists and critical surveys worldwide. This page ranks the best biography & memoir from United States by editorial consensus.
#1
literary-fiction
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
Ocean Vuong· 2019
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score93/100
#2
biography-memoir
Orange Is the New Black
Piper Kerman· 2010
★Women's Prize for Fiction
Editorial Score90/100
#3
biography-memoir
The Executioner's Song
Norman Mailer· 1980
★Pulitzer Prize
Editorial Score66/100
#4
biography-memoir
In Cold Blood
Truman Capote· 1966
★Edgar Award
Editorial Score58/100
#5
literary-fiction
Ben Hur
Lew Wallace· 1800
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score55/100
#6
literary-fiction
Life on the Mississippi
Mark Twain· 1883
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score55/100
#7
literary-fiction
Green Hills of Africa
Ernest Hemingway· 1709
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score55/100
#8
history
Parting the Waters
Taylor Branch· 1989
★National Book Award
Editorial Score50/100
#9
literary-fiction
A history of New York
Washington Irving· 1800
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score50/100
#10
literary-fiction
Cyrano de Bergerac
Edmond Rostand· 1821
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score50/100
#11
literary-fiction
American notes
Charles Dickens· 1800
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score50/100
#12
literary-fiction
Typee
Herman Melville· 1840
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score50/100
#13
literary-fiction
The adventures of Captain Bonneville, U.S.A.
Washington Irving· 1800
Library Journal
Editorial Score50/100
#14
literary-fiction
Pictures from Italy
Charles Dickens· 1846
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score50/100
#15
biography-memoir
Educated
Tara Westover· 2018
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score47/100
#16
politics-society
How to Be an Antiracist
Ibram X. Kendi· 2019
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score46/100
#17
biography-memoir
A Farewell to Arms
Ernest Hemingway· 1929
Notable Work
Editorial Score46/100
#18
biography-memoir
When Breath Becomes Air
Paul Kalanithi· 2016
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score45/100
#19
biography-memoir
Bad Blood
John Carreyrou· 2018
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score45/100
#20
biography-memoir
The Glass Castle
Jeannette Walls· 2005
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score45/100
#21
literary-fiction
Walden
Henry David Thoreau· 1854
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score45/100
#22
literary-fiction
Leaves of Grass
Walt Whitman· 1855
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score45/100
#23
literary-fiction
Roughing It
Mark Twain· 1872
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score45/100
#24
literary-fiction
Tom Sawyer, Detective
Mark Twain· 1897
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score45/100
#25
literary-fiction
A Tramp Abroad
Mark Twain· 1878
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score45/100
#26
literary-fiction
Fanshawe
Nathaniel Hawthorne· 1828
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score45/100
#27
literary-fiction
Adolphe
Benjamin Constant· 1816
Library Journal
Editorial Score45/100
#28
literary-fiction
Travels with Charley
John Steinbeck· 1962
Library Journal
Editorial Score45/100
#29
literary-fiction
The Whole History of Grandfather's Chair
Nathaniel Hawthorne· 1840
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score45/100
#30
literary-fiction
Bartleby, the Scrivener
Herman Melville· 1966
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score45/100
#31
classic-literature
Tom Sawyer Abroad, Tom Sawyer Detective and Other Stories Etc. Etc.
Mark Twain· 1896
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score45/100
#32
biography-memoir
Columbus
Washington Irving· 1800
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score45/100
#33
biography-memoir
A Million Little Pieces
James Frey· 2003
Oprah's Book Club
Editorial Score44/100
#34
biography-memoir
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot· 2010
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score44/100
#35
biography-memoir
Steve Jobs
Walter Isaacson· 2011
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score44/100
#36
biography-memoir
Into Thin Air
Jon Krakauer· 1997
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score44/100
#37
biography-memoir
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
Anne Fadiman· 1997
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score43/100
#38
biography-memoir
Wild
Cheryl Strayed· 2012
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score42/100
#39
biography-memoir
Into the Wild
Jon Krakauer· 1996
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score40/100
#40
literary-fiction
Sanctuary
William Faulkner· 1931
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score40/100
#41
literary-fiction
Sailor on Horseback
Irving Stone· 1938
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score40/100
#42
literary-fiction
Black Boy
Richard Wright· 1945
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score40/100
#43
classic-literature
Is Shakespeare Dead?
Mark Twain· 1909
Library Journal
Editorial Score40/100
#44
classic-literature
A Book of Remarkable Criminals
Henry Brodribb Irving· 1918
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score40/100
#45
biography-memoir
Civil Disobedience
Henry David Thoreau· 1800
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score40/100
#46
biography-memoir
The Maine Woods
Henry David Thoreau· 1803
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score40/100
#47
biography-memoir
The French and Italian notebooks
Nathaniel Hawthorne· 1871
Library Journal
Editorial Score40/100
#48
biography-memoir
Passages from the American note-books of Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne· 1860
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score40/100
#49
biography-memoir
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright· 1900
Library Journal
Editorial Score40/100
#50
biography-memoir
The Crayon miscellany
Washington Irving· 1835
Library Journal
Editorial Score40/100