autobiography and bio

• Key Differences

Know the Differences & Comparisons

Difference between Biography and Autobiography

Both of these two presents the view of, what happened in the past where the author lived. These are non-fiction books, written in chronological order, tells a story about the person who made a significant contribution in a specific field. Many think that the two writing forms are one and the same thing, but there are noticeable difference between the two, that are presented in the given article.

Content: Biography Vs Autobiography

Comparison chart, definition of biography.

A biography also referred as ‘bio’ is a detailed account of a person’s life written or produced by another person. It gives an elaborate information regarding the birthplace, educational background, work, relationships and demise of the person concerned. It presents the subject’s intimate details about life, focusing on the highs and lows and analysing their whole personality.

A biography is usually in the written form but can also be made in other forms of a music composition or literature to film interpretation.

It is the recreation of the life of an individual composed of words by another person. The author collects every single detail about the subject and presents those facts in the biography, which are relevant and interesting, to engross the readers in the story.

Definition of Autobiography

An autobiography is the life sketch of a person written by that person himself or herself. The word auto means ‘self.’ Therefore, autobiography contains all the elements of a biography but composed or narrated by the author himself. He/She may write on their own or may hire ghostwriters to write for them.

An autobiography presents the narrator’s character sketch, the place where he is born and brought up, his education, work, life experiences, challenges, and achievements. This may include events and stories of his childhood, teenage, and adulthood.

Key Differences Between Biography and Autobiography

The difference between biography and autobiography are discussed in detail in the following points:

• Biography is a detailed account of a person’s life written by someone else, while an autobiography is written by the subject themselves.
• Biography can be written with (authorised) or without permission (unauthorised) from the person/heir’s concerned. Therefore, there are chances of factual mistakes in the information. On the other hand, autobiographies are self-written and therefore doesn’t require any authorization.
• Biographies contain information that is collected over a period of time from different sources and thus, it projects a different outlook to the readers. On the other hand, autobiographies are written by the subject themselves, therefore, the writer presents the facts and his thinking in his own way, thus providing an overall narrow and biased perspective to the readers.
• In an Autobiography, the author uses the first narrative like I, me, we, he, she, etc. This, in turn, makes an intimate connection between the author and the reader since the reader experience various aspects as if he/she is in that time period. As opposed a biography is from a third person’s view and is much less intimate.
• The purpose of writing a biography is to introduce and inform the readers about the person and his life whereas an autobiography is written in order to express, the life experiences and achievements of the narrator.

Video: Biography Vs Autobiography

There are several autobiographies which are worth mentioning like ‘The Story of My Life’ by Helen Keller, ‘An Autobiography’ by Jawaharlal Nehru, ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’ by Anne Frank, ‘Memoirs of the Second World War’ by Winston Churchill, ‘Wings of Fire’ by A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and much more.

Examples of some famous biographies are- Tolstoy: A Russian Life by Rosamund Bartlett, His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis, Einstein: The Life and Times by Ronald William Clark, Biography of Walt Disney: The Inspirational Life Story of Walt Disney – The Man Behind “Disneyland” by Steve Walters, Princess Diana- A Biography Of The Princess Of Wales by Drew L. Crichton.

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Biography vs Autobiography: Similarities and Differences

A biography is an account of someone’s life story that is written by an author who is not the subject of the nook. An autobiography, on the other hand, involves an individual narrating their own life experiences.

The differences between biographies and autobiographies relate most prominently to the authorhship:

• Autobiography: When you read an autobiography, you’re getting the author’s own interpretation of their life.
• Biography: When you read a biography, you experience the subject’s life through someone else’s lens (Schiffrin & Brockmeier, 2012).

Biography vs Autobiography

1. biography.

A biography is a detailed account of a person’s life, scripted by an author who is not the person who is featured in the text itself.

This type of life story focuses both on factual events in the person’s life, such as birth, education, work, and death, but often also delves into personal aspects like experiences, relationships, and significant achievements.

It may also weave-in cultural and contextual factors that help illuminate the person’s motivations and core values .

Origins of Biographies

The concept of biography as a literary genre dates back to antiquity. Such works were primarily used to capture the lives of dignified individuals, mainly rulers and war heroes.

Suetonius’s Lives of the Caesars and Plutarch’s Parallel Lives are landmark examples from this ancient period (Sweet, 2010).

The popularity of biographical works only grew in the ensuing centuries, and they became a prominent part of many cultures’ literary traditions. 

Into the 18th century and during the Enlightenment, biographies began to present a more balanced portrayal of the subject. They would present both their strengths and flaws, providing a holistic perspective on the subject.

Dr. Samuel Johnson’s compilation of English poets biographies, Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets (1779-1781) ushered in a new era of biography writing by focusing on examining human nature (Ditchfield, 2018).

In the modern era, the genre has evolved and broadened, encompassing a diverse range of figures from all walks of life – there’s a biography in every niche imaginable, with each offering readers an in-depth exploration of their lives, their struggles, and their triumphs.

This demonstrates the enduring appeal of biographies and their value in providing snapshots of history through individual lenses.

Key Characteristics of Biographies

Examples of biographies.

Title: The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets Author: Dr. Samuel Johnson   Description: Dr. Johnson’s work profiles the lives of 52 poets from the 17th and 18th centuries, including John Milton and Alexander Pope. He critiques not just the works, but also explores their personal lives and the sociopolitical contexts of their times (Johnson, 1781). Johnson’s study is invaluable for its integrated historic and biographic approach.

Title: The Life of Samuel Johnson Author: James Boswell   Description: This work by Boswell explores, in great depth, the life of his friend and mentor, Dr. Samuel Johnson. The biography offers a compelling portrayal of Dr. Johnson’s life, character, eccentricities, and intellectual prowess (Boswell, 1791). Boswell’s vivid account creates a near-physical presence of Johnson to the readers, making it one of the greatest biographies in English literature.

Title: The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt Author: Edmund Morris   Description: In this Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, Morris chronicles the early life of Theodore Roosevelt until his ascension to the U.S presidency. The work brilliantly captures Roosevelt’s extraordinary career and his transformation from a frail asthmatic boy into a robust and vigorous leader (Morris, 1979). Morris accurately represents Roosevelt’s indomitable spirit, making it an engaging and educational read.

Title: Steve Jobs Author: Walter Isaacson Description: This comprehensive biography provides a deep-dive into the life and career of Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple. Isaacson had unparalleled access to Jobs and those closest to him, thus presenting an intimate and detailed account. He explores Jobs’ professional endeavors as well as his personal life, revealing his ambition, intensity, and visionary mind that revolutionized several high-tech industries (Isaacson, 2011).

Title: Alexander Hamilton Author: Ron Chernow Description: Ron Chernow provides a sweeping narrative of one of America’s most compelling founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton. Chernow combines extensive research with a flair for storytelling, charting Hamilton’s evolution from an orphan into a political genius. The book sheds light on Hamilton’s crucial role in the formation of the United States’ financial system and his political ideologies (Chernow, 2004).

2. Autobiography

An autobiography is a self-written record of someone’s own life. It is a personal narrative in which the author writes about their life from their own perspective.

Autobiographies are usually centered around the author’s personal experiences, including key milestones, challenges, and achievements (Eakin, 2015).

They’re also often a defense of the person’s perspective (especially in political autobiographies) or insight into their thought processes, which can make them very intimate.

Origins of Autobiographies

The term ‘autobiography’ was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English periodical The Monthly Review, when he suggested the word as a hybrid but condemned it as ‘pedantic’.

Pioneering examples of the genre form include Thomas De Quincey’s Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1821) and the memoirs by veterans of the Napoleonic Wars (Lejeune, 2016).

However, apart from these early instances, autobiographies have been composed by a wide array of individuals from history. 

In the early 20th century, the genre witnessed major transformations, and autobiographies started to cover a broader spectrum of experiences, including trauma, struggles, and successes.

‘Black Boy’ by Richard Wright, for instance, shares the author’s experiences with racism and his journey towards developing a literary career (Wright, 1945).

This was followed by a host of autobiographies by public figures sharing their diverse stories, such as Ernest Hemingway’s ‘A Moveable Feast’, depicting his days as a struggling young writer in Paris (Hemingway, 1964). 

Autobiography as a genre has continued to evolve over the years, and a variety of forms have emerged to communicate individual experiences globally.

As history has progressed, we see more and more people with diverse perspectives sharing their stories, broadening our understanding of the human experience (Smith & Watson, 2010).

Key Characteristics of Autobiographies 

Examples of autobiographies.

Title: Long Walk to Freedom Author: Nelson Mandela   Description: “Long Walk to Freedom” provides an in-depth exploration of ex-President Nelson Mandela, his political journey, and his stand against apartheid in South Africa. The biography offers a unique perspective into Mandela’s noble character, his indomitable spirit, and his commitment to justice when faced with grave adversities (Mandela, 1995). Mandela serves as one of our times’ great moral and political leaders through this biography.

Title: The Diary of a Young Girl Author: Anne Frank  Description: This biography provides a startling firsthand account of a young Jewish girl named Anne Frank, who with her family, hid from the Nazis in Amsterdam during World War II. Her diary entries offer profound insights into the fear, hope, and resilience she demonstrated during her two years in hiding (Frank, 1947). Frank’s posthumous biographical record serves as a reminder of the injustices of the past and as a symbol of endurance in the face of oppression.

Title: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Author: Maya Angelou  Description: This moving autobiography charts Maya Angelou’s early life, from experiencing racial discrimination in the South to becoming the first black streetcar conductor in San Francisco. Angelou portrays her journey of self-discovery and overcoming traumatic experiences, including racial prejudice and personal trauma, with remarkable strength and grace. Her story is one of resilience, and it speaks powerfully about finding one’s voice (Angelou, 1969). 

Title: Night Author: Elie Wiesel  Description: “Night” is Wiesel’s personal account of his experiences in Nazi concentration camps during World War II with his father. This heartbreaking narrative describes not only physical hardship and cruel atrocities but also examines the loss of innocence and the struggle to maintain faith in humanity. It stands as a testament to human resilience in the face of unimaginable horror (Wiesel, 1960).

Title: Dreams from My Father Author: Barack Obama Description: In this engaging memoir, the 44th President of the United States narrates the story of his diverse background and early life. The narrative extends from his birth in Hawaii to his first visit to Kenya, from dealing with racial identity to self-discovery. “Dreams from My Father” not only provides personal insights about Obama’s life and values but also discusses issues of race, identity, and purpose (Obama, 1995).

Similarities and Differences Between Biographies and Autobiographies

While both biographies and autobiographies are excellent sources of information and entertainment about significant figures in history (or the present!), they serve different purposes. By knowing the different purposes of each, we can develop stronger media literacy , understanding what the intention of the author is, and how we should approach the text.

Angelou, M. (1969). I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings . Random House.

Baker, J., Davis, E., & Thompson, K. (2013). Reflection and Emotions in Autobiography . Chicago University Press.

Boswell, J. (1791). The Life of Samuel Johnson . J.R. Taylor.

Brown, J., & Brown, S. (2018). Thematic Focus in Autobiography Writing . Princeton University Press.

Chernow, R. (2004). Alexander Hamilton . Penguin Books.

Ditchfield, S. (2018). Extracting the Domestic from the Didactic: Transmission and Translation of the Sacred in The Lives of the Ancient Fathers (1672–1675). Church History and Religious Culture, 98 (1), 28-50.

Eakin, P. J. (2015). How Our Lives Become Stories: Making Selves . Cornell University Press.

Frank, A. (1947). The Diary of a Young Girl . Contact Publishing.

Hemingway, E. (1964). A Moveable Feast . Charles Scribner’s Sons.

Isaacson, W. (2011). Steve Jobs . Simon & Schuster.

Johnson, M., & Johnson, S. (2017). A Comprehensive Guide to Biography Writing . New York: Penguin.

Johnson, S. (1781). The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets . Printed by C. Bathurst, J. Buckland [and 28 others in London].

Jones, B. (2015). The Art of Writing Biographies: An Objective Approach . Oxford University Press.

Lejeune, P. (2016). On Autobiography . University of Minnesota Press.

Mandela, N. (1995). Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela . Macdonald Purnell.

Miller, R. (2014). The Self as the Subject: Autobiography Writing . Stanford University Press.

Morris, E. (1979). The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt . Coward, McCann & Geoghegan.

Obama, B. (1995). Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance . Crown Publishing Group.

Schiffrin D., & Brockmeier J. (2012). Narrative Identity and Autobiographical Recall. Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplements, 70 , 113-144.

Smith, J., Davis, M., & Thompson, S. (2012). Third Party Narratives: An Exploration of Biography Writing . Cambridge University Press.

Smith, S., & Watson, J. (2010). Reading Autobiography: A Guide for Interpreting Life Narratives . University of Minnesota Press.

Sweet, R. (2010). Biographical Dictionaries and Historiography. Bibliothèque d’Humanisme et Renaissance, 72 (2), 355–368.

Wiesel, E. (1960). Night . Hill & Wang.

Williams, T. (2019). The Importance of Facts in Biographies . HarperCollins.

Wright, R. (1945). Black Boy: A Record of Childhood and Youth . Harper & Brothers.

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Autobiography vs Biography: Differences and Similarities

POSTED ON Oct 7, 2023

Written by Nicole Ahlering

So you want to learn more about your favorite influential figure. Should you read an autobiography or a biography about them? 

It depends on what you’re looking for! 

Need A Nonfiction Book Outline?

In this guide, we’ll explain autobiography vs biography and help you choose which one you want to read. We’ll also touch on where memoirs fit in with these genres. Let’s dive in! 

This autobiography vs biography comparison includes:

The similarities between biographies and autobiographies.

Both biographies and autobiographies are written accounts of a person’s life. They typically recount the person’s life experiences, challenges, and accomplishments. 

Usually, each of these genres is written in a narrative style. In other words, it uses storytelling techniques to convey information about its subject. 

Autobiographies and biographies both feature context about the subject’s life by discussing the time in which the subject lived (or is living), the culture and location in which they live(d), and more. 

Like any good story, the best biographies and autobiographies often feature narratives about trials that are overcome and lessons that are learned. They may also focus on the influence and impact of the book’s subject. 

Difference between biography and autobiography

The biggest difference between an autobiography and a biography is that an autobiography is written by the subject of the book about their own life, while a biography is written by another person. 

For example, actress Lucille Ball wrote an autobiography about her life called Love, Lucy . Meanwhile, an author named Kathleen Brady wrote a biography about Lucille Ball called Lucy: The Life of Lucille Ball .

Here are a few other key differences between the two genres: 

1. Different perspectives

Naturally, an autobiography is written from the first-person perspective, which means the author is providing a personalized point of view on their own life. 

Meanwhile, a biography is written from a third-person perspective, meaning the author is writing from an external point of view, with limited insight into the subject’s personal thoughts or feelings. 

2. Control of the narrative

When someone writes their autobiography , they control which parts of their life story they include and which they omit. They can choose which perspective they share and which parts of themselves they want to spotlight. 

Meanwhile, a biography relies on research, interviews and sources to construct a complete picture of a subject’s life. A biographer is likely to be more objective in their presentation of a person—perhaps even including unsavory details about their subject that the subject themselves wouldn’t include. 

3. Levels of objectivity

Even the best autobiography will be subjective because it’s based on the author’s personal memories and feelings. 

On the other hand, many biographers strive to be more objective in their writing. They tend to consult multiple sources, conduct a variety of interviews, and more to make sure they’re writing an accurate portrayal of their subject. 

4. Sources used

Because an autobiographer is writing a story about their own life, their sources will primarily be self-generated. Though they may rely on those close to them, like family members, to verify or recount certain memories they hold. 

That said, many autobiographers still need to do research to add context and depth to their life stories, whether that’s learning about the town they grew up in, their family history, or something else. 

Meanwhile, biographers rely on archival materials, research, interviews, historical documents, and more to help them write the story about their subject. 

5. Writing style

Because autobiographies are more personal, they often reflect the author’s unique writing style and personality. 

On the other hand, biographies generally strive to be more objective, with a focus on a cohesive, well-researched narrative. (But to be clear: they can still be very engaging!)

Where do memoirs fit in? 

We’ve learned about the differences and similarities between autobiographies and biographies, so where do memoirs fit into the puzzle? 

Like an autobiography, a memoir is written by the subject of the book. Both genres tend to focus on the author’s personal life, are written in the first person, and can be highly subjective. 

However, where autobiography vs memoir differs is partially in the scope of the book. An autobiography often encompasses most of the author’s life, while a memoir is likely to focus on one specific event, theme, or period in the author’s life. 

Memoirs also adhere less to chronological storytelling than autobiographies do. They can jump around in time and tend to be centered more on themes, reflection, or specific, impactful moments in the author’s life. 

In summary, you can think of memoirs as even more personal than autobiographies, focusing on a selected part of the writer’s life. They’re also more likely than autobiographies to be written by folks who aren’t famous. 

Final thoughts

While biographies, autobiographies and memoirs all tell a subject’s life story, they do it in different ways. The type of genre you’d like to read (or write) will be contingent on what you’d like to learn about your chosen subject. 

If you’re interested in writing your own memoir, autobiography or memoir, we can help you do it. Simply schedule a book consultation to get started. 

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What Is The Difference Between An Autobiography And A Biography?

What are the differences between autobiographies and biographies? 

The two words are not interchangeable .

And neither is a subset of the other.

Once you get a handle on what sets them apart, you’ll never get them confused again. 

You’ll be able to explain the difference between autobiography and biography as proficiently as any publisher or semantics expert .

And you’ll know just how to market your book to get your ideal reader’s attention . 

Let’s get started. 

1. Autobiographies are written by (or with) the subject. 

2. autobiographies are in the first person; biographies are (typically) in the third person. , 3. biographies don’t require the permission of the subject. , 4. autobiographies can include the subject’s thoughts and feelings. , 5. autobiographies are more subjective; biographies are meant to be more objective. , 6. autobiographies generally cover the entire life from childhood to the present. , 7. autobiographies inform the reader about the subject’s motives. , the difference between autobiography and biography: 7 distinctions you should know .

You’re here for one reason: to finally settle the autobiography vs. biography question. Maybe someone asked you, and you weren’t sure of your answer. Or perhaps you’ve confused autobiography and biography one too many times. 

You’re not alone. And you’re about to learn the critical differences and what these two have in common. 

If you’re writing a book about your own life, you’re writing either an autobiography or a memoir . 

Even if you’re paying a ghostwriter to write most or all of it for you, based on conversations with them, you’re still considered the author, and it’s still an autobiography (or memoir ). 

Every autobiography results from the subject’s own writing or a collaboration between the subject and their ghostwriter. 

With an autobiography, you address the reader using the first-person point of view . You’re telling them a story about your life. 

Since someone other than the subject (or their ghostwriter) writes the biography, it’s written about the subject — not from their point of view. The author of a biography typically refers to the subject using the third person. 

Using the third person creates distance between the narrator and the subject. 

Before writing the book, the author of a biography may or may not reach out to the (living) subject. They may want the subject’s permission and input. 

On the other hand, they may choose to write an “unauthorized biography” with shock value, in which case permission from the subject is more an obstacle than an advantage.

Much depends on whether the biographer has any real interest in understanding the subject and their motives. 

Unlike biographies, where the author typically doesn’t have access to the subject’s thoughts and feelings, the author of an autobiography does. 

Because the author is the subject, they know and can share their deepest motives behind the actions they’ve taken. They remember thoughts that came right before they did something they regret (or not). 

They remember how they felt during the most significant moments of their lives. 

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Biographies are supposed to be objective retellings of the subject’s life or the most noteworthy parts of it. 

Autobiographies, by contrast, are more subjective since the one writing them is the subject . 

When you write your autobiography, you give the world your unique take on your life, what happened to you, and what you did with it.

Your autobiography is not meant to be objective; it’s meant to be personal. 

Autobiographies generally cover the entirety of the subject’s (i.e., author’s) life up to that point. Memoirs typically focus on a particular part of the subject’s life. 

Biographies, too, focus on certain parts or aspects of the subject’s life, whether it’s a scandal, a collection of little-known fact-based anecdotes, or the secret to the subject’s success (or downfall). 

The point of a biography is to satisfy the ideal reader’s curiosity about the subject. 

Autobiographies focus less on facts than on the motives behind them — specifically the subject’s motives since those are the only ones the author knows. 

The author-subject writing their autobiography is in a unique position to understand the true motives of their book’s main character. 

And readers who genuinely care about that are more likely to take the subject-author’s word than that of an unauthorized biographer speculating as to the subject’s motives.. 

Now that you know the facts behind the biography vs. autobiography question, we hope you find it easier to explain the differences to anyone who asks. 

Whatever type of life story you’re writing, may you have all the information, insight, and resources you need to make it unputdownable — and a credit to your name. 

Happy writing! 

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autobiography

What is autobiography definition, usage, and literary examples, autobiography definition.

An  autobiography  (awe-tow-bye-AWE-gruh-fee) is a self-written  biography . The author writes about all or a portion of their own life to share their experience, frame it in a larger cultural or historical context, and/or inform and entertain the reader.

Autobiographies have been a popular literary genre for centuries. The first Western autobiography is attributed to Saint Augustine of Hippo for his 13-book work titled  Confessions , written between 397 and 400 CE. Some autobiographies are a straightforward narrative that recollects a linear chain of events as they unfolded. The genre has expanded and evolved to include different approaches to the form.

The word  autobiography  comes from the Ancient Greek  auto  (“self”) +  bios  (“life”) +  graphein  (“to write”) = “a self-written life.” It is also known as autography .

The History of Autobiography

Scholars regard Augustine’s  Confessions  as the first Western autobiography. Other autobiographical works from antiquity include Jewish historian Flavius Josephus’s  Vita  (circa 99 CE) and Greek scholar Libanius’s  Oration I  (374 CE). Works of this kind were called apologias, which essentially means “in my defense.” Writers approached these works not as acts of self-documentation but as self-defense. They represented a way to explain and provide rationale for their life, work, and escapades. There was also less focus on their emotional lives.

The Book of Margery Kempe , written in 1438 by an English Christian mystic, is the earliest known autobiography in English. (Though it didn’t see full publication until the 20th century.) Other early English-language biographies of note include:

• Lord Herbert of Cherbury’s 1764 memoirs
• John Bunyan’s  Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners  in 1666
• Jarena Lee’s  The Life and Religious Experience of Jarena Lee  (the first autobiography of an African American woman)

Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s  Confessions was published in 1782. It paved the way for the more thoughtful, emotionally centered autobiographies seen today. Autobiography as a literary genre emerged a few years later, when British scholar William Taylor first used the term to describe a self-written biography. He did so disparagingly, suggesting the form was  pedantic . In 1809, English Romantic poet Robert Southey used the term more seriously to describe self-written biographies.

Starting in the 20th century, more young people started writing autobiographies. Perhaps the most famous example is Anne Frank’s  The Diary of a Young Girl , about her time hiding from the Nazis in an Amsterdam attic. The 21st century saw an increase in autobiographical essay collections and memoirs by younger celebrities, including:

• Anna Kendrick
• Mindy Kaling
• Gabourey Sidibe
• Mike Birbiglia
• Lena Dunham
• Chelsea Handler

Autobiographies are not immune to controversy. One notable scandal involved author James Frey’s  A Million Little Pieces . Originally billed as a memoir, evidence later emerged that Frey invented key parts of the story. This example underscores how easily authors can cross over into autofiction—fictional autobiography—and how seriously readers take authors’ responsibility to accurately and honestly market their books.

Types of Autobiographies

There are a few different types of self-written works that qualify as autobiography.

Standard Autobiographies

In the most traditional form, authors recount their life or specific formative events from their life. This approach often utilizes a chronological format of events, but it doesn’t necessarily have to. An author’s approach might include a framing device such as flashbacks, in which they move from the present to the past as they remember their lives. For example, Broadway star Patti LuPone’s self-titled autobiography begins on the opening night of  Gypsy  in 2004 before moving back in time to LuPone’s childhood. An author could take a more stream-of-consciousness style, in which one memory links to another by a common theme. Irish writer Seán O’Casey narrates his six-volume  Autobiographies  in this manner

This is a type of autobiography that is narrower in scope and focus. It places greater emphasis on particular memories, thoughts, and feelings. A standard autobiography can certainly cover some of this same ground—most do—but the memoir is more interested in individual events or defined portions of the author’s life and the emotions and lessons behind them.

Henry David Thoreau is a notable memoirist. In Walden , he reflects on his time spent living in solitude in the woods of Massachusetts and what he learned about life and nature throughout this experience. Another example is  The Year of Magical Thinking  by Joan Didion, which relates the death of her husband and its impact on her life and work. Another is  Wild  by Cheryl Strayed, wherein Strayed remembers her time hiking the Pacific Crest Trail during a period of great change in her life.

Autofiction

The fictionalized autobiography, or autofiction, is another type of autobiography. The author presents their story not as fact but as fiction. This method gives them considerable space to take creative license with events and characters, thereby blurring the lines between reality and fiction. The overall goal is less about the author wanting to obscure facts and make things up and more a matter of taking another tactic to delve into their experiences in service of self-discovery.  Taipei  by Tao Lin is a work of autofiction. The central character, Paul, mirrors Lin’s own life and experiences, from the literary world of New York City to his ancestral roots in Taiwan.

Spiritual Autobiographies

These autobiographies center on the author’s religious or spiritual awakening and the subsequent journey their faith has taken them on. Common elements include struggles and doubt, a life-altering conversion, periods of regression, and sharing the “message.” These all act as endorsements of the author’s faith. Augustine’s  Confessions , Paramahansa Yogananda’s  Autobiography of a Yogi , and Augusten Burroughs’s  Toil & Trouble: A Memoir  are all spiritual autobiographies.

Autobiography vs. Biography

Both autobiographies and  biographies  are records of real lives, but there is one major distinction. A person other than the book’s subject writes a biography, while the subject themselves writes an autobiography. In this way, an autobiography is essentially a biography of the self. The biographer’s job is typically more involved, entailing detailed research into the life of the subject. The autobiographer, however, is usually not burdened by this because they lived through the events they write about. They may need only to confirm dates and stories to accurately relate the pertinent details.

The Function of Autobiography

An autobiography allows the author to tell the true story of their own life. This is the reason why autobiographies have always been written by famous people. History tends to remember notable individuals for just one significant contribution or event and, even then, the public’s perception of it may be inaccurate. Writing an autobiography allows the author to share the real story and put it into the larger context of their life and times.

Most readers pick up an autobiography expecting some degree of subjectivity from the author. After all, the events chronicled happened to the author, so the writing will of course have a biased  perspective . There are advantages to this subjectivity, though. The reader gets the real story directly from the person who lived it, unvarnished by others’ opinions or erroneous historical data.

One way this subjectivity is problematic is that the author may not possess the ability to see the story they’re telling from other perspectives. For example, they may not acknowledge any hurt they caused others, dangerous behaviors they engaged in, or the “other side” of a controversial event in which there are equally valid opposing viewpoints and experiences. Any of these deficiencies can result in a somewhat skewed narrative.

Writers Known for Autobiography & Autobiography Books

• Maya Angelou,  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings ,  Gather Together in My Name
• Jung Chang,  Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China
• Isak Dinesen,  Out of Africa ,  Shadows on the Grass
• Carrie Fisher,  Wishful Drinking ,  Shockaholic
• Anne Frank,  The Diary of a Young Girl
• Ernest Hemingway,  A Moveable Feast
• Karl Ove Knausgård,  My Struggle
• Frank McCourt,  Angela’s Ashes
• Anaïs Nin,  The Diaries of Anaïs Nin
• Marcel Proust,  Remembrance of Things Past
• Patti Smith,  Just Kids ,  M Train
• Mark Twain, The Autobiography of Mark Twain
• Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
• Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X
• Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie: An Autobiography
• Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
• Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi: An Autobiography 

Examples of Autobiographies

1. Maya Angelou,  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Angelou’s autobiography is the first installment in a seven-volume series chronicling the life of the legendary poet, teacher, actress, director, dancer, and civil rights activist. Given all those roles, it’s easy to see why Angelou’s life story makes for interesting reading.

This volume centers primarily on her early life in Stamps, Arkansas, and the devastating effects of a childhood rape. It also explores racism in the American South. It discuses the important role reading plays in helping young Maya deal with the sexual assault and pervasive prejudice in her environment.

2. Helen Keller,  The Story of My Life

Keller’s autobiography details her first 20 years, starting with the childhood illness that caused her blindness and deafness. She discusses the obstacles she had to overcome and the life-changing relationship she shared with her teacher, Anne Sullivan, who helped her learn to read and write. Keller also documents her friendships with several famous figures of her day, including Alexander Graham Bell, John Greenleaf Whittier, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and First Lady Frances Cleveland.

3. Vinh Chung,  Where the Wind Leads

Chung’s autobiography recalls the harrowing story of a Vietnamese refugee and his journey to make the American Dream his own. Born in South Vietnam, Chung comes of age in a changing political climate that eventually compels his family to flee the country. Their voyage takes them through the South China Sea, run-ins with pirates, resettlement in Arkansas, and Chung’s graduation from Harvard Medical School.

How to Write an Autobiography

Autobiography is a truly universal art form and is accessible to anyone, whether you're in high school or 100 years old. Exploring the process of writing an autobiography deserves an article in itself, but the process should include these steps:

• Determine your "why." What lessons do you want to impart via your story, and why are they worth sharing with a broader audience?
• Draft an autobiographical outline. It should include information about your upbringing, impactful moments throughout your life, stories of failure and success, and meaningful mentors.
• Begin with the easiest sections. Getting started is often the greatest hurdle, so begin by writing the chapters that feel most accessible or enjoyable.
• Write your first draft. Once you write the first chapters, it will feel easier to write the rest. Capitalize on your momentum and write a full draft.
• Step away. As with anything, stepping away from your work will help foster fresh perspectives when you return.
• Edit and re-write your draft. Your first draft will probably benefit from thorough revisions, as will your second draft, and maybe your third. Continue to edit and revise until it feels right.
• Ask for help. Bring in a trusted family member or friend or professional editor to help with final edits.

Further Resources on Autobiography

ThoughtCo. shares some  important points to consider before writing an autobiography .

The Living Handbook of Narratology delves into the  history of the autobiography .

MasterClass breaks autobiography writing down into  eight basic steps .

Pen & the Pad looks at the  advantages and disadvantages of the autobiography .

Lifehack has a list of  15 autobiographies everyone should read at least once .

Related Terms

• Frame Story
• Point of View

How to Define Autobiography

Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

An autobiography is an account of a person's life written or otherwise recorded by that person. Adjective: autobiographical .

Many scholars regard the Confessions (c. 398) by Augustine of Hippo (354–430) as the first autobiography.

The term fictional autobiography (or pseudoautobiography ) refers to novels that employ first-person narrators who recount the events of their lives as if they actually happened. Well-known examples include David Copperfield (1850) by Charles Dickens and Salinger's  The Catcher in the Rye (1951).

Some critics believe that all autobiographies are in some ways fictional. Patricia Meyer Spacks has observed that "people do make themselves up. . . . To read an autobiography is to encounter a self as an imaginative being" ( The Female Imagination , 1975).

For the distinction between a memoir and an autobiographical composition, see memoir  as well as the examples and observations below. 

From the Greek, "self" + "life" + "write"

Examples of Autobiographical Prose

• Imitating the Style of the Spectator , by Benjamin Franklin
• Langston Hughes on Harlem
• On the Street, by Emma Goldman
• Ritual in Maya Angelou's Caged Bird
• The Turbid Ebb and Flow of Misery, by Margaret Sanger
• Two Ways of Seeing a River, by Mark Twain

Examples and Observations of Autobiographical Compositions

• "An autobiography is an obituary in serial form with the last installment missing." (Quentin Crisp, The Naked Civil Servant , 1968)
• "Putting a life into words rescues it from confusion even when the words declare the omnipresence of confusion, since the art of declaring implies dominance." (Patricia Meyer Spacks, Imagining a Self: Autobiography and Novel in Eighteenth-Century England . Harvard University Press, 1976)
• The Opening Lines of Zora Neale Hurston's Autobiography - "Like the dead-seeming, cold rocks, I have memories within that came out of the material that went to make me. Time and place have had their say. "So you will have to know something about the time and place where I came from, in order that you may interpret the incidents and directions of my life. "I was born in a Negro town. I do not mean by that the black back-side of an average town. Eatonville, Florida, is, and was at the time of my birth, a pure Negro town--charter, mayor, council, town marshal and all. It was not the first Negro community in America, but it was the first to be incorporated, the first attempt at organized self-government on the part of Negroes in America. "Eatonville is what you might call hitting a straight lick with a crooked stick. The town was not in the original plan. It is a by-product of something else. . . ." (Zora Neale Hurston, Dust Tracks on a Road . J.B. Lippincott, 1942) - "There is a saying in the Black community that advises: 'If a person asks you where you're going, you tell him where you've been. That way you neither lie nor reveal your secrets.' Hurston had called herself the 'Queen of the Niggerati.' She also said, 'I like myself when I'm laughing.' Dust Tracks on a Road is written with royal humor and an imperious creativity. But then all creativity is imperious, and Zora Neale Hurston was certainly creative." (Maya Angelou, Foreword to Dust Tracks on a Road , rpt. HarperCollins, 1996)
• Autobiography and Truth "All autobiographies are lies. I do not mean unconscious, unintentional lies; I mean deliberate lies. No man is bad enough to tell the truth about himself during his lifetime, involving, as it must, the truth about his family and friends and colleagues. And no man is good enough to tell the truth in a document which he suppresses until there is nobody left alive to contradict him." (George Bernard Shaw, Sixteen Self Sketches , 1898)" " Autobiography is an unrivaled vehicle for telling the truth about other people." (attributed to Thomas Carlyle, Philip Guedalla, and others)
• Autobiography and Memoir - "An autobiography is the story of a life : the name implies that the writer will somehow attempt to capture all the essential elements of that life. A writer's autobiography, for example, is not expected to deal merely with the author's growth and career as a writer but also with the facts and emotions connected to family life, education, relationships, sexuality, travels, and inner struggles of all kinds. An autobiography is sometimes limited by dates (as in Under My Skin: Volume One of My Autobiography to 1949 by Doris Lessing), but not obviously by theme. "Memoir, on the other hand, is a story from a life . It makes no pretense of replicating a whole life." (Judith Barrington, Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art . Eighth Mountain Press, 2002) - "Unlike autobiography , which moves in a dutiful line from birth to fame, memoir narrows the lens, focusing on a time in the writer's life that was unusually vivid, such as childhood or adolescence, or that was framed by war or travel or public service or some other special circumstance." (William Zinsser, "Introduction," Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir . Mariner Books, 1998)
• An "Epidemical Rage for Auto-Biography" "[I]f the populace of writers become thus querulous after fame (to which they have no pretensions) we shall expect to see an epidemical rage for auto-biography break out, more wide in its influence and more pernicious in its tendency than the strange madness of the Abderites, so accurately described by Lucian. London, like Abdera, will be peopled solely by 'men of genius'; and as the frosty season, the grand specific for such evils, is over, we tremble for the consequences. Symptoms of this dreadful malady (though somewhat less violent) have appeared amongst us before . . .." (Isaac D'Israeli, "Review of "The Memoirs of Percival Stockdale," 1809)|
• The Lighter Side of Autobiography - "The Confessions of St. Augustine are the first autobiography , and they have this to distinguish them from all other autobiographies, that they are addressed directly to God." (Arthur Symons, Figures of Several Centuries , 1916) - "I write fiction and I'm told it's autobiography , I write autobiography and I'm told it's fiction, so since I'm so dim and they're so smart, let them decide what it is or isn't." (Philip Roth, Deception , 1990) - "I'm writing an unauthorized autobiography ." (Steven Wright)

Pronunciation: o-toe-bi-OG-ra-fee

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Home » Writing » Autobiography vs. Biography vs. Memoir

What is a Biography?

A biography, also called a bio, is a non-fiction piece of work giving an objective account of a person’s life. The main difference between a biography vs. an autobiography is that the author of a biography is not the subject. A biography could be someone still living today, or it could be the subject of a person who lived years ago.

Biographies include details of key events that shaped the subject’s life, and information about their birthplace, education, work, and relationships. Biographers use a number of research sources, including interviews, letters, diaries, photographs, essays, reference books, and newspapers. While a biography is usually in the written form, it can be produced in other formats such as music composition or film.

If the target person of the biography is not alive, then the storytelling requires an immense amount of research. Interviews might be required to collect information from historical experts, people who knew the person (e.g., friends and family), or reading other older accounts from other people who wrote about the person in previous years. In biographies where the person is still alive, the writer can conduct several interviews with the target person to gain insight on their life.

The goal of a biography is to take the reader through the life story of the person, including their childhood into adolescence and teenage years, and then their early adult life into the rest of their years. The biography tells a story of how the person learned life’s lessons and the ways the person navigated the world. It should give the reader a clear picture of the person’s personality, traits, and their interaction in the world.

Biographies can also be focused on groups of people and not just one person. For example, a biography can be a historical account of a group of people from hundreds of years ago. This group could have the main person who was a part of the group, and the author writes about the group to tell a story of how they shaped the world.

Fictional biographies mix some true historical accounts with events to help improve the story. Think of fictional biographies as movies that display a warning that the story is made of real characters, but some events are fictional to add to the storyline and entertainment value. A lot of research still goes into a fictional biography, but the author has more room to create a storyline instead of sticking to factual events.

Examples of famous biographies include:

• His Excellency: George Washington  by Joseph J. Ellis
• Einstein: The Life and Times  by Ronald William Clark
• Princess Diana – A Biography of The Princess of Wales  by Drew L. Crichton

What is an Autobiography?

An autobiography is the story of a person’s life written by that person. Because the author is also the main character of the story, autobiographies are written in the first person. Usually, an autobiography is written by the person who is the subject of the book, but sometimes the autobiography is written by another person. Because an autobiography is usually a life story for the author, the theme can be anything from religious to a personal account to pass on to children.

The purpose of an autobiography is to portray the life experiences and achievements of the author. Therefore, most autobiographies are typically written later in the subject’s life. It’s written from the point of view of the author, so it typically uses first person accounts to describe the story.

An autobiography often begins during early childhood and chronologically details key events throughout the author’s life. Autobiographies usually include information about where a person was born and brought up, their education, career, life experiences, the challenges they faced, and their key achievements.

On rare occasions, an autobiography is created from a person’s diary or memoirs. When diaries are used, the author must organize them to create a chronological and cohesive story. The story might have flashbacks or flashforwards to describe a specific event, but the main storyline should follow chronological order from the author’s early life to their current events.

One of the main differences between an autobiography vs. a biography is that autobiographies tend to be more subjective. That’s because they are written by the subject, and present the facts based on their own memories of a specific situation, which can be biased. The story covers the author’s opinions on specific subjects and provides an account of their feelings as they navigate certain situations. These stories are also very personal because it’s a personal account of the author’s life rather than a biography where a third party writes about a specific person.

Examples of famous autobiographies include:

• The Story of My Life  by Helen Keller
• The Diary of a Young Girl  by Anne Frank
• Losing My Virginity  by Richard Branson

What is a Memoir?

Memoir comes from the French word  mémoire , meaning memory or reminiscence. Similar to an autobiography, a memoir is the story of a person’s life written by that person. These life stories are often from diary entries either from a first-person account or from a close family member or friend with access to personal diaries.

The difference between a memoir vs. an autobiography is that a memoir focuses on reflection and establishing an emotional connection, rather than simply presenting the facts about their life. The author uses their personal knowledge to tell an intimate and emotional story about the private or public happenings in their life. The author could be the person in the story, or it can be written by a close family member or friend who knew the subject person intimately. The topic is intentionally focused and does not include biographical or chronological aspects of the author’s life unless they are meaningful and relevant to the story.

Memoirs come in several types, all of which are written as an emotional account of the target person. They usually tell a story of a person who went through great struggles or faced challenges in a unique way. They can also cover confessionals where the memoir tells the story of the author’s account that contradicts another’s account.

This genre of writing is often stories covering famous people’s lives, such as celebrities. In many memoir projects, the celebrity or person of interest needs help with organization, writing the story, and fleshing out ideas from the person’s diaries. It might take several interviews before the story can be fully outlined and written, so it’s not uncommon for a memoir project to last several months.

Memoirs do not usually require as much research as biographies and autobiographies, because you have the personal accounts in diary entries and documents with the person’s thoughts. It might require several interviews, however, before the diary entries can be organized to give an accurate account on the person’s thoughts and emotions. The story does not necessarily need to be in chronological order compared to an autobiography, but it might be to tell a better story.

Examples of famous memoirs include:

• Angela’s Ashes  by Frank McCourt
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings  by Maya Angelou
• Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S.  Grant by Ulysses S. Grant

Autobiography vs. Biography vs. Memoir Comparison Chart

Check out some of our blogs to learn more about memoirs:

• What is a memoir?
• 5 tips for writing a memoir
• Your memoir is your legacy

Ready to get started on your own memoir, autobiography, or biography? Download our free desktop book-making software, BookWright .

Autobiographies , Biographies , memoirs

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How To Write An Autobiography

Autobiography Vs Biography

Last updated on: Apr 26, 2024

Autobiography vs. Biography - What are the Differences?

By: Cordon J.

13 min read

Reviewed By: Melisa C.

Published on: Mar 22, 2023

Have you ever wondered about the differences between an autobiography and a biography?

You may have heard of these two terms before, but do you know how they are different from each other? Unfortunately, many people think that both could be used interchangeably, and that both are the same.

Well, you're in luck, because in this blog, we'll explore autobiographies and biographies and their unique perspectives on people's lives. This blog will go over the key differences between biographies and autobiographies so you can make a decision easily.

So without further delay let’s get started!

On this Page

What is an Autobiography?

An autobiography is a book written by someone about their life. Autobiographies are written in the first person throughout because the writer is the protagonist and the main character of the story.

The purpose of writing an autobiography is to provide a detailed account of the narrator's accomplishments and life events.

The autobiography style generally begins with early childhood and proceeds chronologically, listing all of a person's experiences throughout their life.

Autobiographies include information about where someone grew up, their career, life choices, accomplishments, and challenges they overcame.

Related Blog: Click here to discover the various types of autobiography .

Elements of an Autobiography

Let's explore these key components of an autobiography:

• First-person narrative: An autobiography is written in the first person, which means that the author tells their story using the pronoun "I."
• Personal tone: As the author is writing about their own experiences and insights, autobiographies often have a more personal and introspective tone.
• Comprehensive coverage: Autobiographies aim to cover the entire life story of the author, from their childhood to the present. This can include pivotal events such as the author's birth, family life, education, relationships, etc.
• Life experiences and motivations: Autobiography informs the audience about the author's life experiences, motivations, and perspectives. This can include the author's beliefs, values, and goals. 
• ‘The Story of My Life’ by Helen Keller
• ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’ by Anne Frank

Here's a short sample autobiography:

Follow the link to uncover the secrets to writing an astonishing autobiography, with this “ how to write an autobiography ” guide.

What is a Biography?

A biography is a history of a person's life written by someone else. Biographies are often written about famous individuals and personalities like sportsmen, motivational speakers, inspirational figures, etc.

Biographies also cover the subject's entire life. Therefore, it is crucial to include important information about the person's place of birth, education, childhood experiences, partnerships, and so on.

Elements of a Biography

Here are some key components of biography:

• Third-person perspective: Biographies are written in the third-person perspective. That means that the author tells the subject's story using pronouns such as "he," "she," or "they." 
• Chronological order: Biographies are typically organized in chronological order. It means that biographies are structured according to the timeline of the subject's life. 
• Formal and impersonal tone: Biographies are often more formal and impersonal in tone than autobiographies. The author may use a more scholarly writing style and avoid revealing personal thoughts and feelings. 
• Comprehensive coverage: Biographies are meant to provide a comprehensive account of the subject's life. It covers all of the important events and milestones in their life, from their childhood to their achievements, and legacy. 
• Accuracy: Biographies are often used as historical or educational resources. Therefore, it is important that the information presented is accurate and well-researched. 
• ‘His Excellency: George Washington’ by Joseph J. Ellis
• ‘Einstein: The Life and Times’ by Ronald William Clark

Here is a short biography sample:

Looking for an exceptional biography to read? Click on the link to read one for inspiration!

Autobiography vs. Biography - Key Differences

There are a few significant distinctions between biographies and autobiographies, despite the fact that they may appear to be similar.

Let’s take a look at some significant and key differences between the two.

Watch the video below to gain a more profound comprehension of autobiography vs biography.

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Similarities between an Autobiography and a Biography

Although they are distinct genres, biographies and autobiographies do have some things in common.

• Primary and Main Goal - The main goal of both types of books is to tell the story and life events of a person's life.
• Non-fiction Works - Autobiographies and biographies are nonfiction works that document significant events in a person's life. You can safely say that that is a kind of nonfiction novel that presents the facts.
• Prominent Figures as Subjects - Biography or autobiography is typically used to tell the stories of well-known people who have made remarkable achievements. Based on these similarities, many people wrongly think that they are the same.

Based on these similarities, many people wrongly think that they are the same.

Get a closer look at this autobiography vs biography worksheet we've designed for you!

Autobiography vs Biography Worksheet

Are Autobiography and Memoir the Same?

A biography includes the life of an individual, whereas a memoir is not necessarily an autobiography.

An autobiography, as the name implies, is a book that includes details like the person’s life story in chronological order. A formal, non-fiction style is employed.

A memoir focuses on a specific incident or component of someone's life rather than the complete narrative. Writing a memoir is more casual and emotional in nature.

Autobiography vs. Biography vs. Memoir

Here is a complete comparison chart that displays the key differences between all three kinds of works.

Curious to learn the differences between autobiographies and memoirs in detail? If so, click on this link to get your questions answered!

In an autobiography, the subject is telling a story about their own life. In a biography, someone else tells the story of someone's life. Both are important and interesting, but they both have different perspectives to offer. 

With so many options out there, we hope this blog helps narrow your search for one that best suits your interests!

Still, feeling unsure about how to start your autobiography or biography? MyPerfectPaper.net can help! 

Our professional essay writing service is here to guide you. We have a team of experts who can assist you in writing an essay that meets all academic requirements. 

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Which is better: biography or autobiography.

Both of these works are different from each other so no one could say for sure which one is better. Both are written for the same purpose and, therefore, besides the usual differences, both of them serve an important purpose.

What are the 4 types of biography?

Here are the 4 types of biography;

• Historical fiction
• Academic biography
• Fictional academic
• Prophetic biography

All 4 are different from each other and have different purposes also.

What is the difference between an autobiography and an autobiographical narrative?

An autobiography is a complete account of a person’s life, written and told in the person’s own words. However, when only a few events are narrated, it becomes an autobiographical narrative.

Is autobiography a narrative?

An autobiography is a nonfiction narrative. It means that though the stories and events are true it is told in a storytelling format.

How long is an autobiography?

Usually, an autobiography is between 200 to 400 pages long.

Can a book be both biography and autobiography?

No, a book cannot be both biography and an autobiography at the same time. A biography is a written account of someone's life as written by someone else. In contrast, an autobiography is a written account of someone's life written by the person themselves.

Law, Education

Cordon. is a published author and writing specialist. He has worked in the publishing industry for many years, providing writing services and digital content. His own writing career began with a focus on literature and linguistics, which he continues to pursue. Cordon is an engaging and professional individual, always looking to help others achieve their goals.

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Keep reading.

• How To Write An Autobiography: Tips, Ideas & Guidelines to Write Your Life Story

• Different Types of Autobiography Writing With Examples

• How to Write an Autobiography Format Easily?

• Autobiography vs. Memoir - How Are They Different?

• Autobiography Examples: Inspiration & Guidelines to Get You Started

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Definition of Biography

A biography is the non- fiction , written history or account of a person’s life. Biographies are intended to give an objective portrayal of a person, written in the third person. Biographers collect information from the subject (if he/she is available), acquaintances of the subject, or in researching other sources such as reference material, experts, records, diaries, interviews, etc. Most biographers intend to present the life story of a person and establish the context of their story for the reader, whether in terms of history and/or the present day. In turn, the reader can be reasonably assured that the information presented about the biographical subject is as true and authentic as possible.

Biographies can be written about a person at any time, no matter if they are living or dead. However, there are limitations to biography as a literary device. Even if the subject is involved in the biographical process, the biographer is restricted in terms of access to the subject’s thoughts or feelings.

Biographical works typically include details of significant events that shape the life of the subject as well as information about their childhood, education, career, and relationships. Occasionally, a biography is made into another form of art such as a film or dramatic production. The musical production of “Hamilton” is an excellent example of a biographical work that has been turned into one of the most popular musical productions in Broadway history.

Common Examples of Biographical Subjects

Most people assume that the subject of a biography must be a person who is famous in some way. However, that’s not always the case. In general, biographical subjects tend to be interesting people who have pioneered something in their field of expertise or done something extraordinary for humanity. In addition, biographical subjects can be people who have experienced something unusual or heartbreaking, committed terrible acts, or who are especially gifted and/or talented.

As a literary device, biography is important because it allows readers to learn about someone’s story and history. This can be enlightening, inspiring, and meaningful in creating connections. Here are some common examples of biographical subjects:

• political leaders
• entrepreneurs
• historical figures
• serial killers
• notorious people
• political activists
• adventurers/explorers
• religious leaders
• military leaders
• cultural figures

Famous Examples of Biographical Works

The readership for biography tends to be those who enjoy learning about a certain person’s life or overall field related to the person. In addition, some readers enjoy the literary form of biography independent of the subject. Some biographical works become well-known due to either the person’s story or the way the work is written, gaining a readership of people who may not otherwise choose to read biography or are unfamiliar with its form.

Here are some famous examples of biographical works that are familiar to many readers outside of biography fans:

• Alexander Hamilton (Ron Chernow)
• Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Caroline Fraser)
• Steve Jobs (Walter Isaacson)
• Churchill: A Life (Martin Gilbert)
• The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (Simon Winchester)
• A Beautiful Mind (Sylvia Nasar)
• The Black Rose (Tananarive Due)
• John Adams (David McCullough)
• Into the Wild ( Jon Krakauer )
• John Brown (W.E.B. Du Bois)
• Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo (Hayden Herrera)
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Rebecca Skloot)
• Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (Doris Kearns Goodwin)
• Shirley Jackson : A Rather Haunted Life ( Ruth Franklin)
• the stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit (Michael Finkel)

Difference Between Biography, Autobiography, and Memoir

Biography, autobiography , and memoir are the three main forms used to tell the story of a person’s life. Though there are similarities between these forms, they have distinct differences in terms of the writing, style , and purpose.

A biography is an informational narrative and account of the life history of an individual person, written by someone who is not the subject of the biography. An autobiography is the story of an individual’s life, written by that individual. In general, an autobiography is presented chronologically with a focus on key events in the person’s life. Since the writer is the subject of an autobiography, it’s written in the first person and considered more subjective than objective, like a biography. In addition, autobiographies are often written late in the person’s life to present their life experiences, challenges, achievements, viewpoints, etc., across time.

Memoir refers to a written collection of a person’s significant memories, written by that person. Memoir doesn’t generally include biographical information or chronological events unless it’s relevant to the story being presented. The purpose of memoir is reflection and an intention to share a meaningful story as a means of creating an emotional connection with the reader. Memoirs are often presented in a narrative style that is both entertaining and thought-provoking.

Examples of Biography in Literature

An important subset of biography is literary biography. A literary biography applies biographical study and form to the lives of artists and writers. This poses some complications for writers of literary biographies in that they must balance the representation of the biographical subject, the artist or writer, as well as aspects of the subject’s literary works. This balance can be difficult to achieve in terms of judicious interpretation of biographical elements within an author’s literary work and consideration of the separate spheres of the artist and their art.

Literary biographies of artists and writers are among some of the most interesting biographical works. These biographies can also be very influential for readers, not only in terms of understanding the artist or writer’s personal story but the context of their work or literature as well. Here are some examples of well-known literary biographies:

Example 1:  Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay  (Nancy Milford)

One of the first things Vincent explained to Norma was that there was a certain freedom of language in the Village that mustn’t shock her. It wasn’t vulgar. ‘So we sat darning socks on Waverly Place and practiced the use of profanity as we stitched. Needle in, . Needle out, piss. Needle in, . Needle out, c. Until we were easy with the words.’

This passage reflects the way in which Milford is able to characterize St. Vincent Millay as a person interacting with her sister. Even avid readers of a writer’s work are often unaware of the artist’s private and personal natures, separate from their literature and art. Milford reflects the balance required on the part of a literary biographer of telling the writer’s life story without undermining or interfering with the meaning and understanding of the literature produced by the writer. Though biographical information can provide some influence and context for a writer’s literary subjects, style, and choices , there is a distinction between the fictional world created by a writer and the writer’s “real” world. However, a literary biographer can illuminate the writer’s story so that the reader of both the biography and the biographical subject’s literature finds greater meaning and significance.

Example 2:  The Invisible Woman: The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens  (Claire Tomalin)

The season of domestic goodwill and festivity must have posed a problem to all good Victorian family men with more than one family to take care of, particularly when there were two lots of children to receive the demonstrations of paternal love.

Tomalin’s literary biography of Charles Dickens reveals the writer’s extramarital relationship with a woman named Nelly Ternan. Tomalin presents the complications that resulted for Dickens from this relationship in terms of his personal and family life as well as his professional writing and literary work. Revealing information such as an extramarital relationship can influence the way a reader may feel about the subject as a person, and in the case of literary biography it can influence the way readers feel about the subject’s literature as well. Artists and writers who are beloved , such as Charles Dickens, are often idealized by their devoted readers and society itself. However, as Tomalin’s biography of Dickens indicates, artists and writers are complicated and as subject to human failings as anyone else.

Example 3:  Virginia Woolf  (Hermione Lee)

‘A self that goes on changing is a self that goes on living’: so too with the biography of that self. And just as lives don’t stay still, so life-writing can’t be fixed and finalised. Our ideas are shifting about what can be said, our knowledge of human character is changing. The biographer has to pioneer, going ‘ahead of the rest of us, like the miner’s canary, testing the atmosphere , detecting falsity, unreality, and the presence of obsolete conventions’. So, ‘There are some stories which have to be retold by each generation’. She is talking about the story of Shelley, but she could be talking about her own life-story.

In this passage, Lee is able to demonstrate what her biographical subject, Virginia Woolf, felt about biography and a person telling their own or another person’s story. Literary biographies of well-known writers can be especially difficult to navigate in that both the author and biographical subject are writers, but completely separate and different people. As referenced in this passage by Lee, Woolf was aware of the subtleties and fluidity present in a person’s life which can be difficult to judiciously and effectively relay to a reader on the part of a biographer. In addition, Woolf offers insight into the fact that biographers must make choices in terms of what information is presented to the reader and the context in which it is offered, making them a “miner’s canary” as to how history will view and remember the biographical subject.

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8 Autobiography and Biography

Stephen Mulhall is fellow and tutor in philosophy at New College, Oxford. His current research concerns Wittgenstein, Heidegger, and Nietzsche. His most recent publications are On Film and The Wounded Animal: J. M. Coetzee and the Difficulty of Reality in Literature and Philosophy.

• Published: 02 September 2009
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This article looks at the relevance of biography and autobiography to philosophy. It suggests that the key to understanding the philosophical nature of biography and autobiography is to acknowledge the distinctive way in which the human subject's presence takes the form of a certain kind of absence. It explains that in order to understand the reality of selfhood it is important to recognize that it is beyond the grasp of any narrative account that might be given of it. It also argues that if autobiographical and biographical exercises can be genuinely authoritative or authentic in the way they make present the self's absence, then biography and autobiography must be considered forms of spiritual exercise, and engaging in such exercises must be inherent to becoming a person.

It seems clear that, of the two literary genres of the life story, autobiography has been more central to the interests and the development of philosophy than biography. It might even be argued that one could write an instructive (even if not exactly exhaustive) history of Western philosophy by concentrating solely on examples of philosophical autobiography; at the very least, such texts as Augustine's Confessions , Descartes's Meditations , Rousseau's Confessions , and Nietzsche's Ecce Homo would be pivotal to any attempt to narrate the story of the life of the mind in the West. So the question arises: why should this be the case? Why should such a highly specific mode of writing play such a deeply influential role in philosophy's unfolding and contested conception of itself? And if philosophy can find clarity about itself through a philosopher's attempts to attain clarity about himself, is that in part because any individual's pursuit of self-understanding will find itself drifting or drawn toward philosophical modes of reflection? If philosophical autobiographies are as central to the history and development of their genre as the illustriousness of my examples suggests, perhaps that is because the impulse to take up certain specifically philosophical problems lies at the heart of autobiographical (and hence, biographical) writing as such.

That some degree of philosophical concern for the autobiographical impulse might be appropriate is not in itself controversial. After all, it is one of philosophy's defining characteristics that it seems capable of taking an interest in, even presuming to adjudicate upon, pretty much any and every aspect of human life. We have the philosophy of art and morality, of science and of history, of politics and economics; we philosophize about the mind, the body, language, and logic, about what there is and how we might come to know about it. So it is no surprise that philosophers should take the human business of autobiography to be just as much capable of generating philosophical questions as any other piece of human business, and hence as capable of supporting what one might call “the philosophy of autobiography”—within which one might expect to find a critical investigation of the assumptions and concepts presupposed by any particular autobiographical exercise. But why should these assumptions and concepts—as opposed to those deployed by historian and scientists, or those informing our concerns with aesthetic and moral values—be of any particular, even of an obsessional, interest to philosophers? And why should philosophy repeatedly feel the need to express and to revolutionize itself through essentially autobiographical modes of writing?

An answer to this question might emerge if we reflect upon the peculiar kind of authority that philosophy assigns to its pronouncements. Historians, philologists, and molecular biologists are looked to as authorities concerning their respective subject matters because they have acquired a certain kind of expertise; they know a lot of things about the Second World War, or the vicissitudes of the Romance languages, or the behavior of DNA that most of us do not know, and they have mastered a range of investigative techniques or methods that can, in principle, generate an endless further supply of such knowledge.

Philosophy isn't like that—it has no distinctive subject matter; its peculiar kinds of questions are essentially parasitic upon the existence of other disciplines and domains of human life: they can arise with respect to any of those phenomena, and there is no body of distinctively philosophical knowledge or technique or method that must be mastered by anyone who wishes to try to answer those questions (or at least nothing that is not itself essentially subject to philosophical contestation and questioning). And yet, philosophers continue to claim sweeping authority for their pronouncements; they variously think of the results of their thinking as giving us access to the a priori, as speaking with necessity and universality, as deliverances of pure reason. How is this to be understood?

If we imagine the philosopher, at once gripped by her sense that her insights truly penetrate to a realm of impersonal necessity and yet unable to deny that those insights are unsupported by any impersonally authoritative expertise, I think that we will naturally conjure up a picture of an exposed self, one whose claims to the agreement of others necessarily place her individual existence on the line. In other words, we can picture philosophy as a kind of exemplary self-reliance, a mode of the self's relation to itself in which the individual self is deemed representative of selfhood as such. This does not give up on the philosophical claim to universality; it merely follows Aristotle in thinking that the universal can only be attained through and made manifest in the particular. Without some such picture of oneself as both particular and representative (even if representative only by virtue of one's particularity, which then at least exemplifies the human capacity for individuality—for differentiating oneself from every other human being), why would anyone write an autobiography? And one might then ask whether having such a picture of oneself is inherent to selfhood as such—a condition of being oriented as a subject in (and of) human life.

A picture of philosophical authority as essentially but impersonally autobiographical is detectable throughout the history of the subject, from Socrates onward. Even if we restrict ourselves to the modern period, we encounter Descartes's presentation of himself as subjecting himself to the threat of madness in a search for epistemological purity whose results he invites us to prove by enacting their production ourselves; we find Locke, Berkeley, and Hume acting on the conviction that one individual's discovery of something about his own mind (the absence or presence of an idea) is authoritative for all; and in more recent times, we find Austin and Wittgenstein speaking of what we say when, and thereby establishing how things are in the world, on the basis of their own individual sense of the fitness of words to their contexts of application. Each such inflection of the autobiographical impulse in philosophy obviously invites the charge of arrogance. Its inherent humility may be less obvious, but it is no less real, for, given that the representativeness claimed for the philosopher's individuality is such that any individual can also claim it, it can always be contested or denied. Hence, such self-reliance actually constitutes an important counterexample to the often rather less humble and self-aware modes in which philosophers have claimed authority over others.

If philosophy's peculiar combination of arrogance and humility can in this way be grounded in the self's relation to itself, then philosophy has a particular reason to preoccupy itself with the assumptions and resources of autobiographical writing—that of attempting to achieve not only a clearer understanding of the self, but also thereby a clearer self-understanding. It then becomes a matter of doubled or reflexive significance for philosophy to ask what it betokens about the self that it is capable of an autobiographical relation to itself. And since the idea of a biography is one factor in the meaning of the idea of the autobiographical, we might quickly conclude that this question is not one that we can properly address without also addressing the question of what it betokens about the self that other selves are capable of establishing a biographical relation to it.

Some philosophical accounts of this matter might be read as viewing any idea of the autobiographical as dependent on the biographical as arrived at rather too quickly. Does not Descartes's stance in the Meditations discover that, while the real existence of other minds is dubitable, the doubting self cannot doubt the reality of its own existence? And does this not suggest that an autobiographical relation to the self is possible in the absence of the possibility of any biographical relation to that self? But what such an account overlooks is not just the fact that Descartes himself appears to overlook certain constitutive dependencies of the self upon others (in, for example, the meditating self's need to inherit its capacity to articulate its train of thought in words of a common language), but also the fact that Descartes's textual enactment of his capacity to account for himself is addressed to others. And if others can grasp his own account of the life of his mind, what is to prevent them from offering an account of that life themselves (even one that contests his own)?

Could one imagine a situation in which others are in a position to offer an account of the life of an individual when that individual herself lacks any possibility of so doing? The issue here is not best exemplified in cases where someone who once had the capacity to offer an account of her own life comes to lose it (through accident or injury, say); the issue is rather whether, with respect to a creature who is essentially incapable of relating to itself as the possible object of an autobiography, others could regard that creature as the possible object of a biography. In other words, is it internal to our conception of what it is for someone to have or to live a life of which there might be a biography that she be capable of taking an autobiographical stance toward herself? Is our concept of the self such that its distinctive mode of existence must be writable, articulable in thought or speech, from both the first-person and the third-person perspectives?

A familiar line of thought, commonly based nowadays on more or less egregious misreadings of structuralist and poststructuralist philosophers, but also given expression by certain modernist writers, would reject this idea from the outset. To tell a story about oneself is, according to this suggestion, necessarily to falsify oneself; it is to impose a form and structure upon that which, like any aspect of the real, essentially transcends such constraints. Any application of language to reality—being an attempt to confine the particularity of the particular within necessarily general terms, and hence within the identity system of the concept—is a misapplication; hence, any application of words to the human self necessarily misses its target, even when it is the self itself that applies them to itself, even when it simply tries to name itself. As Samuel Beckett's narrator in The Unnamable puts it: “I, say I. Unbelieving … I seem to speak, it is not I, about me, it is not about me” (1979: 267).

A. S. Byatt's novel The Biographer's Tale (2000) pivots around these kinds of anxiety. Its protagonist, Phineas Nanson, is driven to take a biographical interest in the biographical work of one Scholes Destry-Scholes as a reaction to the ways in which literary theory (in his view) reduces individual texts to mere instances of general structures: “I must have things ,” he wails. “Facts” his supervisor proclaims: “The richness, the surprise, the shining solidity of a world full of facts. Every established fact—taking its place in a constellation of glittering facts like planets in an empty heaven, declaring here is matter, and there is vacancy—every established fact illuminates the world” (4). But even Destry-Scholes is discovered to have recoiled from or, rather, to have reoriented his biographical work in the direction of fictive accounts of the lives of Carl Linnaeus, Francis Galton, and Henrik Ibsen—a taxonomist, a statistician, and a playwright who famously invokes the image of the self as a centerless onion: three debunkers of the inspiring conception of genuinely individual elements of reality, and hence of human individuality. And even here, in these fragmentary, hybrid literary exercises, Destry-Scholes's own self remains absent, withdrawing from the biographer's grasp.

Peter Conradi, invoking a passage from one of Iris Murdoch's novels that expresses an analogous suspicion, draws a moral from it for his own biographical work on Murdoch: “In Under the Net , Hugo teaches Jake that ‘all stories are lies’ because truth is local and particular . This was the truth I sought. The biographer must construct a story. I decided to tell a succession of short stories that might be mutually contradictory, but were each internally coherent, and (I felt) individually truthful” (2002: 6).

But of course, if all stories are lies, then even a succession of internally coherent but mutually contradictory short stories could not (even in principle) be individually truthful. If Hugo is right, then the biographer and the autobiographer alike simply cannot achieve truth, and so cannot coherently seek it; but then we might ask whether Hugo's sense of the inherent particularity of truth really justifies the conclusion that its articulation in language, and particularly in the language of story, must fail. Perhaps truth is not lost the moment a story is constructed for its inhabitation; perhaps its fate rather depends (as Conradi's avowed moral and his biographical practice both suggest) on how one constructs the story—with what degree of particularity. The question of how a constructed story of an actual life may be truthful, even true, could not then simply be shirked.

Pursuing such an alternative line of thought, the philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre has argued in After Virtue (1981: 191–6) that the possibility of giving a narrative account of the self is internal to what it is for the self to be a self. He claims that selves are agents and that human actions are necessarily such that they are comprehensible in narrative terms. Actions are not just pieces of behavior, exhaustively describable in terms of physical movements; they are intentional, and hence can be comprehended only by relating them to the intentions, beliefs, and goals of the person performing them, and those intentions can be understood only in terms of the settings or contexts in which they are embedded. I am currently writing an essay; I might also be said to be supporting a university press, furthering my career, following a line of thought from earlier writing and teaching, repaying a debt to one of my colleagues, avoiding domestic commitments, and so on. It is therefore pertinent to ask what I am doing—in other words, to expect me to be able to specify under which of these various descriptions I primarily take myself to be doing what I am doing; and the answer I give will locate my action in a specific setting, which will in turn form part of a larger setting or context. If I am primarily supporting a university press, I am relating my action to the history of a particular publishing institution, and thereby to the particular history of academic philosophical discourse; if I am avoiding domestic commitment, the relevant larger setting is the history not only of the institution of marriage but also of my marriage and its entwinement in my own life as well as that of others. And, of course, I might think of myself as doing both. But however I answer this question, I must do so by implicitly or explicitly embedding my action in a narrative history. I thereby render it comprehensible—that is, recountable as an episode in a set of nested stories—not only to myself but also to others, and in the absence of such embedding, there is nothing that might count as an action to be understood either by myself or others, and so nothing of agency in what I do, only matter in motion. As MacIntyre summarizes the matter:

I am presenting … human actions in general as enacted narratives. Narrative is not the work of poets, dramatists and novelists reflecting upon events which had no narrative order before one was imposed by the singer or the writer; narrative form is neither disguise nor decoration …. It is because we all live out narratives in our lives and because we understand our own lives in terms of the narratives that we live out that the form of narrative is appropriate for understanding the actions of others. Stories are lived before they are told—except in the case of fiction. (1981: 197)

On this understanding of agency, the identity or unity of a self is the unity of a narrative, a unity of exactly the kind to which autobiographical and biographical stories typically give expression, and since the form such stories give to human lives corresponds to the form that such lives actually have, it must in principle be possible for such stories to capture the truth of a human life (even if practical difficulties of all kinds might prevent its attainment in any given case).

Such an understanding can allow for the possibility that calling a given event or action a beginning or an end confers significance of a kind upon it, and hence can be a matter of debate, since it claims only that the nature of the debate takes for granted the constraints of a narrative tale. It can also acknowledge that individuals are not entirely free to live out whatever story they please—that they are only coauthors of the narrative in which they are their own heroes, insofar as we enter upon a stage that is not of our own design, into ongoing, interlocking narratives that are not of our own making, playing subordinate parts in the dramas of others as well as the central part in our own. It can even allow for the possibility of the most thoroughgoing rejection of the terms in which one's inherited settings inform the narrative options one confronts in living out one's life, for such rejection is simply one extreme way in which one lives out the drama of one's own existence in relation to the other dramatic narratives within which it is embedded. Most centrally, however, it rebuts the charge that to give a narrative account of a human life is necessarily to falsify it—to impose on it an order or form (a structure of beginnings, unfoldings, reversals, achievements, triumphs, disasters, and endings) appropriate to fiction but essentially lacking in reality.

Something like the contrary is in fact the case. Autobiography and biography are motivated by the requirements of truthfulness toward a conception of human life as possessed of narrative form and structure, and this is not because such forms happen to coincide with the way human existence is objectively structured, but rather because the distinctively human form of individual existence is constituted by the exercise of our capacity to tell our own stories. The specific modes of that narrativity may be historically and culturally specific, just as certain forms of self-interpretation (say, those of the Homeric king or warrior) may recede beyond our social grasp only to be replaced by others (say, those of president or spy), but that there are modes or genres of narrative self-interpretation is constitutive of distinctively human life.

MacIntyre's basically Aristotelian approach thus rightly brings the techniques of certain kinds of fiction and those of biography and autobiography into close proximity. It is not clear, however, how well he handles his consequent obligation to show how the two genres might be distinguished (given that they are not to be distinguished by reference to the narrative forms they assume or impose). As we have just seen, he claims that, whereas with respect to real people, stories are lived before they are told, with respect to fictional people it is otherwise; presumably, he does not mean by this that fictional lives are told before they are lived, but rather that they are not lived before they are told—even, perhaps, that the living of them and the telling of them are in some sense one and the same thing. And later, he remarks, “The difference between imaginary characters and real ones is not in the narrative form of what they do; it is in the degree of their authorship of that form and of their own deeds” (1981: 200). Both remarks, however, overlook the distinction between author and character in fictional narratives.

David Copperfield and Sherlock Holmes have exactly the same degree of authorial control over their own actions, exactly the same need to accept the constraints of the settings of their actions and exactly the same responsibility for what they do within those constraints, as did Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or, indeed, any real human beings; if they did not, their authors would not have produced a satisfying fictional depiction of human individuals. In particular, David Copperfield certainly lived those events of his life that he is recounting before the event in his life that is his recounting of them: he is remembering his childhood and youth. To be sure, Dickens and Doyle invented Copperfield and Holmes, and hence might be said to be in this sense entirely in control of their creations (although fiction writers are prone to articulate their experience of their characters in precisely opposite terms—as beings who reveal their nature and destiny to their authors, and as alive only insofar as their authors suffer this revelation of their autonomy), but Dickens and Doyle are not characters or forces of any kind in the world in which Copperfield and Holmes live out their lives, the world of the novels in which they are characters.

What this reveals is, I think, an essential confusion in the attempt to illuminate the nature of the real human self's relation to itself by this kind of reference to an author's relation to the characters in a story he has written. For if we say that a human being's relation to itself is that of (part) author of a tale in which she is the hero, then she must be regarded both as a character in the story told by the author and as the author of that story, but these two kinds of relation to the fictional character are not only radically different, but also not obviously combinable. An author of a fictional narrative is (at least according to the model we are considering) at liberty to choose whom to write about, the nature of the world she inhabits, and the events that will make up her life, but as MacIntyre acknowledges, human individuals have no such absolute freedom in relation to the narratives of their own lives. A character in a fictional narrative of the realistic kind (that is, a fictional narrative of the real world) relates to the settings and circumstances in which she finds herself, and to herself, in exactly the way a real human being does; hence her position reiterates that of the real person, rather than contrasting illuminatingly with it.

None of this definitively undermines MacIntyre's core claim that real human lives necessarily have a narrative structure; indeed, insofar as this line of thought depends upon seeing a correspondence between the narrative unity of fictional and real characters as essential to the former's ability to elicit our suspensions of disbelief, it actually reinforces it. What he needs to get more accurately into focus is not any spurious set of differences between a fictional character's relations to her existence and that of a real person, but rather a real and important set of differences between a real person's relationship to another person, and her relationship to a fictional character, for the techniques of realistic fiction can give its readers modes of access to the inmost thoughts and feelings, the most subtle and fine-grained details, of a fictional character's consciousness that are simply unavailable when one is trying to grasp the significance of a real person's thoughts, sayings, and doings. My point here is not that another's most complex thoughts and feelings are beyond expression by that other; if an author can articulate them in a fictional case, there is no reason in principle why a real person cannot convey such things. The point is rather that, with respect to another real person, the sincerity of her self-expressions may be open to question at any given point, whereas when certain fictional techniques are used to convey to us a fictional character's stream of consciousness, we cannot coherently question whether what is thereby conveyed is true.

This point needs careful handling, of course. My claim is not that everything we learn in a work of fiction about a character's inner life—even when it is the character that informs us of it—is trustworthy. The murderer who narrates Agatha Christie's The Mystery of Roger Ackroyd does not tell us everything he could, and he certainly does not tell us everything he is thinking, but he never lies, and if he did, his narrative would be unreadable; a completely unreliable narrator—as opposed to one who gives himself away—would not be a narrator at all. Furthermore, the shadow of unreliability in a fictional character's autobiographical narrations is not exactly equivalent to that which hangs over real journals and memoirs. Any biographer must certainly be sensitive to the possible inaccuracies, deceptions, and self-deceptions embedded in her subject's autobiographical writings, but these are controlled or constrained for the reader of a fictional autobiography in ways that the real biographer simply cannot take for granted. It would be essentially pointless, even incoherent, for an author to write a work of fiction taking the form of an autobiography that was largely fabricated by its fictional author, but whose status as a fabrication was undetectable to its readers, whereas a real person's autobiography might well be written with the perfectly intelligible intention of meeting both conditions, and could even succeed in doing so. And the deployment of other fictional techniques similarly excludes certain possibilities of fabrication or deception; for example, when Jane Austen reports Elizabeth Bennet's interior responses to Darcy's letter, there is simply no room for her readers intelligibly to raise the question of whether those responses are what they are reported to be (although they might exhibit certain species of self-deception).

These are the kinds of painstaking comparison and contrast that will truly clarify the differences between our relations to real people and our relations to fictional characters, and the different ways in which these differences emerge in biographical and autobiographical genres. MacIntyre simply does not attend with sufficient patience to these complexities, and as a result, his portrait of the essentially narrative unity of the self can appear to be not only inaccurate but also symptomatic—as if designed to repress something central to the issues with which he is concerned—for his doomed attempt to cross or graft a picture of absolute authorial freedom onto the more familiar, constrained kind encountered both in reality and in realistic fiction strongly suggests that he is tempted to overlook or repress some limit or condition inherent in the way in which human individuals relate to their own existence (and to occlude thereby some limit or condition inherent in attempts by others to narrate that existence from without—to write a biography of the kind of existence that necessarily possesses that kind of relation to itself).

Some suggestions as to what this limit might be can be gleaned from Heidegger's conception of the nature of distinctively human being—what in Being and Time (1927) he calls Dasein. On the one hand, Heidegger presents a portrait of human existence that appears to confirm many aspects of MacIntyre's account. For him, Dasein treats its own being as an issue—that is, every moment of its existence confronts it with the question of how to go on with its life, of which among a given range of possibilities it should realize; it thereby projects itself into the future, and does so from a present position that is the result of past such projections, and thereby partly constituted by individual and social factors that either never were or, at the very least, are no longer within its control—a position into which it has been thrown.

This vision of human existence as thrown projection suggests not only that Dasein's mode of being is temporal (more specifically historical), but also that its every element is comprehensible only as a situated transition—a movement within a nest of interlinked narratable structures, an episode in the story of a life. Heidegger reinforces this image by recounting Dasein's temporality in terms of fate and destiny; an individual relates authentically to its life—relates to it as its own, as expressive of its individuality, rather than disowning it—when it recovers from its past a heritage of certain possibilities that it can project into the future as fateful for it, thereby helping to realize (by coauthoring with other Dasein) the destiny of a people.

On the other hand, there are ways in which Heidegger's conception of human historicality can be read as subverting rather than simply reinforcing MacIntyre's emphasis on the necessarily narrative unity of the self. The troublesome term here is “unity,” for while Heidegger's talk of Dasein as thrown projection can be understood as emphasizing that Dasein's existence has a necessarily temporal or historical dimension, and hence that its unity is a matter of being a whole articulated in time (as opposed, say, to a Cartesian conception of the self as having the essentially punctual unity of an immaterial substance existing outside time), one can also understand Dasein's temporality as constitutively resisting any idea of human existence as unified or whole.

Take, for example, the projective aspect of Dasein's being—what Heidegger calls its being-ahead-of-itself. This means that, for as long as Dasein exists, it necessarily relates itself to existential possibilities; whenever one is actualized, it is actualized as a situation within which (better, as which) Dasein relates to some other, unactualized range of possibilities. This means that Dasein always already relates itself to what is not yet; it stands out into the future, and so there is always something outstanding, something essentially incomplete, in its mode of being. And yet, of course, Dasein does have an end: there is necessarily a point at which every individual life comes to an end—the point of one's death. But, of course, when that point of completion is reached, Dasein is not thereby made complete, for it is no longer there. Dasein's death is not an event in its life, even the last; the point at which it can no longer be said to relate itself to what is not yet actual, and thus to be essentially incomplete, is also the point at which it no longer exists.

MacIntyre seems to think that human mortality straightforwardly confirms his conception of the narrative structure of the self, for when confronted with a critic who claims that life has no endings, and that final partings occur only in stories, he says: “[O]ne is tempted to reply “But have you never heard of death?” (1981: 197). But Heidegger's analysis makes it clear that the human subjection to death in fact introduces an obstacle to narrative understandings of human life, for if my death is necessarily not an event in my life, I cannot grasp it as an episode—even as the final episode—in the story of my life; I may be the hero, as well as the part author, of the story of my dying, but I am necessarily not the chief, or even the sole, protagonist in my death. Hence, Heidegger concludes, I cannot relate to my own death as simply one more possibility of my being, one more possible way of existing that is bound to be actualized sooner or later, for its actualization is my absence, and hence not a possibility of mine, although the life that is mine is marked at every moment by my relation to that impossible possibility. My mortality is not a matter of my life's necessarily having one and only one ending; it is a matter of every moment of my existence possibly being the last such moment, and of my being unable to grasp what that might mean—at least, in the sense in which I can grasp (can understand or imaginatively inhabit) the realization of any other existential possibility or narrative event in my life (such as getting married, or winning the Booker Prize, or mowing the lawn). I cannot grasp it from the inside, as it were (as something that will happen to me), and yet it (what?) looms over and constitutively defines the character of every moment of the life that I do inhabit from the inside, the life that is mine to own or to disown.

How is the self to capture this impossible but necessary knowledge of itself, to articulate autobiographically the way in which its relation to itself in every moment of its existence is marked by its relationship to its own mortality? On Heidegger's view, it is only through an acknowledgment of this relationship that any human being can establish and maintain what he calls an authentic relationship to her life. Grasping the fact that death threatens my existence as a whole, that it cannot be outrun and that no one else can die my death for me, is what will allow me to grasp that my life forms a whole (each choice forming and formed by the overall narrative arc of my existence), that I am ultimately responsible for it, and that I can either take on that responsibility or live in flight from it. Without understanding whether, and if so how, a given person has succeeded or failed in living a genuinely individual life, how can we claim to have understood that person's life, and so that person? But on Heidegger's account, the person herself cannot properly be said to have access to a perspective upon herself from which her own mortality can make narrative sense to her, so in struggling for authenticity, she confronts a constitutive resistance to self-knowledge, a limit to the story of her life—better, to the idea of her life as a story—beyond which her own understanding of herself cannot reach, but it is only in relation to this disruption or dislocation of its narrative structure that her life can attain (and be seen to attain) its individual narrative shape.

And if the self's mortality threatens to subvert the possibility of autobiographical understanding, then how might another self articulate a biographical understanding of that individual? The biographer has the apparent advantage of being able to grasp her subject's death as an event in life—one greeted by mourning, funeral rites, the reading of the will and the unfolding of its legacies (financial, emotional, and cultural). But this is to grasp her subject's death as an event or episode in the lives of others, in the world that the subject no longer inhabits; it is not to grasp her death as hers—in its mineness, as Heidegger would say. Further narrative contexts and consequences come into view from this third-person perspective and provide ways of understanding unavailable to the subject that might expand or subvert certain aspects of her self-conception, but the pervasive opacity—the internal relation to nothingness—that the first person encounters as constitutive of its own mortal identity remains untouched, and to that degree so does the person. 1

Similar damage is done to the idea of the self as a narrative unity—or rather, the same damaging difficulty appears from another angle—if one shifts emphasis from Heidegger's sense of the self as projective, as being-ahead-of-itself, to his sense of the self as thrown, or being-already (being-always-already). This aspect of his analysis of Dasein's being is in fact made rather more prominent in Sartre's rereading of Being and Time in conjunction with his rereading of Descartes, as presented in Being and Nothingness . Sartre's starting point is to contest the Cartesian declaration of Alain (Émile Chartrier) that to know is to know that one knows. This is one aspect of Descartes's conception of the self as essentially transparent to itself; the Cartesian mind cannot be in a particular state—for example, that of doubting—without simultaneously knowing that it is in such a state, and hence knowing that it is (i.e., that it exists as doubting). To be thinking and to be aware of oneself as thinking are two aspects of one and the same state of the self; hence, each such state provides the basis for a cogito argument—for the self's certainty of itself, in every punctual moment of its existence, as existing and as existing in a particular state, and ultimately for the self's knowledge of itself as a self-identical immaterial thinking substance.

But Sartre argues that Descartes conflates the self's necessary potential for self-awareness with its actualization, and does so because he occludes the temporality of the self. Sartre stresses that all mental states are intentional—they are directed at something other than themselves: to desire is to desire something in particular, to perceive is to perceive something, and so on. Typically, the self is absorbed in the object of its given state of consciousness; for example, when someone in wartime (subjected to strict rationing) counts the number of cigarettes in his case, he is entirely absorbed in the question of the case and its contents, and entirely unaware of being so absorbed. He can, however, become aware of his absorption; if someone sits down at his café table and asks what he is doing, he can activate the capacity inherent in any genuine self to take any of its own conscious states as the object of its conscious awareness. But in so doing, he actualizes a new state of himself—one whose intentional object is no longer the cigarettes but rather his state of absorption in the cigarettes—and in actualizing that self-conscious state, he is necessarily no longer occupying that state of unself-conscious absorption. To take oneself as one's intentional object is to take up another state of oneself and to relegate the state that is now one's intentional object to one's past. And if one now takes one's self-consciousness of that prior absorbed state as one's new intentional object, one will necessarily no longer exist in that self-conscious state, but in a new state (whose intentional object is one's previous awareness of oneself as having been absorbed in the cigarettes).

In short, one can be conscious of oneself only as one was, not as one is; the self's necessary capacity to direct its attention to itself as well as to that which lies beyond it is realized, and is only realizable, in time, and hence is essentially incapable of bringing the whole of itself (including its present state) into self-consciousness. In effect, then, the phenomenon of self-consciousness does not (as Descartes believed) show that the self is essentially transparent to itself and identical with itself; it rather condemns the self to non-self-identity, to a necessary inability to coincide with itself, to gather itself up as a whole in its own awareness. Heidegger talks of this as an aspect of the self's being-guilty—its inability to have power over its own being from the ground up. Sartre sees it as exemplifying the for-itself's nature as being what it is not, and not being what it is.

Once again, to a certain extent, this conception of the self is congenial to a MacIntyrean analysis of selfhood as a narrative unity—despite MacIntyre's explicit conviction (evident throughout After Virtue ) that the Sartrean self is the absolute antithesis of his Aristotelian conception. After all, Sartre's conception of self-consciousness precisely allows the self to take up a perspective upon not just its immediate past states, but also its past as a whole, without which the idea of it understanding itself as the hero of an unfolding narrative would not be possible. And further, on Sartre's view, if the self really did coincide with itself, if what it previously was entirely exhausted or determined what it is, then the self would lack freedom; it would lack the ability to be part author of its own narrative as it extends into the future.

Nevertheless, MacIntyre is right to detect a fundamental conflict between his position and that of Heidegger and Sartre, for part of their point is that the self necessarily transcends any narrative it might be in a position to tell about itself, since any such narrative will always fail to include the moment of its own narrating, and the inclusion of that moment will necessarily fail to include the moment in or through which it is included, and so endlessly on. The narrative of David Copperfield does not include David's act of writing that narrative as an episode within it, and if it did, what of his act of writing about that act of writing? This may be what the film director John Boorman is trying to get at when he remarks at the conclusion of his recent autobiography that “I suppose the only completely satisfactory ending to an autobiography would be a suicide note” (2003: 301). In fact, however, such a note could not be completely satisfying, since it would remain promissory; to write a suicide note and to commit suicide are two rather different things. William Golding's novel The Paper Men (1984), in which an English novelist tells the story of his resistance to an American academic's attempts to write his biography, may actually get closer to Boorman's ideal, although it too fails to attain it, for it ends not so much in midword but in midphoneme, as the scribbling novelist notices that his would-be biographer, frustrated and enraged to the point of violence, is lurking in the woods outside his home: “How the devil did Rick L. Tucker manage to get hold of a gu” (191).

Herbert McCabe makes it clear, in his book The Good Life (2005), that this is not simply a point about the complications of being immersed in time; it is another way of approaching my earlier point about the difference between authors of narratives and the characters or personas in them, this time in an explicitly autobiographical context:

These problems have to do with the fact that “I” cannot function as a proper name. “I tell you” is not part of a story in which “I” is a character; it is the telling of a story. It is a sign of authority, of authorship as such (it is, as Aquinas would say, formal not material to the story). My life-story is not the story of “I” but the story of Herbert McCabe, who has become a persona, a persona distinct from I, the author. As Herbert McCabe in the story I have been made flesh and dwell among the other characters. How, then, do we get beyond any story to meet the ultimate author, the ultimate authority? (75)

Certainly not by telling any further story about the author, since that merely presents us with another author-as-character, beyond which again lies the author-as-author, the formal condition for there being a story at all.

Consequently, even autobiography does not and cannot take us to the author it is ostensibly about in the way that an ordinary story takes us to the character in the story; even if the autobiographer's last chapter concerns his writing of this very autobiography, it cannot bridge the unbridgeable gap between author-as-author and author-as-character. But this does not mean that we cannot meet the author; it means that we meet him not in reading about him qua character, but just in the form and the fact of the story itself, in the tale and the telling of it—in short, in its authority (the authority it claims, and the authority we cede it).

McCabe illustrates this point by reference to the Bible, understood as the autobiography of God. On the one hand, no one has ever seen or grasped God, and no one ever could; put otherwise, there can be no life story of the eternal God as such, since “eternal life” means “nonnarrative life,” which is a contradiction in terms. On the other hand, we are told that the Word has become flesh: God has become incarnate in a narrative, in the character of the Son, over against those of the Father and the Spirit. The Bible (the whole of the Bible, from Genesis to Apocalypse) is the story of the Son; the historical life of Jesus is the Trinitarian life of God played out as history. Hence, encountering God and participating in divine life are possible, but not by directly encountering the author of this narrative as author; it rather involves understanding the narrative as God's story—that is, regarding the historical narrative of the Son as authorized and so authored by God, reading it as in form and fact the authoritative image of the unseen and unseeable Author of all things. It means, in other words, belonging to the community of readers (the Christian community) who acknowledge the Bible as God's Word.

Heidegger and Sartre might baulk at the theological inflection of this example, but they would not reject the fundamental point it registers about the ineliminable difference between formal and material conditions of autobiographical authorship. In their less Thomist terms, it might be thought of as the way in which one's understanding of one's life from the inside involves a sense that one always necessarily comes to understand it belatedly; the self's life is lived before it is understood, and hence, even if it is then understood in narrative terms, the self must also acknowledge that the reach of its story about itself encounters a constitutive limit—a point from which its story as a whole, and each episode within it, must simply be accepted as having begun, beyond any complete recounting (even one that invokes the ongoing, conditioning narratives of other selves or institutional contexts).

In one sense, MacIntyre actually makes this Sartrean point when he explicitly claims that human lives are lived before they are told. But he does not seem to see that this very point determines an internal limit to the cogency of his claim that lives are enacted narratives, or at least to the thought that this fact about them confers a certain kind of unity on those lives. For Sartre and for Heidegger, to exist in time is not only a condition for the possibility of there being a narratable self, an individual possessed of a life of which she can render an intelligible account; it is also an ineliminable obstacle to the completeness or totality of that account.

If the self's autobiography will necessarily fail to include the whole story about that self in this sense, could any biographer of the self do a better job? To be sure, they would not be caught up in their subject's structural inability to catch up with herself; indeed, after the death of the subject, every episode in her life will be available for investigation, as will the nest of other narratives (of other selves, of institutions and cultures) that interlocked with the subject's life, and thereby—so one might think—a far more encompassing conception of her life as a narrative whole. But that way of telling the story of the subject's life avails itself of a perspective essentially unavailable to the subject, and entirely occludes the perspective on that life which the subject of it necessarily occupies, so such a biography would to that extent be false to her subject's relation to her life, and hence false to an essential aspect of her subject's life. One might say that presenting her life as such a narrative whole does not, and could not, tell the whole story of that life.

Suppose one accepts that offering more and more information of the kind available to the biographer (and typically, even necessarily, unavailable to the biographical subject)—contextualizing the life ever more intensively and extensively, in the manner of so many contemporary biographies—can never fill a gap engendered by the constitutive difference between the first- and third-person perspectives on a life. It would not improve matters to imagine that one should instead attempt ever more systematically and penetratingly to adopt the first-person perspective upon that life—to dedicate one's account to the task of imaginatively inhabiting the subject's relation to her own life, for this would be to assume that the subject possesses an understanding of these aspects of her relation to her own life that others lack, whereas the true point of Heidegger's and Sartre's exertions is to show that the first-person perspective encounters a constitutive opacity here just as much as does that of the third person. Neither, however, would it be appropriate to conclude from all this that the very idea of giving a narrative account of the self, or even the idea that the self has a narrative unity, must be given up. The true moral of these analyses is rather that we must reject a certain idea of what it is to conceive of the self as having a narrative unity, and hence of what it might be to articulate that unity in discourse, whether in autobiographical or biographical form. In McCabe's terms, we need to reconceive the way in which we think such narratives acquire and manifest authority; for Heidegger and Sartre, it is a matter of how they, and so we, achieve authenticity.

This is not essentially a matter of authenticating the deliverances of one's memory or the provenance of a document, or of claiming the authority that might flow either from being the central character in a certain sequence of events or from synthesizing the accounts of all involved in it—the familiar (and hardly unimportant) ways of acknowledging any individual's privileged and yet contestable capacity to determine the narrative of her life, and so the most obvious means of securing autobiographical and biographical trustworthiness. What these philosophers are rather trying to argue is that any truly authentic or authoritative exercise in these genres will reflect a conception of the self as simultaneously demanding and resisting subsumption in a unified narrative.

Heidegger's conception of Dasein's relation to its own end and its own beginning as embodying an enigmatic resistance to comprehension precisely assumes (rather than denying) that Dasein's existence must be understood in terms of its relation to beginnings and endings, and hence as having narratable (i. e., that distinctively human mode of temporal and historical) structure. What he wants to avoid is any conception of that narrative structure as inappropriately transparent, self-sufficient, and total—as if the kind of identity across time possessed by human selves could be modeled on that possessed by physical objects or substances, with a capacity for self-understanding in narrative terms simply added on. To exist as self-conscious beings in time is indeed to be committed to understanding ourselves in narrative terms, but it is also to be committed to understanding that our existence simultaneously resists being understood in such terms. The very terms that allow us to make sense of ourselves—terms like beginnings and endings—also disclose dimensions of ourselves as beyond or before such ways of making sense, and it is in this disclosure of their own limits that they disclose a fundamental aspect of our own existence as limited or conditioned, as natal and mortal—in other words, as finite.

A conception of the interrelated genres of biography and of autobiography that acknowledged human finitude in such a way would therefore be one that acknowledged that the individual human life that it was concerned to elucidate was necessarily not such as to be wholly elucidatable, or elucidatable as a whole. It would find ways of bringing its readers up against the enigma residing in any human life, taken in all its individuality. Wittgenstein once remarked: “We say of some people that they are transparent to us. It is, however, important as regards this observation that one human being can be a complete enigma to another …. We cannot find our feet with them” (1997: II, xi, 223e). Heidegger aims to convince us that no human being can be completely transparent, either to others or to itself; his analysis of Dasein begins from the perception that there lies a priori an enigma in the human mode of being, and hence he insists that we can never—whether in philosophy, biography, or autobiography—entirely find our feet with one another, or with ourselves.

Suppose we think of Heidegger and Sartre as concerned to register the enigma of human individuality. Then their concern addresses itself to the heart of what many would regard as the primary motivation for our interest in both autobiography and biography—what Dinah Birch ( 2003 ) has described as a “simultaneous hunger for the singularity of a life that has separated itself from the crowd, and an eagerness to identify the values that make that life recognizably human.” After all, if individuation is our name for the process whereby one human being distinguishes herself from others, then the capacity for individuation is what connects her to all other human beings. It is to this capacity, and the obligations and opportunities it imposes, that Carlyle may be referring when he claims, “Every mortal has a Problem of Existence set before him … to a certain extent original, unlike every other; and yet, at the same time, so like every other; like our own, therefore; instructive, moreover, since we also are indentured to live ” (cited in Birch 2003 ).

The Sartrean perspective is also particularly helpful in bringing to prominence another aspect of the interwoven genres of autobiography and biography with which philosophy can and should be interested, and with which I propose to conclude—the degree to which the writer's relation to her subject is not only epistemological (concerning how one might come to know, or fail to know, the other) and metaphysical (concerning the nature of the kind of being to be known), but ethical. Sartre is notorious for arguing in Being and Nothingness that being-for-others—relating oneself, understood as a for-itself, to other creatures in one's world possessed of the same kind of being—enacts a power struggle: a struggle for power over another, against another's power over oneself, and against one's desire to have power over others and oneself. Imagining himself seated in a public park, he further imagines seeing another human being pass by. What is it to see him as another man?

The Other is first the permanent flight of things towards a goal which I apprehend as an object at a certain distance from me but which escapes me inasmuch as it unfolds about itself its own distances …. [T]here is a regrouping in which I take part but which escapes me, a regrouping of all the objects which people my universe …. This green grass turns towards the Other a face which escapes me. I apprehend the relation of the green to the Other as an objective relation, but I can not apprehend the green as it appears to the Other. Thus suddenly an object has appeared which has stolen the world from me …. The appearance of the other in the world corresponds therefore to a fixed sliding of the whole universe, to a decentralization of the world which undermines the centralization which I am simultaneously effecting …. [T]he world has a kind of drainhole in the middle of its being and it is perpetually flowing off through this hole. (1958: 256)

For Sartre, then, part of the problem of existence set for all individuals is to find a way of acknowledging the otherness of other individuals. He sees us as prone to adopt a variety of strategies to ensure that we deny that otherness, since its acknowledgment entails denying that we are at the center of the universe, which we equate with a denial of our own individual reality in the world. And, of course, our otherness sets the same ethical problem for others. But since biographical writing is one form of the way in which we encounter others in their individuality, it must confront versions of exactly the same ethical problem, and display versions of the same ways of failing to solve or resolve or dissolve it—as two ideas of self-denial cross. Feeling able to ventriloquize one's subject's thoughts at vital moments of her life, feeling compelled to accumulate heaping piles of factual information about the subject's life and circumstance without discrimination, feeling entirely unable to make, or entirely unable to stop making, judgments about the other's actions and thoughts—these would all appear through Sartrean eyes to be not so much technical or generic errors as signs of metaphysical and ethical difficulties—forms of the general failure to find a way of accommodating the individuality of others without seeming to sacrifice one's own.

It is a matter of some controversy whether Sartre allows for the possibility of ever overcoming these spiritual challenges, or whether he defines the human condition as one of suffering the inevitable failure of such acknowledgment. As Ray Monk ( 2001 ) has emphasized, Sartre's own biographical practice—understood as driven by, even perhaps driven by the need to validate, his theory of the self—plainly counts as a failure in these terms; in contrast, Raimond Gaita's (1988) biography of his father (a biography that is also, necessarily, an autobiography) exemplifies one way in which these spiritual challenges can be met, with real philosophical profit.

The same difficulties emerge in the course of a fictional attempt to address these problems, and thereby to contribute to what one might call the ethics of biography (which once again appears impossible to separate from an ethics of autobiography). It comes from Byatt's The Biographer's Tale , when Phineas Nanson is reflecting on his biographical pursuit of the biographer's biographer, Scholes Destry-Scholes:

I think I was so taken by Destry-Scholes’ biography of Elmer Bole precisely because the over-determinism of Literary Theory, the meta-language of it, threw into brilliant relief Destry-Scholes’ real achievement in describing a whole individual, a multi-faceted single man, one life from birth to death. I appeared to have failed to find Destry-Scholes himself. I have to respect him for his scrupulous absence from my tale, my work. It will be clear that I too have wished to be absent . I have resisted and evaded the idea that because of Destry-Scholes’ absence my narrative must become an account of my own presence, id est , an autobiography, that most evasive and self-indulgent of forms. I have tried both to use my own history, unselfconsciously, as a temporal thread to string my story (my writing) on, and to avoid unnecessary dwelling on my own feelings, or my own needs, or my own—oh dear— character . It will be clear to almost any attentive reader, I think, that as I have gone along in this writing …. I have become more and more involved in the act of writing itself, more and more inclined to shift my attention from Destry-Scholes’ absence to my own style, and thus, my own presence . I now wonder whether all writing has a tendency to flow like a river towards the writer's body and the writer's own experience? (214)

Can the flow of that river be reversed, without flowing into the abyss of the other's existence beyond the writer's grasp? Our exploration suggests that the key to these difficulties lies in acknowledging the distinctive way in which the human subject's presence takes the form of a certain kind of absence: to grasp the reality of selfhood, one must grasp that it is beyond the grasp of any narrative account that might be given of it, whether by itself or by another. But if autobiographical and biographical exercises can be genuinely authoritative or authentic only insofar as they make present the self's absence, and so enact a kind of self-abnegation (with the narrating self absenting itself from its account of the narrated self's beyondness to itself), then biography, autobiography, and fiction must be forms of spiritual exercise, and engaging in such exercises must be inherent to becoming, that is being, a person.

Lee 2005 is sensitive to the exemplary particularity of the difficulties and temptations encountered by biographers when writing of the death of their subjects.

Beckett, S. ( 1979 ). Molloy; Malone Dies; The Unnamable . London: Picador.

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Wittgenstein, L. ( 1997 ). Philosophical Investigations (G. E. M. Anscombe, trans). Oxford: Blackwell.

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These 12 Stunning Autobiographies Will Leave You in Wonder

By Mia Barzilay Freund

We may earn a commission if you buy something from any affiliate links on our site.

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to win Wimbledon , run The Washington Post , or get drunk with Jimmy Buffett ? Through the best autobiographies and celebrity memoirs , we can access gripping true stories told in the words of the people who lived through them.

Translating experience into language is a creative act. Autobiography can be earnest or irreverent, playful or profound. Often, real life can be stranger than fiction. The best autobiographies bring us closer to remarkable people and circumstances—and they’re well-written, to boot.

But that’s not all. The best examples from the genre can provide insights that help us improve our own lives. After all, there’s nothing like a story of perseverance against all odds to prove anything is possible.

These tales of endurance, transformation, and unlikely triumph are sure to command your attention––and dare we say, inspire your own main character energy .

Open by Andre Agassi

You don’t need to love tennis to find yourself totally engrossed by the story of Agassi’s legendary career. Once the number-one player in the world, Agassi led a life of pressure and publicity—from his intense childhood coached by his father to his high-profile marriages to Brooke Shields and Steffi Graf to the acute physical pain of his last chapter in professional tennis. The book was written with the help of ghostwriter J. R. Moehringer, whose own memoir The Tender Bar inspired a 2021 film with Ben Affleck. (Moehringer most recently helped Prince Harry pen his memoir, Spare .)

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

The Glass Castle

A New York Times bestseller for more than eight years, this stunning memoir details the author’s unconventional upbringing and her trajectory from a trailer park in Arizona to the New York City literary scene. Under her troubled but relentlessly dreaming father, Wells nurtured her imagination as she and her siblings learned to fend for themselves within their dysfunctional household. Her approach was creative and sometimes painful—like when she suffered full-body burns cooking hot dogs at age three, or when she fashioned homemade braces from rubber bands and wire. A brilliant prequel, Half Broke Horses , focuses on Walls’s adventurous grandmother during the early 1900s.

The Accidental Life by Terry McDonell

The Accidental Life

A legend in the world of magazines and publishing, McDonell was the trusted editor and friend of literary greats like James Salter and George Plimpton. His 2016 memoir chronicles relationships and skirmishes across a four-decade career in journalism—from sipping wine with Jimmy Buffett to playing “acid golf” with Hunter S. Thompson. Each chapter comes marked with a word count, making for satisfying, self-contained dips into literary lore. Evocative, irreverent, and honest, McDonell’s memoir spans a wild and wonderful time in American media.

How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair

How to Say Babylon

A poet as well as a memoirist, Sinclair fills her 2023 memoir with lyrical descriptions of her upbringing in Montego Bay, Jamaica, where the Rastafarian faith into which she was born prescribed rigid codes on the basis of gender. However, language—specifically, poetry —served as a welcome escape, made possible by Sinclair’s literature-loving mother. Moving and unflinching, Babylon is an astonishing feat of memory set in motion.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

I Know Why the Caged Bird

Angelou enlarged and enriched the genre of autobiography with her 1969 account of her early life in Stamps, Arkansas. In it, she fashions her younger self into a literary character through whom she revisits events of the past. A young Maya endures affronts to her humanity through encounters with racism and sexual violence, but her story channels adolescent insecurity into self-possession, reflected in the author’s breathtaking command of language and narrative.

Easy Beauty by Chloé Cooper Jones

Easy Beauty

Born with sacral agenesis, a rare condition that affects her gait and stature, Cooper Jones is keenly aware of the reactions her physicality elicits. Her subtle and humorous 2022 memoir—a Pulitzer Prize finalist—challenges the reader to reassess the way bodies claim space , tracing how Cooper Jones’s own perspective shifts when she unexpectedly becomes a mother.

Personal History: A Memoir by Katharine Graham

Personal History

Graham’s Pulitzer Prize–winning autobiography explores her isolating upbringing amid extreme privilege, her exhilarating and agonizing marriage, and her leadership of The Washington Post during its coverage of events like the Pentagon Papers and the Watergate scandal. With its intimate insight into a formidable figure in American life, Graham’s Personal History makes the memoir a literary force.

Grace: A Memoir by Grace Coddington

Vogue ’s longtime creative director pulls back the curtain on the fashion industry and the creative world surrounding it, documenting the insecurities of moving from industry outsider to insider and the joy of bringing to life fashion fantasies in the magazine’s pages. Beginning with her upbringing in Wales and her early career in modeling, Coddington recounts things in a playful and characteristically British tone: the professional squabbles, artistic decisions, iconic outfits, and all. The memoir also features Coddington’s personal photographs, as well as lush spreads from her favorite features.

Por Estas Calles Bravas / Down These Mean Streets by Piri Tomás

Down These Mean Streets

Growing up in Spanish Harlem in the 1930s and ’40s, Tomás experienced discrimination and abuse on the basis of his Puerto Rican heritage. In an environment of poverty and violence, he fell into crime and drug addiction and eventually was incarcerated over a dispute with a police officer. His vivid personal account, available in both English and Spanish, details his journey from a place of hopelessness to self-acceptance through storytelling.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Douglass’s narrative is an important document of American history, as well as an essential piece of American literature. It records his experiences under slavery and his eventual escape and involvement in the abolition movement. A story of incredible hardship and triumph, the narrative includes the acquisition of language itself; Douglass taught himself to read and write, skills the enslaved were otherwise denied.

The Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day

The Long Loneliness

A leader in the Catholic Worker movement, Day was a radical political organizer and journalist governed by principles of nonviolence and charity. Her autobiography captures a storied life, including her religious conversion, her personal conflicts over motherhood, and her founding and operation of the Catholic Worker newspaper. Her autobiography stands as an exquisite piece of personal reflection and social activism (with a moving introduction by psychiatrist Robert Coles).

Night by Elie Wiesel

Written in 1960, Wiesel’s memoir is the sobering account of his experiences during the Holocaust, including his time in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps. At certain moments, his prose takes on a fractured, faltering quality, as if language itself fails to capture the horrors he endured. Sixty-four years after its publication, Night remains an important record of a dark chapter in recent history.

By Christian Allaire

27 of the Best Professional Bio Examples I've Ever Seen [+ Templates]

Published: December 20, 2023

As a writer, I have to let readers and potential clients know my expertise, my skills, and why they should work with me or be interested in what I say. So, a professional bio is a must in my industry.

Though I'm definitely familiar with professional bios, I can admit they can be challenging. What do I include? What do readers need to know?

As daunting as writing a professional bio can be, professional bios are crucial when applying for jobs, seeking new clients, or networking. A professional bio also gives the world a brief snapshot of you and your professional ideals.

If you‘re at a loss for how to write a professional bio that packs a punch, I’ve got you covered. In this journey, tools like HubSpot’s user-friendly drag-and-drop website builder can be instrumental in showcasing your professional bio online with ease and style.

I will walk you through how to write a professional bio that you can proudly publish, provide professional bio templates, and show you the best professional bio examples you can get inspiration from.

What is a professional bio?

Professional bio templates, how to write a professional bio, best professional bio examples, how to write a short bio.

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Create a compelling professional narrative for a proper, attention-grabbing introduction.

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A professional bio or biography is a short overview of your experience. Professional bios usually include details about education, employment, achievements, and relevant skills.

Purpose of Professional Bios

A bio tells an audience about who you are, what you've done, and what you can do. It can help potential employers, fans, or customers understand your personality and what you stand for.

Writing a bio without a clear starting point is challenging — believe me, I've tried. To ease the process, here are some templates I put together to get you started.

I‘ve found it’s best to keep your professional bio honest and to the point. Too long of a bio, and you risk losing your audience's attention. After all, audiences will only read a web page for less than a minute before clicking elsewhere.

And honesty is key because most consumers and clients won‘t invest in someone or something if it doesn’t seem trustworthy. In fact, 67% of consumers say they must trust a brand before investing in its products or services.

"Plus," she adds, "I'm always happy to talk about my cats at any given moment. You never know when a fellow cat mom could be reading."

Values and Work Approach

Your values can sometimes show your work ethic more effectively than your career path. It can also help you endear yourself to employers and colleagues who want to work with people with similar values.

So don‘t be shy: Share how you incorporate your values into your work. Whether it’s a commitment to innovation, customer satisfaction, or ethical decision-making, explain what drives you and be enthusiastic about it.

Your Personality

Remember: Your bio should always include a taste of your personality! Your sense of humor, creativity, or collaborative nature could all give readers a sense of who you are. This helps readers connect with you on a more personal level.

Remember to tailor your bio for different platforms and audiences. Also, keep it concise and impactful while highlighting the most relevant information in each context.

First-Person Bio vs. Third-Person Bio

While first-person bios are common, third-person bios can be more effective in formal situations.

Your decision to write your professional bio in the first or third person depends on your desire to leave a more personable or assertive impression.

Both approaches work, provided you tailor them to your goals and audience. What’s important is to be clear and tell your story in a way that connects with your reader.

How to Write a First-Person Bio

Writing in the first person can be a great way to connect with your audience when building a personal brand. When you write a first-person bio, use "I" or "me" to make yourself relatable and approachable.

Here's one way I’d write a first-person bio:

"I'm a freelance writer specializing in small business content. I've worked with companies in a variety of industries like home care to fine leather goods."

Speaking in the first person here connects you with a client or brand based on your experience and opinions. Put another way, writing a first-person bio is like telling your story to your audience.

Here are a few tips to make your first-person bio great:

Don’t start every sentence with "I."

Showing instead of telling is a great approach.

Let’s say you’re a writer who wants to create a short professional bio. Instead of saying, "I love to write," you can say, "Writer. Bad but enthusiastic dancer."

This portrays your writing skill, shows your personality outside of writing as a dancer, and includes a little sense of humor, which is essential for a writer.

Remember, you know yourself better than anyone.

Adding a back story to your bio helps create context for the roles and successes you write about. Think of it like a case study about who you were, what you are now, and the process that got you to your current position.

Focus on valuable details.

Quick facts about you can showcase your identity and values. For example, if you're writing a bio for LinkedIn, think about how to tie your hobby into what you do.

Let's say Animal Crossing is your hobby. Does it align with your career aspirations? It can be a great addition to your bio if you want to pursue a video game career.

However, if your interests lie elsewhere, including a more relevant hobby is better.

How to Write a Third-Person Bio

Third-person bios sound more authoritative and objective. So, if you’re job searching in a formal industry, applying for grants, or trying to get published, you may want to stick to the third person.

For instance, when you write a third-person bio, you may start with:

"Jasmine Montgomery is a Senior Hiring Manager at L’Oreal based in New York. She recruits across several business units to connect with the brightest talent from around the globe."

By only using your name and pronouns to speak about yourself here, you are letting your title and skill set speak for themselves.

These bios create distance between the subject of the bio (you) and the reader through a third person. This person could be anyone, but they usually speak in a tone emphasizing their expertise.

This makes third-person bios feel aloof or overly formal sometimes.

Ideally, your third-person bio should sound friendly but polished, like a message from a close colleague at work. Here are a few tips on how to write a great third-person bio.

Write from the perspective of someone you know and trust.

It can be challenging to write about yourself, so try to see yourself from the perspective of your favorite person at work or a mentor you trust. This can help you write from a position of authority without feeling self-conscious.

Show the reader why they should trust your opinion.

A professional bio often reflects a specific industry or niche. With this in mind, your text should include relevant details that professionals in your industry know. Avoid jargon whenever you can.

Remember, you're telling a story.

If you want a third-person bio, but you're used to writing in first-person, it may help to write it the most comfortable way for you.

Your professional bio is an essential piece of writing, so edit it carefully. Edit your writing from both points of view and see which works best for your target audience.

Here's how to write a professional bio, step by step.

• Create an 'About' page for your website or profile.
• Begin writing your bio with your first and last name.
• Mention any associated brand name you might use.
• State your current position and what you do.
• Include at least one professional accomplishment.
• Describe your values and how they inform your career.
• Briefly tell your readers who you are outside of work.
• Use humor or a personal story to add flavor to your professional bio.

If you’re anything like me, you probably don't think about your professional bio until you’re asked to "send one over via email."

You have one afternoon to come up with it, so you scramble together a bio that ends up reading like this:

"Rodney Erickson is a content marketing professional at HubSpot, a CRM platform that helps companies attract visitors, convert leads, and close customers.

Previously, Rodney worked as a marketing manager for a tech software startup. He graduated with honors from Columbia University with a dual degree in Business Administration and Creative Writing."

To be fair, in certain contexts, your professional bio needs to be more formal, like Mr. Erickson's up there. But there are also cases where writing a personable and conversational bio is good.

Whether you choose the formal or casual route, use the following steps to create a perfect bio.

1. Create an 'About' page for your website or profile.

You need an online space to keep your professional bio. Here are a few to consider (some of these you might already have in place):

• Facebook Business page .
• Industry blog byline .
• Instagram account .
• Personal website .
• LinkedIn profile .
• Industry website .
• Personal blog .

As you'll see in the professional bio examples below, the length and tone of your bio will differ depending on the platforms you use.

Instagram, for example, allows only 150 characters of bio space, whereas you can write as much as you want on your website or Facebook Business page.

2. Begin writing your bio with your first and last name.

If your readers remember nothing else about your bio, they should remember your name. Therefore, it's a good idea for your first and last name to be the first two words of your professional bio.

Even if your name is printed above this bio (hint: it should), this is a rare moment where it's okay to be redundant.

For example, if I were writing my bio, I might start it like this:

Lindsay Kolowich

Lindsay Kolowich is a Senior Marketing Manager at HubSpot.

3. Mention any associated brand name you might use.

Will your professional bio represent you or a business you work for? Ensure you mention the brand you associate with in your bio. If you're a freelancer, you may have a personal business name or pseudonym you advertise to your clients.

Here are a few examples:

• Lindsay Kolowich Marketing.
• SEO Lindsay.
• Kolowich Consulting.
• Content by Kolowich (what do you think ... too cheesy?).

Maybe you founded your own company and want its name to be separate from your real name. Keep it simple like this: "Lindsay Kolowich is the founder and CEO of Kolowich Consulting."

4. State your current position and what you do.

Whether you're the author of a novel or a mid-level specialist, use the following few lines of your bio to describe what you do in that position. Refrain from assuming your audience knows what your job title entails.

Make your primary responsibilities known so readers can know you and understand what you offer to your industry.

5. Include at least one professional accomplishment.

Just as a business touts its client successes through case studies, your professional bio should let your audience know what you've achieved.

What have you done for yourself — as well as for others — that makes you a valuable player in your industry?

6. Describe your values and how they inform your career.

Why do you do what you do? What might make your contribution to the market different from your colleagues? What are the values that make your business a worthwhile investment to others?

Create a professional bio that answers these questions.

7. Briefly tell your readers who you are outside of work.

Transition from describing your values in work to defining who you are outside of work. This may include:

• Your family.
• Your hometown.
• Sports you play.
• Hobbies and interests.
• Favorite music and travel destinations.
• Side hustles you're working on.

People like connecting with other people. The more transparent you are about who you are personally, the more likable you'll be to people reading about you.

8. Use humor or a personal story to add flavor to your professional bio.

End your professional bio on a good or, more specifically, a funny note. By leaving your audience with something quirky or unique, you can ensure they'll leave your website with a pleasant impression of you.

Following the steps above when writing your bio is important, but take your time with one section. People consume lots of information daily. So ensure your bio hooks 'em in the first line, and you won’t lose them.

(P.S. Want to boost your professional brand? Take one of HubSpot Academy's free certification courses . In just one weekend, you can add a line to your resume and bio that over 60,000 marketers covet.)

Why Good Bios Are Important for a Professional

You may think, "How many people read professional bios, anyway?"

The answer: A lot. Though there's no way to tell who is reading it, you want it catchy. Your professional bio will delight the right people coming across it on multiple platforms.

Professional bios can live on your LinkedIn profile , company website, guest posts, speaker profiles, Twitter bio , Instagram bio , and many other places.

And most importantly, it‘s the tool you can leverage most when you’re networking.

Bottom line? People will read your professional bio. Whether they remember it or it makes them care about you is a matter of how well you present yourself to your intended audience.

So, what does a top-notch professional bio look like? Let‘s review a few sample bios for professionals like you and me. Then, we’ll cover bio examples from some of the best people in the industry.

Short Sample Bios

Your bio doesn't have to be complicated. Here are five samples to glean inspiration from.

Example 1: Friendly Sample Bio

"Hey! My name is Ryan, and I'm a marketing specialist passionate about digital advertising. I have five years of experience managing various online campaigns and improving brand visibility for clients across multiple verticals. I love analyzing consumer behavior and leveraging data-driven strategies to maximize ROI. Outside work, I enjoy traveling, taking funny photos, and exploring new hiking trails."

Example 2: Mid-Career Sample Bio

"Jennifer Patel is a versatile graphic designer known for her creative approach and attention to detail. With a background in visual arts and eight years of experience, Jennifer has worked on diverse projects ranging from logo designs to website layouts. Her ability to understand and translate client needs into visually striking designs sets her apart. Jennifer finds inspiration in nature, music, and pop culture."

Example 3: Sales Sample Bio

"I'm a seasoned sales executive with a track record of exceeding targets and building strong client relationships. With a background in B2B sales, I've built a natural ability to understand customer needs and consistently exceed quota every month. I pride myself in my communication skills and strategic approaches, which have helped me thrive in highly competitive markets such as SaaS sales. Outside work, I enjoy playing basketball and volunteering at local charities."

Example 4: HR Sample Bio

"I am a dedicated human resources professional with a passion for fostering a positive workplace culture and facilitating employee development. With eight years of experience in talent acquisition and HR operations, I've played a key role in building high-performing teams. I'm known for my strong interpersonal skills and ability to create inclusive and supportive work environments. In my free time, I enjoy practicing yoga and exploring new culinary experiences."

Example 5: Software Engineer Sample Bio

"David Chang is a senior software engineer specializing in backend development. With a strong background in computer science and six years of experience, David has successfully built scalable and efficient solutions for complex technical challenges. He is well-versed in various programming languages and frameworks like C++, Java, and Ruby on Rails. In his spare time, David enjoys reading science fiction novels and playing the guitar."

Below, we've curated some of the best professional bio examples we've ever seen on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and the various places you might describe yourself.

Check 'em out and use them as inspiration when crafting your own.

• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Author
• Chima Mmeje: SEO Content Writer
• DJ Nexus: DJ
• Lena Axelsson: Marriage & Family Therapist
• Mark Levy: Branding Firm Founder
• Audra Simpson: Political Anthropologist
• Marie Mikhail: Professional Recruiter
• Wonbo Woo: Executive Producer
• Chris Burkard: Freelance Photographer
• Lisa Quine: Creative Consultant
• Nancy Twine: Hair Care Founder
• Trinity Mouzon: Wellness Brand Founder
• Alberto Perez: Co-Founder of Zumba Fitness
• Ann Handley: Writer and Marketer

1. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie : Author

Bio platform: personal website.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie begins her professional bio with an invitation to her roots.

In a few paragraphs, she describes when and where she was born, her family, her education, her honorary degrees, and the depth of her work, which has been translated into 30 languages and several publications.

She can keep readers engaged by leading with a powerful hook that aligns with her target audience’s marketing needs.

• There’s clarity about who Chima serves.
• The hook is bold, catchy, and compels anyone to read further.
• Including client results makes clients visualize what they can expect.

3. DJ Nexus : DJ

Bio platform: facebook.

This New England-based DJ has single-handedly captured the Likes of over 2,000 people in and beyond Boston, MA. And even if you don‘t listen to the type of music he produces, it’s hard not to read his compelling Facebook bio.

For instance, consider his tagline, under "About" — " Quiet during the day. QUITE LOUD at night! " DJ Nexus tells you when he works awesomely. I got goosebumps just imagining a dance club where he might play music.

The second is the "long version," which is even more interesting than the first. Why? It reads like a story — a compelling one, at that. In fact, it gets hilarious in some parts.

The second sentence of the bio reads: "He was frightened of public school, loved playing baseball and football, ran home to watch ape films on the 4:30 Movie, listened to The Jam and The Buzzcocks, and read magic trick books."

Here's another excerpt from the middle:

It's a well-put value proposition that sets her apart from the rest of the HR industry.

Marie concludes her bio with a smooth mix of professional skills, like her Spanish fluency, and personal interests, such as podcasting and Star Wars (she mentions the latter with just the right amount of humor).

• Straight off the bat, Marie uses a story to share her experiences of how she began as a recruiter.
• It provides a subtle pitch for readers to check out her podcast.
• The bio exudes Maries approachable, fun, and playful personality.

8. Wonbo Woo : Executive Producer

Wonbo Woo is the executive producer of WIRED's video content and has several impressive credits to his name. What does this mean for his professional bio? He has to prioritize.

With this in mind, Wonbo opens his bio with the most eye-catching details first (if the image below is hard to read, click it to see the full copy ).

I wouldn‘t necessarily be inclined to follow Chris if his bio had simply read, "I post beautiful images." But images that inspire me to travel? Now that’s something I can get behind.

Last, he ends on a humble, sweet note: "He is happiest with his wife Breanne raising their two sons." So inject personal information into your bio — it makes you seem approachable.

• It highlights Chris’s achievement without bragging.
• The last sentence portrays Chris as a responsible man who loves his family.
• The well-written bio speaks to nature lovers who like the outdoors, surfing, and more. This gives them reasons to follow Chris.

10. Lisa Quine : Creative Consultant

Bio platform: portfolio website.

Creative professionals who specialize in visual art may find it challenging to balance the writing of their bio and displaying of their portfolio. Not Lisa Quine. Lisa has an exceptional balance of her professional bio and creative work.

Throughout her bio, you'll notice the number of murals she's completed and a brief timeline of her career. This helps her paint the picture of who she is as a professional.

The rest of her bio similarly focuses on Twine's strengths as someone who’s able to take hair care "back to basics."

Mouzon effectively grips the reader's attention with this introduction and then dives into some of her impressive accomplishments — including a brand now sold at Urban Outfitters and Target.

The language used throughout Mouzon's bio is authentic, real, and honest.

For instance, in the second paragraph, she admits:

"While building a brand may have looked effortless from the outside, starting a business at age 23 with no resources or funding quickly forced me to realize that early-stage entrepreneurship was anything but transparent."

As an avid Zumba fan, I was excited to include this one. Perez styles his LinkedIn bio as a short story, starting with his background as a hard-working teen who held three jobs by age 14.

His bio tells the fun and fascinating origin story of Zumba, in which Perez, an aerobics teacher in Florida at the time, forgot his music for class and used a Latin music cassette tape instead ... "And it was an instant hit!"

His bio continues:

"Shortly after he was connected to Alberto Periman and Alberto Aghion, and Zumba was officially created ... What started as a dream now has 15 million people in more than 200,000 locations in 186 countries who take Zumba classes every week."

There's something in there for everyone.

• The last section of the bio shows Ann’s warm personality — "Ann lives in Boston, where she is Mom to creatures two- and four-legged."
• Written in the third person, this bio has lots of proof (like followers), which shows Ann is a terrific marketing leader.

If you're posting a bio on a social media account or sending a quick blurb to a client, you want to keep it short and sweet while showcasing your accomplishments.

To get started, use these best practices for writing your short professional bio:

• Introduce yourself.
• State what you do.
• Add key skills or areas of expertise.
• Include a personal mission statement
• Celebrate your wins.
• Provide your contact information.
• Show them your personality.

1. Introduce yourself.

Your introduction is your first impression, so always begin by telling people who you are. You may start with a greeting like, "Hello, my name is" or "Hi! Let me first introduce myself …" when sending your bio as a message.

If you’re writing a bio for an online platform, stating your name at the beginning works as well.

Leading with your name — even as a question — is important for recognition and building relationships.

2. State what you do.

Give people an idea of what you do daily and where you work. Your job title is how the people put you into context and consider whether your profession relates to their industry.

So detail your most relevant work in your short bios, like CEO, professor, and author.

Take a cue from Angela Duckworth , who specifies what she does in her LinkedIn bio:

3. Add key skills or areas of expertise.

If you send a bio to a client or potential employer, highlight your most valuable skills. For instance, if your expertise is in social media marketing and content creation, like Ivanka Dekoning , list these skills.

• A joke. "Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once. At least that’s what I learned when I created…"
• Mention a hobby. "I’ll be honest: for me, tennis is life — Go Nadal!"
• A fun fact. "Every year, I watch 100 new films! I’m a cinephile and love every movie genre."
• A few emojis related to your interests. "🎶🤖🎾🎬🎭"

Whichever way you choose to get personal, give people a glimpse into who you are as an individual.

When writing a short bio, it can be tempting to pack in as much relevant information about yourself as possible — but this isn’t the most effective approach.

Instead, focus on including the details that you and your audience care about most and leave out the fluff.

Let's dive into a few examples of short professional bios.

Short Professional Bio Examples

• Tristen Taylor: Marketing Manager
• Lianna Patch: Copywriter
• Precious Oboidhe: Content Strategist and Writer
• Rebecca Bollwitt: Writer
• Megan Gilmore: Cookbook Author
• Bea Dixon: Feminine Care Founder
• Tammy Hembrow: Instagram Influencer
• Dr. Cody: Chiropractor
• Larry Kim: Founder
• Dharmesh Shah: Founder and CTO
• Lily Ugbaja: Content Strategist
• Ian Anderson Gray: Marketer
• Van Jones: Political Commentator, Author, and Lawyer

1. Tristen Taylor: Marketing Manager

Bio platform: blog byline.

Tristen Taylor is a Marketing Manager here at HubSpot. She's written content for HubSpot's Marketing, Sales, and Customer Service blogs; her blog author bio is one of my favorites.

What I love most about Tristen's bio is that it’s a great example of how to deliver information about yourself that is relevant to your work while also sharing fun details that audiences will find relatable.

Her bio reads:

"Building from her experience with GoCo.io and Southwest Airlines, Tristen's work has been recognized by Marketing Brew and BLACK@INBOUND. She lives in Washington, DC, attending anime conventions and painting in her free time."

Gilmore further includes a CTA link within her Instagram bio that leads followers to free, ready-to-use recipes. You might think, " Why would she do that since it discourages people from buying her book?"

But that couldn't be further from the truth.

By giving her followers the chance to try out her recipes, she's slowly turning leads into customers. After I tried a few of her Instagram recipes and loved them, I bought her book, knowing I'd like more of what she offered.

• The bio is short and direct.
• The CTA link includes an invitation for people to join her newsletter. Meaning, she can build her email list.

6. Bea Dixon : Feminine Care Founder

Bea Dixon, Founder and CEO of The Honey Pot Company, efficiently uses the space on her Instagram profile to highlight who she is as a well-rounded human — not just a businesswoman.

For instance, while she highlights her girl boss attitude with a tiara emoji, she equally calls attention to her fashion interests (Free People), her pets, Boss and Sadie, and her love for ramen noodles.

What more do you need to know?

Ian doesn't take his bio too seriously but uses every character to highlight everything about him.

He includes his skills as a marketer and podcast host, who he is outside work as a dad, and what he can help you do. His smiles also give the bio a sense of humor and realness.

Don't forget to share this post!

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Elon Musk Hardcover – September 12, 2023

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• Print length 688 pages
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• Publisher Simon & Schuster
• Publication date September 12, 2023
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster (September 12, 2023)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 688 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1982181281
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1982181284
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.78 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.13 x 1.9 x 9.25 inches
• #1 in Computer & Technology Biographies
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Books | Chicago author Jonathan Eig wins Pulitzer Prize…

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Books | chicago author jonathan eig wins pulitzer prize for his groundbreaking biography of martin luther king, jr..

In awarding the prize, the Pulitzer committee cited Eig’s book as not only “revelatory” but a biography that “draws on new sources to enrich our understanding of each stage of the civil rights leader’s life, exploring his strengths and weaknesses, including the self-questioning and depression that accompanied his determination.”

Eig was home alone in Lakeview when he heard the announcement.

In a phone interview Monday, he said: “I have been a journalist since I was 16 and, you know, someone wrote in my high school yearbook that I’d win a Pulitzer someday, and I still can’t believe it actually happened. I am so proud of this book and so glad it received recognition. As Taylor Swift said, the work is the award. Still, the award is pretty nice.”

Eig split the award category with author Ilyon Woo’s “Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey From Slavery to Freedom,” an account of Ellen and William Craft, a 19th century enslaved couple who escaped bondage by posing as “master” (Ellen) and slave (William). The only finalist in the category was Tracy Daugherty’s “Larry McMurtry: A Life,” the story of the famed author of “The Last Picture Show” and “Lonesome Dove.”

Eig, who is 60, attended Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and began his career as a sports reporter in Upstate New York, though for the past 20 years he’s been one of the most prominent biographers in the United States. He’s written about Lou Gehrig (“The Luckiest Man,” 2005), Jackie Robinson (“Opening Day,” 2007) and Al Capone (“Get Capone,” 2010); his 2017 biography “Ali: A Life,” about Muhammad Ali, was also celebrated as the definitive account of its subject’s life.

But “King” — which challenged decades of popular understandings of the civil rights leader’s short life, including a long-held assumption of animosity towards the more outwardly militant Malcolm X — was a finalist for the National Book Award and won the New York Historical Society’s book prize. Eig toured for most of the past year and spoke as a guest at Baptist churches and even the Apollo Theater for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day festivities. Last fall, the rights to the book were also optioned by Universal Pictures, for a feature to be produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Chris Rock.

Two previous books about King have won Pulitzers: Taylor Branch’s “Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954 to 1963,” which won the 1989 Pulitzer for history, and “Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Leadership Conference,” by David J. Garrow, which won the 1987 Pulitzer for biography. Garrow, who shared his archive on King with Eig, told the Tribune last spring the new book would succeed his own as the definitive take and was a “leap forward” in understanding.

“It’s kind of hard to top the year I just had,” Eig said on the phone. “This is icing on the cake, but very sweet icing.”

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BlackBerry: The Rise and Fall of the Famous Smartphone and Its Inventors

Portrayed in the new film BlackBerry , Mike Lazairidis and Jim Balsillie transformed cell phones forever but couldn’t keep up in a changing market.

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The new film BlackBerry chronicles the story of this once-iconic brand and focuses, in particular, on the company’s co-CEOs Mike Lazairidis and Jim Balsillie, portrayed by Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton, respectively. The film, which will be released on Friday, is based upon the book Losing the Signal by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff.

Although Lazaridis has said little about the film, Balsillie told the Toronto Star he believes the film’s portrayal of him as a cutthroat capitalist only partially matches reality. “They’re taking an element of truth, who I am, and they’re playing with it,” he said. “I’m aggressive. I’m competitive. I’m ambitious. I own that.”

Here’s the true story of how Lazairidis and Balsillie transformed cell phones forever then lost their edge in the smartphone market.

Creating BlackBerry

The story of the BlackBerry begins in 1984, 15 years before the first smartphone bearing that name was released. That was when Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin founded Research In Motion (RIM), the parent company that would be renamed BlackBerry Limited in 2013.

A Turkey-born tech investor, Lazaridis previously received a $600,000 contract from General Motors to develop barcode technology for film. That grant helped Lazaridis form RIM with Fregin, one of his childhood friends, in Waterloo, Ontario. Lazaridis became CEO, while Fregin worked as vice president of operations, according to Losing the Signal .

Balsillie, a graduate of Harvard Business School, joined RIM in 1992 after he initially considered buying the company but instead decided to invest $125,000 into it. RIM had only 14 employees when Balsillie joined. He became co-CEO, handling sales and accounting, while fellow co-CEO Lazaridis focused on the technological aspect of the business.

“Balsillie became the BlackBerry’s best salesman, winning customers in the financial services industry and with security-conscious governments around the world,” Technology Reporter Iain Marlow wrote in The Globe and Mail . “Under his reign, the company grew at a breakneck speed—smashing internal targets regularly and overturning the wireless world’s established hierarchy.”

However, Marlow noted that Balsillie was “feared as well as respected.” People who disagreed with his views on the fast-growing smartphone industry were “swiftly, and sometimes mercilessly, put in their place,” and his critics accused him of bringing an “institutional arrogance” to RIM’s company culture.

Bursting onto the Scene

The first device with the BlackBerry name was a pager released in 1999 called the BlackBerry 850. The pager, like the better-known smartphones that came after it, was particularly notable for its keypad that users could operate via thumbs. The name BlackBerry derived from this keypad, since the globe-shaped buttons resembled blackberry fruits .

The company’s first smartphone, the BlackBerry 5810, was launched in 2002 . Initially targeted toward businesspeople rather than general users, its technological capabilities and stylish look made it a hit among investment bankers and other professionals. BlackBerry quickly became a household name, gaining the nickname “CrackBerry” due to its addictive nature.

The company grew from 14 employees to about 18,000 and continued to release new versions of the BlackBerry smartphone, upgrading the monochrome screen to color displays. The products remained popular, though the company struggled to meet revenue targets, and business suffered after the patent holding company NTP filed patent infringement lawsuits against BlackBerry.

The company’s reputation was further damaged after an extensive review found more than $250 million in stock option accounting errors. As a result, Balsillie resigned his role as chairman of RIM in 2007, though he remained co-CEO. The company leaders paid $1.4 million in fines in 2009 as part of a settlement with regulators.

Balsillie said the BlackBerry film portrays him as having engaged in stock fraud based upon this incident. He objected to that interpretation , noting that regulators said RIM executives were negligent with the stock options, not that they committed fraud.

Failing to Compete

The true death knell for BlackBerry, however, was the launch of iPhones and Android phones in 2007 and 2008. BlackBerry was left behind as those new products revolutionized the smartphone industry with touchscreen displays and third-party apps.

Losing the Signal portrays BlackBerry executives as underestimating the threat posed by Steve Jobs ’ famous launch of the iPhone in 2007. BlackBerry COO Larry Conlee dismissed it as having “rapid battery drain and a lousy [digital] keyboard,” according to the book. Although Lazaridis voiced concerns about Apple, Balsillie simply responded, “It’s OK, we’ll be fine.”

Initially, it appeared his confidence was well-placed, the BlackBerry Curve remained the highest-selling phone of 2009 . But the company soon found itself unable to compete with the iPhone and Android devices. RIM ultimately became a software and cybersecurity company , though it did not completely discontinue its smartphone services until 2022 .

The BlackBerry film also highlights Balsillie’s failed attempts to bring a NHL hockey team to Hamilton, Ontario, which critics have suggested distracted RIM from the threat posed by their new competition. Balsillie denies this , saying that effort only required occasional meetings and phone calls: “When you are prosperous, you have lots of different initiatives. Everybody does.”

Other observers have argued the co-CEO structure split between Balsillie and Lazaridis hastened the company’s demise. The two were barely on speaking terms by the end of their professional relationship, and the dual-executive structure led to breakdowns in the decision-making process, according to The Globe and Mail .

“Part of the challenge was RIM started to develop arrogance, and that arrogance came from success—and I’m going to say that impacted Jim a lot more than Mike,” an unnamed source told the newspaper. “In time, he stopped listening. Because you’re a billionaire, and you know more than everybody else, so you like to hear yourself speak but not like to listen or take any feedback.”

Stepping Down from BlackBerry

Balsillie stepped down as co-CEO in 2012, and the next year, he sold all his shares in the company, effectively severing ties with BlackBerry. After departing from the company, he began advising various venture capital firms and startups, including OMERS Ventures and the mobile health company m-Health Solutions, according to The Globe and Mail .

Lazaridis also resigned in 2012 and was replaced by RIM COO Thorsten Heins. The next year, Lazaridis and Fregin co-founded Quantum Valley Investments , a private fund seeking to support for the development and commercialization of breakthroughs in quantum information science.

How much of their legacies are shaped and defined by the new BlackBerry film remains to be seen. In an interview with The Verge , director Matt Johnson describes Lazaridis and Balsillie as innovators but says the BlackBerry smartphone failed because it lacked a vision of culture and future like the iPhone had.

“The iPhone is a product with incredible vision, and it’s saying that you are going to change the way that you live in order to make this product integrate with you,” Johnson said. “Whereas the BlackBerry was, ‘We’re going to give you this tool that is going to help you with the tiny problems that you have, and it’s going to be very, very useful.’”

See BlackBerry in Theaters on May 12

BlackBerry opens in theaters on Friday. Jay Baruchel stars as company co-CEO Mike Lazairidis, and Glenn Howerton plays co-CEO Jim Balsillie. The film’s director, Matt Johnson, also appears on screen as Research In Motion co-founder Douglas Fregin.

Colin McEvoy joined the Biography.com staff in 2023, and before that had spent 16 years as a journalist, writer, and communications professional. He is the author of two true crime books: Love Me or Else and Fatal Jealousy . He is also an avid film buff, reader, and lover of great stories.

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Republicans banking on the road less traveled to Senate majority

The political outsider strategy looks good on paper, but is not a common route to the Senate. Just 15 of the current 100 senators never held office before getting elected to the Senate and two of those, Democrats Laphonza Butler of California and Michael Bennet of Colorado, were appointed. Of the 13 others, just eight had to win a competitive general election initially, including Democrats Mark Kelly of Arizona and Raphael Warnock of Georgia. Democrat Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Republicans J.D. Vance of Ohio and Rand Paul of Kentucky also won competitive general elections but had the partisanship of the state on their side.

Republican Susan Collins of Maine won a competitive race in 1996 and hadn’t held elective office, but she lost a competitive race for governor just two years earlier. Similarly, Democrat Jon Ossoff had never held office when he was elected in Georgia in the 2020 cycle, but he endured intense scrutiny in his unsuccessful House campaign in the high-profile 2017 special election for the 6th District.

The GOP archetype is Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, a wealthy businessman who was a first-time candidate when he defeated Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold with 50 percent in the Republican wave of 2010. That is a path, but it’s not the easiest or most traveled.

There’s a contrast between the political resumes of Republican challengers and the Democrats. Democrats are rallying behind a slate of current House members: Colin Allred in Texas, Elissa Slotkin in Michigan, Ruben Gallego of Arizona, and potentially David Trone in Maryland (whose primary is in two weeks). Allred and Slotkin have weathered attacks in competitive general election fights while Gallego and Trone have prevailed through competitive primaries. They each have potential liabilities, but their biographies have received more scrutiny in past races than the average GOP Senate candidate this cycle. 

Democrats are trying to amplify the various national stories in local media, but it’s still a multi-step process before it’s clear any of the questions are resonating with voters. Democrats will have to decide when and where to put various critiques in TV ads, which will reach a broader segment of the electorate than Washington Post or New York Times stories. And at the same time, the Democrats will have to deal with the incoming GOP attacks. 

While the five vulnerable Democratic senators have endured millions of dollars of attacks in previous elections, Republicans are introducing new information that the incumbents haven’t faced before. 

Republicans are criticizing Tester for violating his own ethics pledge, as detailed by CNN . NBC News revealed tax violations that weren’t part of Brown’s previous campaigns. Republicans are making the case that Casey has used his office to enrich his family . And they criticized Baldwin for purchasing a $1.3 million condo in Washington, D.C. Those stories landed in 2023, but will be part of the 2024 conversation. 

Even though the Republican candidates are taking their lumps in the media more recently, there are at least two pieces of good news for the GOP. Candidates are facing this criticism in the spring rather than the fall. They’ll have time to respond, pivot or counterattack. And all of these Republican candidates don’t have to be stellar. The GOP can afford to have a couple crash and burn and still take control of the chamber because of the map.

A likely takeover in West Virginia — after Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin III opted not to run again — combined with a Trump win is enough to give Republicans control of the Senate. If Trump loses, Republicans just need to win one of their eight takeover opportunities, assuming Cruz wins as well. Those are good odds.

But we’ve seen Republicans snatch defeat from the jaws of victory before, and biographical questions give Democrats an opportunity to shift key races into personal contrasts rather than partisan contests. It’s a narrow, but still plausible, path for Democrats.

Nathan L. Gonzales is an elections analyst with CQ Roll Call.

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Naoya 'The Monster' Inoue: Biography, record, fights and more

Naoya Inoue defeats Stephen Fulton by technical knockout to claim the WBO and WBC junior featherweight titles. (2:09)

Naoya Inoue is one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world. Inoue, of Japan, has won titles in four different weight classes and held the undisputed bantamweight championship before moving up in weight. In his first fight in the new division, Inoue defeated Stephen Fulton by eighth-round TKO to win the WBC and WBO junior featherweight world titles, and then became undisputed champion in a second division by defeating Marlon tapales by KO in Round 10.

Inoue's career also includes victories over Nonito Donaire (twice), Paul Butler, Emmanuel Rodriguez and Jason Moloney, among others. His first victory over Donaire was selected as the 2019 ESPN fight of the year .

Next fight: TBA

Record: 27-0, 24 KOs DOB: April 10, 1993 Age: 31 Stance: Orthodox Reach: 67 inches Height: 5-foot-5

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