So you’re ready to write an autobiography! Congratulations; this can be a gratifying personal project. And just like any creative endeavor, it’s a great idea to start by getting inspired.
Autobiography examples are one of the best ways to understand the genre before writing your own. From Anne Frank’s wartime diary to Trevor Noah’s apartheid-era memoir, these 19 books each offer a different lesson in structure, voice, and storytelling. Read on to discover which autobiography examples suit your writing goals, and how to start yours today.
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What are the different types of autobiographies?
An autobiography is a self-written account of the author’s own life, typically covering their full story from birth to the present, in their own words. This sets it apart from a memoir, which tends to focus on a specific period or theme rather than a complete life narrative.
As it turns out, there are many different ways to write a book about yourself. You can go the traditional autobiography route (a chronological account of your entire life). Or you can write a memoir that zeroes in on specific themes or time periods.
If you’d like, your autobiography can be composed of individual personal essays, or you can blend it with literary techniques to create a piece of creative nonfiction.
There are graphic autobiographies that use comics or image-text combinations to illustrate your life story, or you can simply publish an edited version of your journal or diary. You can write a travelogue that documents your life through your adventures, or blend real events with narrative craft to create autobiographical fiction.
When it comes to sharing your life story, there are few rules, which is exactly what makes autobiography examples so instructive. Seeing how different authors handled the genre shows you the range of what’s possible.
How can I lay out my autobiography?
Did you know there are multiple ways you can structure your autobiography? The most common is to put it in chronological order. But you can also lay out your book in reverse chronological order or even jump around in time.
Here are a few other layouts to consider:
- Thematic or topical. As you outline your autobiography, pay attention to themes that emerge. You can lay out your autobiography by central ideas rather than by time.
- Flashback and flash-forward. This nonlinear approach can be a great way to create some excitement and intrigue in your life story.
- Cyclical structure. Is there one event that you feel defined your life story? Why not try circling back to it throughout your book? This can be an interesting way to demonstrate how your perspective changed with time.
If you need a little more help laying out your autobiography, we have free autobiography templates and free book templates to help you.
Related: 50 Eye-Catching Autobiography Titles
19 autobiography examples to inspire your own
Ready to get inspired? Here are 19 autobiography examples that represent the very best the genre has to offer, each one teaches a distinct lesson about craft, voice, and structure.
1. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
One of the most well-known autobiography examples ever written, The Diary of a Young Girl is a masterclass in the journal-style format. Featuring the story of a Jewish teenager hiding from the Nazis during the Holocaust, it is remarkable for Frank’s raw emotional honesty and unwavering candor.
Aspiring writers will find powerful lessons in how a personal diary, written with no intention of publication, can become one of the most important books in history.
Writer’s takeaway: You don’t need to write for an audience. Write truthfully, and the audience will find you.
2. Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
A favorite of Steve Jobs, this autobiography details the author’s spiritual journey through yoga and meditation. Among autobiography examples that blend philosophy with personal narrative, this one stands alone. Yogananda seamlessly weaves the recounting of real events with spiritual insights and philosophical teachings, creating a book that reads as both a life story and a spiritual guide.
Writer’s takeaway: Your autobiography can carry a thesis – a set of beliefs or values that your life story illustrates.
3. Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
The former South African president wrote this stunning autobiography about his struggle against apartheid, his 27 years in prison, and his eventual presidency. Among autobiography examples focused on social change, this one is essential reading. Mandela’s patient, measured voice gives the book an extraordinary dignity, even when recounting immense suffering.
Writer’s takeaway: Your tone shapes how readers receive your story. A calm, purposeful voice can be more powerful than an angry one.
4. The Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi
In his autobiography, Gandhi traces his philosophy of nonviolent resistance through the lens of his personal and political journey. This is one of the autobiography examples most admired for the way it connects personal growth to a larger public mission. Gandhi’s willingness to examine his own failures as honestly as his successes makes the book feel deeply trustworthy.
Writer’s takeaway: Don’t just tell readers what you did, tell them what you got wrong, and what you learned.
5. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
One of several autobiographical works by Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings explores her coming-of-age experience in the American South, amidst racism and a traumatic childhood. This is one of the autobiography examples most celebrated for its language. Angelou’s prose is vivid, poetic, and precise. Writers should read this to understand how lyrical writing can elevate a life story into literature.
Related: Read our blog on inspirational Maya Angelou quotes.
Writer’s takeaway: The way you describe your world matters as much as the events themselves.
6. The Story of My Life by Hellen Keller
Keller details her remarkable life as a deaf-blind person, sharing intimate details about her education and advocacy work. Among autobiography examples that demonstrate sensory-rich language, this one is unmatched. Keller navigated the world entirely through touch, and her writing reflects that unique experience in ways that feel both alien and profoundly human.
Writer’s takeaway: Your perspective, however unusual, is your greatest asset as a writer.
7. The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
Written in collaboration with journalist Alex Haley, this autobiography tracks Malcolm X from a turbulent youth through his adulthood as one of the most prominent voices in the civil rights movement. Among autobiography examples focused on personal transformation, this is one of the most dramatic. Malcolm X’s evolution is documented with unflinching honesty.
Writer’s takeaway: If you’ve changed significantly over your lifetime, let your autobiography show that arc. Transformation is compelling.
8. The Story of My Life by Clarence Darrow
Darrow shares his experiences as a civil libertarian and one of America’s most famous lawyers in this enlightening autobiography. Writers who want to learn how to structure a persuasive argument within a life story should read this one. Like the best legal briefs, it is clear, logical, and deeply human.
Writer’s takeaway: Even autobiography can benefit from structure and argumentation. Know the point you’re trying to make.
9. Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
South African comedian, television host, and political commentator Trevor Noah wrote this autobiography detailing his childhood during apartheid. This is one of the autobiography examples most admired for its use of humor. Noah manages to be genuinely funny while writing about extraordinarily heavy subjects, a balance that very few writers achieve.
Writer’s takeaway: Humor is not a deflection from pain. Used skillfully, it can be the most honest way to describe it.
10. I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
In her autobiography, Yousafzai recounts her journey advocating for girls’ education in Pakistan, a path that led to a Taliban assassination attempt at age 15. Among autobiography examples with an urgent, authentic narrative voice, this is one of the most powerful. Her directness is disarming, and her courage is contagious.
Writer’s takeaway: Authenticity of voice comes from believing your story matters. Write as though it does.
11. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
Ten Boom’s autobiography tells the harrowing story of her family’s efforts to hide Jewish people from the Nazis during World War II. This is one of the autobiography examples that most skillfully weaves historical context into a deeply personal narrative. Ten Boom never lets the history overshadow the human story at the center of the book.
Writer’s takeaway: Historical events can form the backdrop of your autobiography without taking over your personal story.
12. Agatha Christie: An Autobiography by Agatha Christie
Renowned mystery writer Agatha Christie put down her detective novels long enough to write a book about herself, and the result is as compelling as any of her fiction. Among autobiography examples from artists and creatives, this one is especially instructive. Christie builds the same sense of careful observation and slow reveal that defines her novels.
Writer’s takeaway: Bring the skills from your craft into your autobiography. A novelist can write novelistically. A poet can write poetically.
13. Chronicles: Volume 1 by Bob Dylan
If you’re an artist writing about your creative life, Dylan’s Chronicles is essential reading. It shares his perspective on the creative process in music and literature, and delves into what it means to maintain your artistic vision in the face of public expectation. Among autobiography examples from musicians, this one is uniquely literary and reflective.
Writer’s takeaway: Your autobiography doesn’t have to be a greatest hits collection. Go deep on the moments that shaped your thinking.
14. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Written by a neurosurgeon as he faces a terminal lung cancer diagnosis, this autobiography may be the most emotionally devastating entry on this list, and one of the most beautiful. It confronts mortality directly and is an extraordinary piece of writing. Kalanithi moves between doctor and patient, between literature and medicine, with grace.
Writer’s takeaway: Writing under constraint (whether of time, circumstance, or illness) can produce work of startling clarity.
15. Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama
This autobiography by the former U.S. president traces his search for identity across Hawaii, Indonesia, Kenya, and Chicago. It’s a great read for anyone who wants to write an autobiography that intertwines their personal story with larger societal and political questions. Among autobiography examples that achieve this balance, Obama’s stands out for its literary ambition.
Writer’s takeaway: Your personal story and your public story don’t have to be separate. The most interesting autobiographies show how they connect.
16. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Jeannette Walls’s The Glass Castle recounts her unconventional, and at times harrowing, childhood with deeply dysfunctional but fiercely charismatic parents. Among autobiography examples exploring complicated family dynamics, this is one of the most cited. Walls writes about her parents with a remarkable complexity, neither condemning nor excusing them, and that balance is what makes the book so gripping.
Writer’s takeaway: Resist the urge to reduce complicated people in your life to villains or heroes. Nuance makes for far better reading.
17. Living to Tell the Tale by Gabriel García Márquez
Living to Tell the Tale is the first volume of Nobel Prize-winning author García Márquez’s autobiography, spanning his childhood in Colombia through his early career as a journalist and his courtship of the woman who would become his wife. García Márquez brings the same magical sensibility to his own life story that made One Hundred Years of Solitude a classic, weaving together eccentric family characters, vivid regional history, and a deep love of storytelling into a book that reads less like a factual record and more like an act of literary self-discovery.
Writer’s takeaway: You don’t have to leave your craft at the door when writing your autobiography. The best autobiography examples from fiction writers prove that your storytelling instincts are an asset, not a liability.
18. The Diary of a CEO by Steven Bartlett
The Diary of a CEO by entrepreneur and Dragon’s Den investor Steven Bartlett is one of the most commercially successful autobiography examples to emerge from the world of business and personal development. Bartlett moves between the story of building his company and a series of principles and frameworks he developed along the way, making it part autobiography, part business book.
Writer’s takeaway: Autobiography and expertise can coexist in the same book. If you’ve built something, your life story is your proof of concept.
19. Becoming by Michelle Obama
Becoming is one of the bestselling autobiography examples of the 21st century, with over 17 million copies sold. Michelle Obama traces her journey from Chicago’s South Side to the White House, weaving themes of identity, race, ambition, and womanhood throughout. What makes it stand out is the warmth and accessibility of Obama’s voice. She writes the way she speaks, and readers feel that immediately.
Writer’s takeaway: Don’t write how you think an author should sound. Write how you actually sound. Authenticity is what creates connection.
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What is a catchy autobiography introduction?
The best autobiography introductions drop readers directly into a moment, emotion, or question that makes them want to keep reading. Here are five proven angles for opening your own autobiography:
- Start with a defining moment. Drop readers into a scene that changed everything, then let the rest of the book explain how you got there and what happened next.
- Open with a letter to your younger self. This frames the entire autobiography as wisdom earned through experience, which creates instant emotional investment.
- Share a formative childhood memory. A specific, sensory-rich scene from childhood can establish voice and context in just a few paragraphs.
- Pose a thought-provoking question. Ask something that your autobiography will gradually answer. This gives readers a reason to keep reading.
- Describe a meaningful object. An object connected to your life story can serve as a powerful entry point into your broader narrative.
With so many compelling autobiography examples to draw from, there has never been a better time to write your own story. If, after reading a few of the autobiography examples on this list, you’re still not sure where to start, we’re here to help.
At selfpublishing.com we have helped over 8,000 authors to write and publish their books. We offer editing, book cover design, marketing support, and more! Just schedule a free book consultation to get started.
Frequently asked questions about autobiographies
What is the difference between an autobiography and a memoir?
An autobiography typically covers a person’s full life story in chronological order, while a memoir focuses on a specific theme or period. Both are written in the first person, but most memoir examples are more selective about which events they include. For a deeper breakdown, see our guide on autobiography vs. memoir.
What makes a great autobiography?
The best autobiography examples share a few things in common: a distinctive voice, emotional honesty, specific sensory details, and a sense of larger meaning, the feeling that this one person’s life illuminates something universal. Great autobiography writing doesn’t just report events; it reflects on them.
Can anyone write an autobiography?
Yes. You don’t need to be famous to write a compelling autobiography. Some of the most affecting autobiography examples are written by ordinary people who lived through extraordinary circumstances, or who simply had the courage to examine their own lives with clarity and honesty.
How long should an autobiography be?
Most published autobiography examples fall between 60,000 and 100,000 words. However, the right length for your autobiography depends on your story and your goals. Some of the most powerful autobiographies (like When Breath Becomes Air) are relatively short.
