==Autobiography==
{{newreview
|author=Greg Baxter
|title=A Preparation for Death
|rating=3.5
|genre=Autobiography
|summary=I've always been slightly wary of autobiographies which are written whilst the subject is still relatively young. They can often feel incomplete, particularly when you know the author is still successful in their chosen career. Frequently they are also written from an immediate perspective which time can alter thanks to hindsight.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141048433</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Frances Woodsford
|summary=Having been born in 1922 and lived through so much of the twentieth century, with an author's view of change and people, Jose Saramago has certainly experienced a lot. Civil Wars in the neighbouring Spain; the growth of his country - which still left it as western Europe's poorest. Here he allows us witness to his mind drifting through his childhood, in the country and in Lisbon, and provides a subtle and gentle memoir.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184655148X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=John Peel and Sheila Ravenscroft
|title=Margrave of the Marshes
|rating=4.5
|genre=Entertainment
|summary=John Peel was without doubt one of the most important disc jockeys of all time. Born in Merseyside in 1939, he began his career in mid-60s America before returning home to join Radio London and then become one of the original Radio 1 team, where he stayed until his death 37 years later. I admired the man for his passion for playing the music nobody else would give the time of day (even if I didn't always enjoy it myself) and his readiness to say exactly what he thought, even if it was not what his employers at the BBC wanted to hear, and I always enjoyed reading his columns in the music weeklies and later Radio Times. Nevertheless I found much of his show unlistenable towards the end, recall some of his rather curmudgeonly remarks on air (guest slots on Radio 1's Round Table review programme come to mind), and thought his build-'em-up, knock-'em-down stance rather irritating after a while. So I approached this book with an open mind as a fan, but not an uncritical one.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0552551198</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jo Brand
|title=Look Back in Hunger
|rating=3.5
|genre=Entertainment
|summary=Born in Hastings in May 1957, after leaving Brunel University with a degree in social sciences, Jo Brand unsuccessfully applied for a research job with Channel 4 on a series about racism, then worked for a time as a psychiatric nurse at the South London Bethlem and Maudsley Hospital. But the lure of showbiz proved too strong, and stardom in stand-up comedy soon beckoned.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755355237</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Anita Thompson (Editor)
|title=Ancient Gonzo Wisdom: Interviews with Hunter S Thompson
|rating=4.5
|genre=Autobiography
|summary=It is almost 40 years since Dr Hunter S Thompson's seminal work ''Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas'' first graced the shelves. His gonzo style, putting himself at the centre of the story, should tell readers as much about the person doing the writing as the event he is describing. If that's the case then what is to be learned from a selection of interviews with the main man himself then? The answer is plenty.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0330510711</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Keith Floyd
|title=Stirred But Not Shaken: The Autobiography
|rating=4
|genre=Autobiography
|summary=I grew up with television cookery programmes and still have some recipes in my childish handwriting, which begin ''4oz SR fl 2oz marg 2oz C sug…'' as I battled to copy what was on the screen before we retuned to the presenter. Programmes stagnated as the cook spoke to camera and lectured the viewer on how to make sponge cake or a fish dish. Then we were shocked awake. There was a man, quite good-looking in a raffish, slightly dangerous sort of way, who cooked on the deck of a trawler or wherever the whim took him, always glass in hand and who was quite capable of berating the cameraman about how he was doing his job. Like him, or hate him – you could not help but know that he was Keith Floyd, or Floydy to millions.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0283071052</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Brian Johnson
|title=Rockers and Rollers: An Automotive Autobiography
|rating=3.5
|genre=Autobiography
|summary=Brian Johnson will probably go down as one of the luckiest men in showbiz. He had a brief moment of glory in the early 70s as vocalist with Geordie, a Tyneside version of Slade, who had three Top 40 hits and then fell on hard times. After going back to the day job, a chance call invited him to go and audition for AC/DC, whose vocalist Bon Scott had suddenly died. Three decades later, not only have the group held on to their loyal fanbase, but one of their albums, according to an online source, is second only to Michael Jackson's ''Thriller'' in terms of global sales.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718155424</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Susan Hill
|title=Howards End is on the Landing
|rating=4
|genre=Autobiography
|summary=Esteemed author, Susan Hill challenges herself to a year of not buying books, and re-reading some of her vast collection: not a terribly original idea, but an intriguing one nonetheless. Most avid readers will no doubt have made similar vows at some point in their lives (I know I have…) Early in the memoir, Ms Hill does admit that for professional purposes she will continue to review books sent to her - but buying/obtaining for pleasure, is to be out of bounds. In the course of guiding us through her vast and eclectic collection, scattered throughout her home, she also sets herself the task of choosing her top 40 books - and comes up with a very erudite selection.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846682657</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Brian Keenan
|title=I'll Tell Me Ma: A Childhood Memoir
|rating=4
|genre=Autobiography
|summary=Keenan memorably told the story of his years as a hostage in Beirut in ''An Evil Cradling''. Now he turns to his childhood. Anyone who had an urban upbringing in the 1950's will find themselves saying ''I remember that!'' at intervals throughout this book. Senior Service cigarettes, Pontefract cakes, the rag and bone man, the Lone Ranger, family photographs kept in an old biscuit tin, Dad polishing everyone's shoes, the realisation that there was a wider world beyond the city streets…These are some of the things that brought back my own memories – what can you find?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224062166</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Alan Bennett
|title=A Life Like Other People's
|rating=5
|genre=Autobiography
|summary=It was his mother's illness which triggered Alan Bennett's excursions into his family background. The bout of depression hadn't cleared as the family had hoped and admission to hospital was the next step in the treatment. Asked if there had been anything like this before, Bennett said not, failing to notice his father's hand gently touch his knee. The son was educated at Oxford and had even been seen on the television. He did the talking rather than the father, reluctant butcher and a man not given to putting himself forward.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571248128</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Elliott J Gorn
|title=Dillinger's Wild Ride: The Year That Made America's Public Enemy Number One
|rating=4
|genre=History
|summary=John Dillinger was born and brought up in Indiana. His childhood was no better and no worse than most but the early part of his adult life was to be blighted by a spell in prison when he was convicted of an attack on a man in a botched hold-up. Hoping for leniency he pleaded guilty but was sentenced to a lengthy term of imprisonment, whilst the man with him pleaded not guilty and when convicted received a shorter sentence. It's easy to see where Dillinger's contempt for the law was spawned.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0195304837</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Joaquin 'Jack' Garcia
|title=Making Jack Falcone: An Undercover FBI Agent Takes Down a Mafia Family
|rating=4
|genre=Autobiography
|summary=Joaquin 'Jack' Garcia worked for the FBI. That might sound rather glamorous but Jack had a special claim to fame. He was one of those rare people who always worked undercover – not just for hours or days at a time but sometimes for years. In ''Making Jack Falcone'' he tells the story of how he came to infiltrate the Mafia in New York and was responsible for a string of arrests which crippled the organised crime families. If that doesn't sound impressive enough, then just consider that Jack Garcia was a Cuban-born American and he went undercover as an Italian amongst Italians.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847393942</amazonuk>
}}
