Biographies, Autobiographies and Memoirs - compare the product and the prices!

12 August 2010

Biography
Biography covers a range of biographical works, which can occur in literature, film and other media. Here we explore the variation in the genre:
A biography is a description, either written or in film, which gives an account of a person's life. More than a profile, a biography covers all of a person's life including intimate experiences, and may contain the subject's emotional reaction and/or personality analysis. Generally a biography is a non-fictional account. However, it is possible for a person's biography to be tackled in novels and film.
Biography as a form started in the classical period and was largely the remit of either, the Roman Catholic clergy, with the subjects being dominated by the lives of Saints and Martyrs, or the prophetic revelations of the Islamic clerics.
The dominance of the church ended around the end of the middle ages, and biographies of Kings and leaders began to emerge, culminating in a 'Golden Age of the biography' in the late 18th Century, when the modern biography was born.

Autobiography
As with many familiar terms, the origin of the word autobiography can be found in the Greek language: autos – means self; bios means life; and graphein translating to the verb,' to write'.
Autobiographies although often enjoyed by many readers have historically often been viewed in a negative light, often considered self indulgent or apologetic. In fact in the classical period, the form was known as apologia (confession). Autobiographies typically cover the writers lifespan, should be researched, and cover dates, historical detail and facts.

Memoir
A memoir comes from the Latin, memoire – meaning memory or reminiscence, and tends to cover a specific period of the writers life. Traditionally they were written by politicians and public figures and tended to represent careers, rather than personal lives.
Memoirs, particularly those that depict hard times, have been surprisingly popular over recent years, even if the person writing them has been little known. There has also been a recent trend in publishing the memoirs of political diarists, which latterly has seen extraordinarily large sums of money being advanced to retiring politicians for their kiss and tell stories about lives in the heart of government, or indeed, as in the case of Barack Obama, has been seen as a strong element in the marketing campaign towards election to office.

Multimedia biography
Multimedia forms of biography, largely films and documentaries of the lives of the celebrated and famous have become very popular with the advance of modern technology, and of course with the advance of the internet and social networking sites, it is usually possible to get a profile of a person, regardless of their notoriety or celebrity in a simple search engine request.
These forms of information are fascinating to us because we are curious about how others live their lives, especially if there are extraordinary or bizarre aspects to their situation or character.

Top 5 biographies, autobiographies and memoirs available for sale through our price comparison service

Today at Find book, we have searched out some of the biographies, autobiographies and memoirs that have received excellent reviews, or are new to the market. We have checked the prices using our price comparison service to ensure that if you buy, your purchase will be the best deal for biographies on the market.

Autobiographies