Biography Books > T Biography Books > less than 5 GBP

Advantages: Short
Disadvantages: Patronising

Oh dear - I'm going to sound like a party-pooper again. I was offered this book to read by a well-meaning friend, and read it on his recommendation. The reason he thought that I would like it is that I was diagnosed with cancer in 2003 and published the diary i kept during the first year after my diagnosis (It's called The Purple Butterfly, if anyone is interested). This book is about a man called Mitch who starts to visit the terminally ill Morrie, ...
...about the way he reacts to Morrie's illness, not so much about Morrie. Anyway, I read the book. Perhaps it was too soon after my own diagnosis, or perhaps I just didn't like the tone, but I am afraid I didn't like it. Sorry to all those people who did, but this is my opinion. I think I was looking at it from Morrie's point of view. Who wants a do-gooder younger, fit man coming around and giving you sympathy? No-one. Who wants a do-gooder younger ... Read review

Advantages: True Story. Fantastically Wrote.
Disadvantages: Makes you cry a lot!!

...are in foster care at the start of the book, their mother and stepfather then take Janey back and leave Jimmy who then gets adopted. (all names in the book have been changed to protect identities) Janey is a 4 year old girl who starts to get abused by her stepfather Richard who she refers to as 'Silly Git' the abuse last up until she is in her 20's. Sill Git would call her names such as 'Paki Slave' because she had dark skin. He would also punch,slap,kick ...
...virginity to one of them the abuse got worse for her as now Richard could have full on sex with her! Near the end of the book Janey wins her case against Richard but ends up getting beating up because of this. There is so much in this book about her abuse, it's hard to think people actually go through things like this in real life. It doesn't seem real. It's hard to belive what Janey wen through in this book it's totally heart breaking. It's great ... Read review

Advantages: Non really
Disadvantages: Horrifying

This is the story of a woman who used to be a nanny for Fred and Rose West. She was unaware of their behaviour even when she was living with them, but as soon as something went wrong, she ran a mile. Caroline didn't have a normal life. She was born to a woman who wasn't married and her father didn't want to know after a few years as he was a devout Catholic. Soon her mother remarried to a man named Alf who she argued with and did a typical "step ...
...normal. She was introduced to the children and she got on fine. However she wasn't happy with the Wests' behaviour. They had men coming round all the time and Rose would take them into the bedroom. She soon found out that she was not a massager like first thought, but was part of a "sex circle". At the first chance, Caroline ran back home, only to be caught again by a deceiving Rose. Caroline was sexually aussaulted by both Fred and Rose, then raped ... Read review

Advantages: Beautifully written, moving, sharp and tormenting story.
Disadvantages: Slow in parts, not as comprehensive as an "auto-biography"

...he created classics such as the Duncton Chronicles and Skallagrig - one of my all time favourite books. When I discovered "The Boy With No Shoes" I was shocked to discover that this was the painful story of the author's childhood not ever having imagined that he could come from such a harsh physical, and particularly barren emotional background. The story is told set in the fictional coastal town of "Stoning" in Kent during the post Second World ...
...from boyhood into adult life, the place settings and characters are all fictitious but clearly based on the important people in the author's life. I would describe Horwood as a literary artist; the way in which he constructs language so that it translates into "images" is a skill that very few writers possess. The only other writer that I've encountered who stirs such an emotional reaction in me through the way they write prose is Sir Bob Geldof ... Read review

Advantages: very readable account, interesting perspective on eighteenth/nineteenth century
Disadvantages: none

...desire for fame, nor for the satisfaction of seeing his name in print, that he reluctantly agreed. It was with the simple hope that it might help rescue him from destitution by securing for him a small pension. He could hardly have anticipated that in 1937, over 100 years after his death, and again in 1997, new editions of his life story would be published for entertainment purposes. The editor responsible for the new edition, Tim Flannery, claims ...
...from Alexander Laing's preface to the 1937 edition, about the stranger who was responsible for the very first recording. A ghost writer before the term had been coined, John Howell was a bookbinder by trade but also a prolific inventor and clearly a maverick character. In a scene reminiscent of Good King Wencelas, he spotted John Nicol, aged 67, walking the streets looking for fragments of coal to use to keep warm and the scene aroused his compassion. ... Read review