Biography & Memoir

Rock historian Ed Ward hares his opinions on some of the current crop of rock biographies and industry profiles, including Charles Shar Murray's look at Jimmy Hendrix's place in American culture, "Crosstown Traffic," which he says is brilliant.

The African American novelist's books include Appalachee Red, which won the James Baldwin Prize for Fiction, Rosiebelle Lee Wildcat Tennessee, and Baby Sweets. He's just published a memoir, The Last Radio Baby, about growing up the fourth of ten childen in a sharecropper family in rural Georgia.

Wyman is the quiet, low-profile member of the band who avoided drugs. Using his diaries for reference, he wrote a book about his time in the band through the 1960s, called Stone Alone.

Literary critic Denis Donogue was a Catholic who grew up in a community suspicious of Protestants. His memoir about his life in Northern Ireland, and his father's career in the constabulary, is called "Warrenpoint."

When writer Natalie Kusz was six years old, her family moved from Los Angeles to the Alaskan wilderness. That first winter, a neighbor's sled dog attacked Kusz, and tore off part of her face. Kusz's memoir details that event and its effect on the family.

Chinese student activist and organizer Shen Tong participated in protests that preceded the tragic incident. He's written a book about the experience called Almost a Revolution.

Jeffrey Masson was once a leading advocate of Freudian therapy. In recent years, he's condemned that type of approach. He shares his insights into conventional psychology in his new book, Final Analysis.

Rhodes is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and journalist who wrote The Making of the Atomic Bomb. His new book is called A Hole in the World, about the abuse he and his brother endured at the hands of his stepmother. Rhodes eventually became a ward of the state, and grew up in a boys' home.

Sidransky was born to deaf parents, though she herself is a hearing person. Her memoir, In Silence, is about their lives and how she often spoke for them.

The Fleetwood Mac founder and drummer has a new memoir about the romantic entanglements that tore apart the band. Despite their troubled history, they're on tour in support of a new album, Behind the Mask.

O'Keefe, who wrote the performance piece Shimmer, returns to read excerpts from his newest work, VID.

Former Sisters of Notre Dame Barbara Ferraro and Patricia Hussey were once known as the "abortion nuns." In 1984, they signed a New York Times ad that called on the Catholic Church to reconsider its stance on abortion. Their new book, No Turning Back, also outlines their differences with Church teachings on divorce and the ordination of women.

Farrell had a deep, complicated relationship with her choreographer, George Balanchine. She spent over twenty years with the New York City Ballet. Farrell's new memoir about her career is called is "Holding on to the Air"

In 1985, novelist William Styron fell into a deep depression. He documented the years he was incapacitated by the illness, and how he coped, in his new book, Darkness Visible. Looking back at his early writing, Styron believes depression informed his novels, like The Confessions of Nat Turner and Sophie's Choice.

Book critic John Leonard reviews the new book by ex-nuns Barbara Ferraro and Patricia Hussey, co-written with Jane O'Reilly. Ferraro and Hussey defied the Catholic Church's policies on abortion, birth control, and the ordination of women. Their convictions eventually led them to give up their vows.

Jim Morrison's out-of-control, self-destructive behavior nearly drove Densmore out of the band. Morrison died at 27; it took Densmore ten years to come to terms with his death. His new memoir is called Riders on the Storm.

The white anti-apartheid activist and African National Congress member survived a car bomb explosion, though the blast left him severely injured. Sachs later left South Africa for Mozambique, then England. His new memoir about the experience is called Running to Maputo.

Tucker wrote Brown's memoir, The Godfather of Soul, which was recently reprinted. He joins Fresh Air to talk about Brown's rise as a soul singer, the evolution of his stage persona, and his recent conviction and imprisonment, a punishment which Tucker believes is too severe based on the charges.

Near gained national attention when she joined Jane Fonda in antiwar protests. She joins Fresh Air to talk about developing her skills as a performer, her early acting career, and how she defines her sexuality. Her new memoir is called Fire in the Rain--Singer in the Storm.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan says that, after reading the writer's first two autobiographies, it's shocking to confront Simon as an old woman. The third and final memoir, published after Simon's death from stomach cancer, is called Etchings in an Hourglass.