18 books like Anthropology and autobiography

What to read after Anthropology and autobiography — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

Player Piano Kurt Vonnegut · 1952 · ★ 3.9 · 322p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Vonnegut's first novel spins the chilling tale of engineer Paul Proteus, who must find a way to live in a world dominated by a super computer and run completely by machines. Paul's rebellion is vintage Vonnegut - wildly funny, deadly serious, and terrifyingly close to reality. Shares: Community pick

Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen · 1813 · ★ 4.3 · 320p · ≈ 10h · Challenging Pride and Prejudice is an 1813 novel of manners written by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreciate the difference between superficial goodness and actual goodness. Mr. Bennet, owner of the Longbourn estate in Hertfordshire, has five daughters,… Shares: Community pick

The Name of the Rose Umberto Eco, William Weaver & Richard Dixon Now available in a deluxe edition featuring never-before-seen illustrations by the author: the beloved internationally bestselling historical mystery about a brilliant monk called upon to solve a series of baffling murders in a fourteenth-century Italian abbey“Explodes with pyrotechnic inventions, literally as well as figuratively. Hold on till the end.” —New York Times“Whether you're into… Shares: Community pick

Constructing Narratives of Continuity and Change Hazel L. Reid · 2014 · 202p · ≈ 6h · Moderate Shares: Biographical methods, Authorship, Biography & Memoir

Autoethnography and the Other Tami Spry · 2016 · 216p · ≈ 7h · Moderate Challenging the critique of autoethnography as overly focused on the self, Tami Spry calls for a performative autoethnography that both unsettles the "I" and represents the Other with equal commitment. Expanding on her popular book Body, Paper, Stage, Spry uses a variety of examples, literary forms, and theoretical traditions to reframe this research method as transgressive, liberatory, and… Shares: Biographical methods, Ethnology, Authorship, Biography & Memoir

Telling Tales Kylie Cardell · 2015 · 156p · ≈ 5h · Moderate Young writers have historically played a pivotal role in shaping autobiographical genres and this continues into the graphic and digital texts which characterise contemporary life writing. This volume offers a selection of pertinent case studies which illuminate some of the core themes which have come to characterise autobiographical writings of childhood, including: cultural and identity… Shares: Authorship, Biography & Memoir

Aku-Aku: El Secreto De LA Isla De Pascua/Aku-Aku Thor Heyerdahl · 1957 · 368p · ≈ 12h · Moderate Ancient, Polynesian, Archaeological, Expedition to verify the ancient relationship of the Easter Island Polynesian with the indigenous Peruvian peoples. Shares: Ethnology, Anthropology

Argonauts of the western Pacific Bronisław Malinowski · 1922 · ★ 3.8 · 626p · ≈ 20h · Challenging "Bronislaw Malinowski's pathbreaking Argonauts of the Western Pacific is at once a detailed account of exchange in the Melanesian islands and a manifesto of a modernist anthropology. Malinowski argued that the goal of which the ethnographer should never lose sight is 'to grasp the native's point of view, his relation to life, to realise his vision of his world.' Through vivid evocations of Kula… Shares: Ethnology, Anthropology

Myth and meaning Claude Lévi-Strauss · 1978 · ★ 3.8 · 54p · ≈ 1h · Moderate Ever since the rise of science and the scientific method in the seventeenth century, we have rejected mythology as the product of superstitious and primitive minds. Only now are we coming to a fuller appreciation of the nature and role of myth in human history. In these five lectures originally prepared for the CBC, Claude Lévi-Strauss, one of the world's greatest living thinkers, offers the… Shares: Ethnology, Anthropology

Primitive Culture Edward Burnett Tylor · 2010 · 520p · ≈ 17h · Moderate The first Professor of Anthropology at the University of Oxford, Edward B. Tylor, defined the term "culture" for modern readers in this groundbreaking work. Initially published in 1871, this classic two-volume study explores the full range of learned human behavior patterns in terms of the beliefs, wisdom, laws, artistic achievements, and mores that constitute a society. The formation of… Shares: Ethnology, Anthropology

Mediating Memory Bunty Avieson · 2017 · 344p · ≈ 11h · Moderate The argument has been made that memoir reflects and augments the narcissistic tendencies of our neo-liberal age. Mediating Memory: Tracing the Limits of Memoir challenges and dismantles that assumption. Focusing on the history, theory and practice of memoir writing, editors Bunty Avieson, Fiona Giles and Sue Joseph provide a thorough and cutting-edge examination of memoir through the lenses of… Shares: Authorship, Biography & Memoir

How to write your own life story Lois Daniel · 1980 · 221p · ≈ 7h · Moderate Writing the story of one's life sounds like a daunting task, but it doesn't have to be. This warmhearted, encouraging guide helps readers record the events of their lives for family and friends. Excerpts from other writers' work are included to exemplify and inspire. Provided are tips on intriguing topics to write about, foolproof tricks to jog your memory, ways to capture stories on paper… Shares: Authorship, Biography & Memoir

Bluebeard Kurt Vonnegut · 1987 · ★ 4.2 · 293p · ≈ 9h · Moderate Broad humor and bitter irony collide in this fictional autobiography of Rabo Karabekian, who, at age seventy-one, wants to be left alone on his Long Island estate with the secret he has locked inside his potato barn. But then a voluptuous young widow badgers Rabo into telling his life story—and Vonnegut in turn tells us the plain, heart-hammering truth about man’s careless fancy to create or… Shares: Authorship, Biography & Memoir

Writing Life Writing Paul John Eakin · 2020 · 288p · ≈ 9h · Moderate Why do we endlessly tell the stories of our lives? And why do others pay attention when we do? The essays collected here address these questions, focusing on three different but interrelated dimensions of life writing. The first section, "Narrative," argues that narrative is not only a literary form but also a social and cultural practice, and finally a mode of cognition and an expression of our… Shares: Authorship, Biography & Memoir

A million miles in a thousand years Donald Miller · 2009 · ★ 4.2 · 255p · ≈ 8h · Moderate After writing a successful memoir, Donald Miller's life stalled. During what should have been the height of his success, he found himself unwilling to get out of bed, avoiding responsibility, even questioning the meaning of life. But when two movie producers proposed turning his memoir into a movie, he found himself launched into a new story filled with risk, possibility, beauty, and meaning.A… Shares: Authorship, Biography & Memoir

Writing for your life Deena Metzger · 1992 · ★ 3.5 · 260p · ≈ 8h · Moderate In the tradition of Annie Dillard and Natalie Goldberg, this resource for writers and non-writers alike shows the act of writing to be a dynamic means of knowing, healing, and creating the body, mind, and spirit. Shares: Authorship, Biography & Memoir

Ninety days Bill Clegg · 2012 · ★ 3.3 · 208p · ≈ 6h · Moderate The goal is ninety: just ninety clean and sober days to loosen the hold of the addiction that caused Bill Clegg to lose everything. After seventy-three days in rehab, he returns to New York and attends two or three meetings each day. There, he befriends Asa - seemingly unshakeably sober - and Polly, struggling with her own cycle of recovery and relapse. When Clegg relapses for the first time,… Shares: Authorship, Biography & Memoir

Writing your life Mary Borg · 2010 · 191p · ≈ 6h · Moderate Breaks down the barriers of personal narrative with an easy-to-follow guide that includes thought-provoking questions, encouraging suggestions, memory-jogging activities, tips for writing, advice on publishing one's stories in print and online, and examples of ordinary people's writing. Shares: Authorship, Biography & Memoir

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