18 books like The biographical dictionary of musicians

What to read after The biographical dictionary of musicians — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

Correspondence Hector Berlioz · 1844 · 322p · ≈ 10h · Challenging The Life of Hector Berlioz as Written by Himself in His Letters and Memoirs is both autobiography and artistic manifesto, gathering the composer's recollections and correspondence into a vivid self-portrait of Romantic genius. Its style is theatrical, ironic, impassioned, and often mordantly comic, moving between intimate confession, aesthetic polemic, travel narrative, and cultural criticism.… Shares: Musicians, Music, Biography & Memoir

Aus meinem Leben und Denken Albert Schweitzer · 1931 · ★ 4.0 · 272p · ≈ 9h · Challenging First pub. 1933. The remarkable story of a truly great man, who achieved success as a musician, philosopher, theologian, and doctor and left it all to found a hospital in Africa where he could devote his talents to relieving suffering among five tribesmen. Shares: Musicians, Music, Biography & Memoir

Nocturnes Kazuo Ishiguro · 2009 · ★ 3.8 · 249p · ≈ 8h · Moderate One of the most celebrated writers of our time gives us his first cycle of short fiction: five brilliantly etched, interconnected stories in which music is a vivid and essential character.A once-popular singer, desperate to make a comeback, turning from the one certainty in his life . . . A man whose unerring taste in music is the only thing his closest friends value in him . . . A struggling… Shares: Musicians, Music

Sing as we go Gracie Fields · 1960 · ★ 4.2 · 203p · ≈ 6h · Moderate This is Gracie Field's autobiography, published in 1960 in England and 1961 in the United States. She was a major star in England. She made her first stage appearance as a child in 1905, acting in children's repertory theatre groups such as 'Haley's Garden of Girls' and the 'Nine Dainty Dots'. Her two sisters, Edith and Betty and brother, Tommy, all went on to appear on stage, but Gracie was the… Shares: Musicians, Biography & Memoir

An Autobiography Igor Stravinsky · 1936 · ★ 3.3 · 176p · ≈ 5h · Challenging An Autobiography chronicles the first half-century of Stravinsky's life, all the while offering his opinions and "abhorrences". A Parsifal performance at Bayreuth? "At the end of a quarter of an hour I could bear no more". Nijinsky? "The poor boy knew nothing of music". Spanish folk music? "Endless preliminary chords of guitar playing". Shares: Musicians, Biography & Memoir

We Followed Our Stars Mary Burchell · 1950 · 246p · ≈ 8h · Moderate Ida Cook was born at 37 Croft Avenue, Sunderland. Together with her sister (Mary) Louise Cook (1901-1991), she rescued Jews from the Nazis during the 1930s. In 1965 the sisters were honoured for their rescue work and named among the 'Righteous Gentiles' in Jerusalem, thus joining Oskar Schindler among others. Ida Cook wrote over a hundred romance novels, many of which were translated. She helped… Shares: Musicians, Biography & Memoir

"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman" Richard Phillips Feynman · 1984 · ★ 4.3 · 352p · ≈ 11h · Moderate The biography of the physicist and Nobel prize winner Richard P. Feynman - a collection of short stories, chapters told to and written down by Ralph Leighton. Feynman tells of his childhood and youth and goes into his adult life, both personally and professionally. Shares: Music, Biography & Memoir

The Library of American Biography Jared Sparks · 1846 · 402p · ≈ 13h · Challenging This book itself comprises and also is a collection of letters by varied political and social personalities in reference with the American Revolution. These letters are also concerned with the foreign relations of United States during the whole revolution. Also, it reflects the political framing in the United States. Shares: Biography & Memoir

A history of autobiography in antiquity Georg Misch · 1950 · 364p · ≈ 12h · Moderate This is Volume IV of 9 historical works from the International Library of Sociology. This is part one of two looking at the history of the autobiography. Appearing in isolation as they do, autobiographies demand for their description and appreciation, a comprehensive view of the development of the human mind. This volume covers the conception and the origin of autobiography, looking at ancient… Shares: Biography & Memoir

Mr. Nice Howard Marks · 1996 · 468p · ≈ 15h · Moderate This candid crime memoir by Britain's most famous drug baron is "frequently hilarious, occasionally sad, and often surreal" (GQ).   During the mid-1980s Howard Marks had 43 aliases, 89 phone lines, and owned 25 companies throughout the world. From local bars to recording studios to offshore banks—all of his "businesses" were in fact money laundering vehicles serving his one true business:… Shares: Biography & Memoir

Autobiography Anderson L Staff · 2001 · 166p · ≈ 5h · Moderate Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote ''Confessions'', the first Western autobiography ever written, around AD 400. Portrait by Philippe de Champaigne, 17th century.]] Shares: Biography & Memoir

Two Sisters Gore Vidal · 1970 · ★ 4.0 · 236p · ≈ 7h · Moderate Originally published in 1970 this fairly short novel (174 pages) contains, according to the blurb on the dust jacket of the first edition, “Gore Vidal’s singular speculations on love, sex, death, literature and politics.” Shares: Biography & Memoir

Missing Persons Mary Evans · 1998 · 176p · ≈ 5h · Moderate Auto/biography is currently one of the most popular literary genres, widely supposed to illuminate the study of the individual and his or her personal circumstances. Missing Persons suggests that auto/biography is, in fact, based on fictions, both about the person and about what it is possible to know about any one individual. Organised into chapters which consider particular kinds of… Shares: Biography & Memoir

Marse Henry : An Autobiography Henry Watterson · 1919 · 325p · ≈ 10h · Challenging "Marse Henry: An Autobiography" is a fascinating memoir by Henry Watterson, a prominent American journalist, and editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal. The book details Watterson's life from his birth in Kentucky in 1840 to his rise as a prominent political figure and newspaper editor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Watterson's memoir is full of vivid anecdotes and colorful… Shares: Biography & Memoir

Money to Burn William D. Cohan · 689p · ≈ 22h · Moderate INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERFrom the bestselling author of House of Cards and Power Failure comes the sweeping tale of a powerful and controversial financial empire, set against the turbulent backdrop of a rapidly changing Wall Street.On March 22, 2021, Leon Black, the brilliant and fearsome billionaire founder of investment firm Apollo Global Management, resigned. For more than three… Shares: Biography & Memoir

No More Tears Gardiner Harris · 2025 · ★ 4.4 · 464p · ≈ 15h · Moderate NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An explosive, deeply reported exposé of Johnson & Johnson, one of America’s oldest and most trusted pharmaceutical companies—from an award-winning investigative journalist“A damning portrait.”—Associated Press“A page-turning drama that raises life-or-death questions about the world’s largest healthcare conglomerate.”—Jonathan Eig, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of King:… Shares: Biography & Memoir

A Colossal Failure of Common Sense Lawrence G. McDonald & Patrick Robinson A Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers is a 2009 non-fiction book written by Lawrence G. McDonald and Patrick Robinson which chronicles the events surrounding the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in the context of the 2008 financial crisis and the subprime mortgage crisis. The work is divided into a prologue, an epilogue, and twelve chapters. Shares: Biography & Memoir

The Infinity Machine Sebastian Mallaby · 2026 · ★ 4.8 An Instant New York Times Bestseller • One of NPR's Best Books of the Year • Nominated for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year From one of our leading chroniclers of the intersection of innovation and capitalism, a landmark reckoning—based on unprecedented access—with one of the world’s most brilliant and driven tech visionaries, and his game-changing companyEven by the standard of a… Shares: Biography & Memoir

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