Biography and Memoir
June 2025
Recent Releases
Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass: How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up
by Dave Barry

Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist and novelist Dave Barry (Swamp Story) offers freewheeling reflections on his life and literary career in his first memoir. For fans of: David Sedaris.
Mark Twain
by Ron Chernow

In his well-researched latest, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Ron Chernow (Alexander Hamilton) offers a nuanced and richly detailed portrait of writer Mark Twain that's been deemed a "monumental achievement" (Booklist) and "essential reading" (Kirkus Reviews). For fans of: Charles Dickens: A Life by Claire Tomalin. 
Karen: A Brother Remembers
by Kelsey Grammer

Actor Kelsey Grammer reflects on the 1975 kidnapping, rape, and murder of his teenage sister Karen in this affecting account of grief and healing. Try this next: The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir by Griffin Dunne.
The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland
by Michelle Young

Journalist and Columbia architecture professor Michelle Young's unputdownable latest chronicles the daring exploits of French art historian and museum curator Rose Valland, who became a member of the French Resistance during World War II and fought tirelessly to save artworks looted by the Nazis. Try this next: Fragile Cargo: The World War II Race to Save the Treasures of China's Forbidden City by Adam Brookes.
Focus on: Pride Month
I Was Better Last Night
by Harvey Fierstein

This witty memoir from four-time Tony Award-winning actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein explores the author's coming out and commitment to gay rights activism, his creative process and artistic coming of age, and working on Broadway hits including Torch Song Trilogy, La Cage aux Folles, and Kinky Boots. Try this next: Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life by Alan Cumming.
Pure Innocent Fun: Essays
by Ira Madison III

"In this inviting and joyfully raucous collection of sixteen original essays, written with a rare combination of humor and sharpness, Ira Madison III combines memoir and cultural criticism to offer an updated pop-culture manifesto. In each essay, Madison unearths how pop culture shapes us, both for the better and for the worse. Alternately irreverent and emotionally resonant, Pure Innocent Fun will leave you laughing and inspired." -Publisher
Bonus: Ira Madison III is originally from Milwaukee! 
The Best Strangers in the World: Stories from a Life Spent Listening
by Ari Shapiro

This debut memoir-in-essays from NPR's All Things Considered co-host and former White House correspondent Ari Shapiro offers an incisive behind-the-scenes look at the stories behind Shapiro's reportage and is equal parts amusing and affecting. For fans of: All I Did Was Ask: Conversations with Writers, Actors, Musicians and Artists by Terry Gross. 
Contact your librarian for more great books!