The 19 Dishiest Celebrity Memoirs of All Time Design by Sarah Olivieri
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You’d be forgiven for thinking that we already know all we could ever want to know about celebrities, thanks to all the juicy stories that are ceaselessly peddled to us in the form of tabloid headlines, DeuxMoi sightings, and bite-size TikTok theories. But, as the following selection of books can attest to, there is a very thin line between what we think we know and what really happened.
For some of the biggest stars in Hollywood, memoirs offer an opportunity to tell their own story in their own words. The best of these memoirs cut through the noise of public speculation and media frenzy by delivering contemplative and shrewd perspectives about a life spent in the spotlight. Britney Spears marked the end of her nearly 14-year-long conservatorship with The Woman in Me, and Prince Harry laid out his reasons for leaving behind the U.K. plainly in Spare. Memoirs also serve a documentarian function, chronicling the seemingly mundane if not burdensome early lives of people who go on to become remarkable industry leaders, as seen in Viola Davis’s Finding Me and Sally Field’s In Pieces.
Ahead, Harper’s Bazaar rounds up the 19 best memoirs ever written by celebrities—and explains why you should add them to your TBR pile ASAP.
Just Kids by Patti Smith
Artist and punk rock musician Patti Smith details her relationship with the late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in Just Kids, which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2010. Besides documenting the intimacies of their complex partnership, the memoir also captures and preserves the bohemian culture of New York City in the ’70s.
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Michelle Zauner, the lead singer and guitarist of indie rock band Japanese Breakfast, wrote this touching homage to her mother following her death from pancreatic cancer in 2014. In her radiant debut, Zauner deftly connects family, food, grief, and identity in order to memorialize their one-of-a-kind relationship. The critically acclaimed book earned a spot on the New York Times bestseller list. A film adaptation was announced in 2021 but Zauner announced last year that the project has been indefinitely paused.
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
South African comedian Trevor Noah weaves humor with history in this suspenseful book about being born mixed-race at a time when his home country enforced apartheid. Raised by his defiant Black Xhosa mother, Patricia Nombuyiselo, Noah learned from a young age how to navigate the fraught time period with a sense of humor and grace, all the while preserving his own ambition and independence.
I‘m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Don’t let the eyebrow-raising title deter you—this memoir from former Nickelodeon child star Jennette McCurdy is as heartbreaking as it is funny. McCurdy, who rose to fame as one of the main cast members of hit kid sitcom iCarly, reflects on her experience in the spotlight while dealing with powerful external forces, from her controlling mother Debra to an unnamed Nickelodeon producer she refers to as “The Creator” (fans have speculated that “The Creator” is Dan Schneider, who has faced a number of sexual misconduct and discrimination allegations over the years).
The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
After years of other people controlling the narrative, Britney Spears finally told her story in her own words. The Woman in Me is a raw and candid chronicle of Spears’s rise from a young girl living in a small Louisianan town to a megawatt superstar fronting the covers of every major tabloid and magazine. The memoir lifts the veil on some of the toughest public trials that Spears had to contend with privately, including her famed breakup with Justin Timberlake and her estranged relationship to younger sister Jamie Lynn. Wicked director Jon M. Chu is set to adapt the memoir for the big screen.
Finding Me by Viola Davis
Before Viola Davis became the Viola Davis, she was a young girl living in a crumbling apartment in Rhode Island. In Finding Me, the Oscar-winning actor delivers an astute reflection on her ascent to stardom, regarding how a childhood lived in poverty shaped her into a person determined to find their own voice. Davis ultimately earned a Grammy for the memoir’s audiobook, a win that officially launched her into EGOT status.
Making a Scene by Constance Wu
Constance Wu, star of Crazy Rich Asians and Fresh Off the Boat, bares it all in this frank and vulnerable memoir. Recalling everything from her childhood as an emotionally repressed girl living in the suburbs of Virginia to her rise as a big-time actor on major TV sets, Wu contends with Hollywood, mental heath, sexual harassment, and heartbreak in a series of un-put-downable essays.
Just as I Am by Cicely Tyson
Cicely Tyson was a giant of the screen. In her decades-spanning career, she received three Emmys, a Tony, an honorary Academy Award, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Just before her death at 96 years old in 2021, Tyson told her definitive life story in this awe-inspiring memoir, which recalls her trailblazing career amid major social and historical events that shaped American culture forever.
In Pieces by Sally Fieldvio
Academy Award-winning actor Sally Field spent six years working on this memoir, which recounts the challenges of her childhood as a young girl abused by her stepfather. With her signature sense of grace and charm, Field goes through her life “in pieces” in order to get beneath the surface of some of the most important relationships of her life, from her complicated bond with her mother to her romances with fellow celebrities like Burt Reynolds.
Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten
In her first-ever memoir, cookbook extraordinaire and Food Network phenomenon Ina Garten describes how exactly she became the Barefoot Contessa. Be Ready When the Luck Happens hits all the marks you’d want to see in a celebrity autobiography, including little-known anecdotes from Garten’s childhood, remembrances from her early relationship with husband Jeffrey Garten, personal reflections on pivoting her career, and, finally, lessons she learned from her trailblazing career path.
My Body by Emily Ratajkowski
Model and actor Emily Ratajkowski knows better than anyone what it means to have your gender, sexuality, and body commodified. In a series of incisive essays, Ratajkowski uses a feminist framework to probe the complexities and nuances of female sexuality—and what it means to be at the center of an industry that exists through the necessity of objectifying her.
The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher
Carrie Fisher wrote several books throughout her life, but The Princess Diarist—the last one she published before her death in 2016— stands out for her unfiltered account detailing her experience on the set of Star Wars. Based off of diaries she kept during the filming of the space sci-fi franchise, Fisher reveals little-known secrets and anecdotes from her time as Princess Leia—including the true nature of her relationship with costar Harrison Ford.
My Name Is Barbra by Barbra Streisand
EGOT winner Barbra Streisand released her long-awaited memoir in 2023, with the book debuting at No. 2 on the New York Times best-seller list. In My Name Is Barbra, the singer rehashes her extraordinary career, including meditations from her time on Funny Girl to her friendships with fellow Hollywood luminaries like Marlon Brando. The book also ended up receiving a nomination for Best Audiobook at the 67th annual Grammy Awards.
Rememberings by Sinéad O’Connor
A year before her death, Sinéad O’Connor published Rememberings. Told through her singular voice, the memoir details O’Connor’s painful childhood growing up in Dublin, the allure of music-making as a form of escape, some anecdotes as one of the ’90s preeminent rock stars, and her fierce activism in the face of the world’s injustices.
Spare by Prince Harry
After the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s bombshell Oprah interview back in 2021, a tell-all memoir seemed inevitable. Prince Harry made good on that prediction with Spare, which lifts the veil on the institution of the British Royal Family with intimate and never-before-seen details from one of its own. Harry didn’t shy away from revealing all the messy truths from his time as a senior royal, going to great lengths to describe his grief from Princess Diana’s death, the tangled relationship between his family and the British press, and his estrangement from older brother and heir to the British crown, Prince William.
The Meaning of Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey with Michaela Angela Davis
Collaborating with writer Michaela Angela Davis, Mariah Carey relays her unfiltered memories, mistakes, and struggles in this sweeping memoir that attempts to dissect the myth behind her legacy. The book starts with her childhood, exploring the complexities of growing up as a biracial girl on Long Island, and delves deeper into her journey towards becoming one of the biggest pop stars of her generation.
Cher: The Memoir, Part One by Cher
Who else could possibly tell Cher’s story except Cher? The global icon spent nearly 10 years working on what would eventually become a two-part memoir series, with Part One diving deep on her childhood, her relationship with ex-husband Sonny Bono, and her career success in the ’60s and ’70s. Part Two is slated for release later this year.
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Published nearly two years after she and her family left the White House, Becoming gets up close and personal with former First Lady Michelle Obama. The book focuses on her childhood growing up on the South Side of Chicago, her career as an Ivy-educated lawyer, her romance with husband Barack Obama, and the pressures of being the first-ever Black First Lady of the United States. The book became an instant bestseller; in 2018, it was the highest-selling book published in the U.S., with over two million copies sold within its first 15 days.
Pageboy by Elliot Page
Elliot Page gets brutally honest in this heart-wrenching and compelling memoir about making space for who you truly are in a world that refuses to see you. Through a recollection of intimate stories and personal anecdotes, the Oscar-nominated actor opens up about his struggles to come out as transgender amid Hollywood pressures to fit him and his gender identity into a neat box.
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