Introduction: Autobiography, memoir, and biography
The traveled and the captive: adventurers, explorers, and warriors
Connections with nature: on the job, in the field, at home
Rural and city life: living on the land, exotic locales, urban living
Homes and haunts: the places and cultures of native lands
Multicultural heritages: lives and cultures in transition
Survivors and victims: slavery, racism, Holocaust, and other traumas of war
Coping with challenges of body and mind: diseases, disabilities, and conditions
Thinkers and believers: intellectuals, historians, journalists, and reformers
Men and women of words: writers, publishers, poets, and other book people
Capturing the world in color and form: artists, architects, designers, and friends of the arts
Let us entertain you: actors, musicians, dancers, and comedians
The play's the thing: sports, recreation, and athletes
Lives of care, creation, and calculation: health professionals, scientists, and mathematicians
Worlds of commerce and government: business, finance, politicians, and the rich
Inside and outside the law: lawyers, judges, police, criminals, and prisoners
The darker side of childhood: outcasts, violence, abuse, poverty, and other traumas
Spanning the generations: mothers, daughters, fathers, sons, and extended family
Appendix A. Bibliography of collective works
Appendix B. Disputed titles
Appendix C. Coming-of-age movies based on autobiographical or semiautobiographical writings: a selective filmography