The vast majority of motivational books are step-by-step recipes for success, peppered with inspirational anecdotes and, as such, tend to be similar. There’s nothing wrong with that, but one could argue that once you’ve read “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” you’ve pretty much read everything in that genre.
The same thing holds true for business biographies. Swap the names around and plug in the different technologies and a biography of Elon Musk, for example, isn’t all that different from a biography of, say, Michael Dell. Such books are always triumphalist and emphasize the same motivational lesson–work hard and you’ll be successful.
Again, there’s nothing wrong with such books–they can be both enjoyable and instructive–but they’re so one-note that there’s little to learn from them, after you’ve read a few.
Earlier today, one of my editors remarked that she’d been inspired by Christopher Reeve’s autobiography Nothing is Impossible. Her comment sparked a self-realization that I’ve increasingly been inspired and motivated by memoires and autobiographies written by people from outside the business world.
With that in mind, here are 13 classic memoires, along my take on what’s inspirational about them:
1. Goodbye to All That (Robert Graves)
Why It’s Worth Reading: The popularity of the movies Dunkirk and, yes, Wonder Woman, has revived interest in World War I. Those depictions, however, don’t really capture the horrors of that conflict or the powerful courage that it took to survive them honorably. Robert Graves (best known as the author of “I, Claudius”) both survived the war and wrote this highly self-aware memoire of how it change both him and the world.
2. History of My Life (Giacomo Casanova)
Why It’s Worth Reading: While this is arguably the world’s most scandalous and, frankly, obscene memoir, Casanova possesses an admirable love of life and ability to appreciate every aspect of it, as well as a clear understanding of his own foibles and the absurdities of the world around him. Note: the only translation that’s any good is that of Willard Trask; all the others are bowdlerized.
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou)
Why It’s Worth Reading: The story of how Angelou overcame the bigotry and abuse of her childhood and transformed her experiences into great literature is a both a record of the injustices of the 20th century (which are now being restored by a white supremacist administration) and a testament to an unconquerable human spirit.
4. Long Walk to Freedom (Nelson Mandela)
Why It’s Worth Reading: I once attended a conference where Nelson Mandela addressed the audience via video hookup. Despite the oppression he’d suffered over the decades, he seemed filled with joy and hope. His autobiography communicates that joy and hope, making him a role model for anybody experiencing difficulties in life.
5. Man’s Search for Meaning (Viktor E. Frankl)
Why It’s Worth Reading: Motivational bromides like “God has a plan for you” and “everything happens for a reason” often fall flat. Let’s face it, sometimes life is absurd and awful, forcing you to create a meaning to sustain you through difficulty and pain. Frankl’s quest to understand his experience in a Nazi death camps shows how this can be accomplished in any situation.
6. The Autobiography of… (Benjamin Franklin)
Why It’s Worth Reading: While this is the shortest autobiography in this list, it’s also the most entertaining. Franklin’s candid observations on life and (to a lesser extent) the politics of his time are both amusing and pertinent. Rather than encouraging the deification of the “founding fathers” this glimpse into the thought process of one of the most brilliant of that crowd helps you realize that greatness emerges as much from your foibles as your goals.
7. The Glass Castle (Jeannette Walls)
Why It’s Worth Reading: If you saw the film based on this book, you have my condolences. Unlike the movie (which was smarmy and “tied nicely up”), the memoir itself is harsh investigation into the nature of parental love and the pain inherent in the very American desire to rise above your circumstances, even if it means leaving your family and friends behind.
8. The Last Lecture (Randy Pausch)
Why It’s Worth Reading: It’s so easy to let fear and the desire for security drive you into living an inauthentic life. Pausch’s reflections on his own life, originally a lecture he delivered after learning he was mortally ill, encourage you to pursue your dreams and do what really counts.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.