4 ms·

Ask HN: Which autobiographies would you recommend and why?

9 points by herodoturtle 5y ago

financialize 5y ago
"Indiscrete Thoughts" by Gian-Carlo Rota (https://archive.org/details/indiscretethough0000rota https://archive.org/details/indiscretethough0000rota).
- mtmail 5y ago
  Note, I had to click 'vouch' on your comments to be seen by others. In the last couple of days several of your comments got flagged effectively putting your account on hold. I'm not a moderator, there's a karma threshold after which any user can click 'vouch'. (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27081251 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27081251 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27054058 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27054058 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27053912 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27053912) It looks like the "Trolololo" was the trigger, not the earlier "[HN] mostly acts as an aggregator of snark and envy" and "I find [HN discussions] to be smartypants signaling with very little substance and the opaque moderation"
  - financialize 5y ago
    Interesting. Thanks for the info.
bwh2 5y ago
Shoe Dog is excellent
Dah00n 5y ago
Memoirs: ten years and twenty days by Karl Dönitz. It is well written and it tells a very different view of the war than most history books. Not by telling lies but by telling truths from his point of view and with UK sources that shows how close Germany were at winning the early war and how badly the US navy fared.
chefkoch 5y ago
My wicked wicked ways by Erol Flynn is really a fun ride through a eventful life. From son of a biologist in Tasmania to state fair boxer to movie super star.
throwaway287462 5y ago
Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary by Linus Torvalds.
mitchbob 5y ago
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Written by Himself. (1845) [1][2] [1] https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass/douglass.html https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass/douglass.html [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative_of_the_Life_of_Frederick_Douglass,_an_American_Slave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative_of_the_Life_of_Frede...
cpach 5y ago
“iWoz” by Steve Wozniak. He’s an awesome hardware hacker. It was interesting to read his take on the Apple saga. He also did cool stuff such as the US Festival. A fascinating life. “Just for fun” by Linus Torvalds. Another amazing hacker and organizer. How Linux started in such a humble way to grow so big. It’s very fascinating. None of these books are great literature per se. But still very worth reading IMHO.
aryik 5y ago
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. Fascinating story about an incredible entrepreneur.

9 points by herodoturtle 5y ago

"Indiscrete Thoughts" by Gian-Carlo Rota (https://archive.org/details/indiscretethough0000rota https://archive.org/details/indiscretethough0000rota).

mtmail 5y ago
Note, I had to click 'vouch' on your comments to be seen by others. In the last couple of days several of your comments got flagged effectively putting your account on hold. I'm not a moderator, there's a karma threshold after which any user can click 'vouch'. (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27081251 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27081251 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27054058 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27054058 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27053912 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27053912) It looks like the "Trolololo" was the trigger, not the earlier "[HN] mostly acts as an aggregator of snark and envy" and "I find [HN discussions] to be smartypants signaling with very little substance and the opaque moderation"
- financialize 5y ago
  Interesting. Thanks for the info.

bwh2 5y ago

Shoe Dog is excellent

Dah00n 5y ago

Memoirs: ten years and twenty days by Karl Dönitz. It is well written and it tells a very different view of the war than most history books. Not by telling lies but by telling truths from his point of view and with UK sources that shows how close Germany were at winning the early war and how badly the US navy fared.

chefkoch 5y ago

My wicked wicked ways by Erol Flynn is really a fun ride through a eventful life. From son of a biologist in Tasmania to state fair boxer to movie super star.

throwaway287462 5y ago

Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary by Linus Torvalds.

mitchbob 5y ago

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Written by Himself. (1845) [1][2] [1] https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass/douglass.html https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass/douglass.html [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative_of_the_Life_of_Frederick_Douglass,_an_American_Slave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative_of_the_Life_of_Frede...

cpach 5y ago

“iWoz” by Steve Wozniak. He’s an awesome hardware hacker. It was interesting to read his take on the Apple saga. He also did cool stuff such as the US Festival. A fascinating life. “Just for fun” by Linus Torvalds. Another amazing hacker and organizer. How Linux started in such a humble way to grow so big. It’s very fascinating. None of these books are great literature per se. But still very worth reading IMHO.

aryik 5y ago

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. Fascinating story about an incredible entrepreneur.