If you guessed that I’m currently enthralled in each of their life stories, you’d be right!

I just completed reading Lindy West‘s memoir Shrill on the subway while I travel. I’m also listening to the audible.com production of Born to Run read by Bruce himself which I catch as I’m walking the city streets. And, I’m watching the HBO documentary on Robert Mapplethorpe in short segments before going to sleep.

How lucky are we to have all these formats available to us to ingest stories of greatness? As a creative entrepreneur and writer, I find each of their histories mesmerizing, informative and inspiring.

The nuggets I’d like to share are:

1. How Lindy West took on the internet trolls and even got an apology from the worst offender–a creep who saw her father’s obituary, assumed his name, and used it to harass and demean her.
2. How long it took for Bruce Springsteen to become famous–years and years and years. He was not to the manor born in any way. Plus, at 25, he had never been to the dentist.
3. Robert Mapplethorpe‘s body (and I do mean BODY) of work fills several storage rooms (not shelves!) at the Getty Research Institute. The curators handle his photographs with gloves as they talk about them. One piece I found completely intriguing was the invitation he sent early in his career in Tiffany envelopes with an extremely provocative photo wrapped in that Polaroid black paper. His work was, and remains, extremely controversial, but his marketing was extraordinary. “It’s all about the invitation and letting people know who you are,” Mapplethorpe said.

Please share with me what memoirs and/or autobiographies you’d recommend. I can’t get enough of them, and I have a nice commute almost every day where I can really turn pages.