A good autobiography or memoir, like any good story, allows us to relate to the author emotionally, share his skin, and understand the forces at work in his life. We immerse ourselves empathically over a sustained period.

We want to know how the world looks from inside the author's experience, and when that need is met by a convincing narrative, it is deeply satisfying and illuminating.

Autobiography is not really “about” the facts and events related; it is about how the author chooses to interpret and make sense of these events. We are drawn to the tensions and the drama of the struggle to make meaning and to arrive at self-knowledge. We are interested in understanding the self, and the psychological, social, and political forces that affect that self.

Life is a journey through trials and tribulations, where to succeed one must have courage, endurance, cunning, and moral strength. But that's getting ahead of the story.