For those who like memoirs, this list may provide a good starting point.

For those who prefer a more Asian slant, this list may be a good start.

The memoir of the former Secretary General of the Chinese Communist Party, Zhao Ziyang, will be released.

Titled Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang the memoir is compiled from tapes and notes Zhao left.

The memoir was touted by many as offering a rare insight into the workings of the Chinese leadership and politics.

Article from UK’s The Times

Article from the New York Times

Veteran politician, JB Jeyaretnam, has passed away of heart failure. He was leader of the Workers’ Party for 30 years and had formed a new political party, the Reform Party, earlier this year.

Described by some as a patriot and an idealist, Mr Jeyaretnam has left a lasting impression on the political history of Singapore.

The final entry on Mr JBJ’s blog was a press release dated 19 September 2008, filing a class action in High Court for a by-election to be held in Jurong GRC following the death of MP Ong Chit Chung. The application was due to be heard on 15 October 2008.

IHT report -  Outspoken Singapore dissident dies

BBC report – Singapore’s rebel politician dies

AFP report – Singapore opposition icon J.B. Jeyaretnam dies fighting

Channelnewsasia report – Former opposition MP JB Jeyaretnam dies of heart failure

Brace yourself for a wave of Hollywood star veterans’ biographies/memoirs. Fans will rejoice, skeptics will cringe.

But such is the power of the genre: it is my (the author’s) version, my final word. It may not be the absolute truth – it can never be (see “What’s your life story” and “Memoirs are made of these?”) but it is my (the author’s) version of it.

After I posted about about biography being merely one view of life that can never be pinned down, I came across this article about memoirs, more specifically, the modern memoir.

Some may know this story: James Frey, an American who went on Oprah Winfrey’s show sometime back, was hailed as a hero for his ‘memoir’ recounting his life as an alcoholic, drug addict of a criminal.

The book, A Million Little Pieces, was featured on the Oprah Book Club and became an instant hit as with all books that the American super-host endorsed. But when it emerged that the book was largely fabricated, Oprah was shattered into a million little pieces.

Modern memoir is filled with all kinds of content that may or may not be 100% accurate, depending on who you ask. It’s the nature of the genre.

Is this true? Or is it perhaps that the books that are being touted as ‘memoirs’ these days are not really memoirs but are the efforts of authors and marketing agents capitalising on to people’s addiction to salacious details about another’s life?

Then again, who is to say what is accurate or not? Would you be totally honest about your life, warts and all?