Autobiographical novel

An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fiction elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction. Because an autobiographical novel is partially fiction, the author does not ask the reader to expect the text to fulfill the "autobiographical pact." ^[1] Names and locations are often changed and events are recreated to make them more dramatic but the story still bears a close resemblance to that of the author's life. While the events of the author's life are recounted, there is no pretense of exact truth. Events may be exaggerated or altered for artistic or thematic purposes.

The term autobiographical novel is difficult to define. Novels that portray settings and/or situations with which the author is familiar are not necessarily autobiographical. Neither are novels that include aspects drawn from the author’s life as minor plot details. To be considered an autobiographical by most standards, there must be a protagonist modeled after the author and a central plotline that mirrors events in his or her life.

Novels that do not fully meet these requirements or are further distanced from true events are sometimes called semi-autobiographical novels.

Many novels about intense, private experiences such as war, family conflict or sex, are written as autobiographical novels.

Some works openly refer to themselves as 'nonfiction novels.' The definition of such works remains vague. The term was first widely used in reference to the non-autobiographical In Cold Blood by Truman Capote but has since become associated with a range of works drawing openly from autobiography. The emphasis is on the creation of a work that is essentially true, often in the context of an investigation into values or some other aspect of reality. The books Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig and The Tao of Muhammad Ali by Davis Miller open with statements admitting to some fictionalising of events but state they are true 'in essence.'

Notable autobiographical novels

See also: Category:Autobiographical novels

Charles Dickens, David Copperfield (1850)
George Borrow, Lavengro (1851)
Leo Tolstoy, Childhood (1852)
Charlotte Brontë, Villette (1853)
Leo Tolstoy, Boyhood (1854)
Leo Tolstoy, Youth (1856)
Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's School Days (1857)
Fitz Hugh Ludlow, The Hasheesh Eater (1857)
Charles Dickens, Great Expectations (1860), which has many autobiographical elements but to a lesser extent
George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss (1860)
Louisa May Alcott, Little Women (1868)
Samuel Butler, The Way of All Flesh (1903)
D. H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers (1913)
Jack London, John Barleycorn (1913)
Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage (1915)
James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916)
F. Scott Fitzgerald, This Side of Paradise (1920)
Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time (1927), aka A Remembrance of Things Past
Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms (1929)
Thomas Wolfe, Look Homeward, Angel (1929)
Louis Ferdinand Céline, Journey to the End of the Night (1932), as well as "Death on Credit" (also, "Death on an Installment Plan") and subsequent books as well.
Gertrude Stein, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas (1933), a mock autobiography of Stein's secretary and companion purported to be Toklas's views of Stein.
Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer (1934)
Ayn Rand, We, the Living (1936)
Henry Miller, Tropic of Capricorn (1939)
James A. Michener, The Fires of Spring (1949), semi-autobiographical
Graham Greene, The End of the Affair (1951)
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952)
James Baldwin, Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953)
Saul Bellow, The Adventures of Augie March (1953)
William S. Burroughs, Junkie (1953)
James Agee, A Death in the Family (1957)
Jack Kerouac, On the Road (1957)
Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums (1958)
Elie Wiesel, Night (1958), sometimes considered an autobiographical novel although classified as a memoir by the author.
Ian Fleming, (1960s) Some of the James Bond experiences are based in his own World War II spy missions.
Nikos Kazantzakis, Report to Greco (1961)
Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar (1963)
Kenzaburo Oe, A Personal Matter (1964)
Isaac Bashevis Singer, In My Father's Court, (1966)
Frederick Exley, A Fan's Notes (1967)
Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969)
Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971)
Rita Mae Brown, Rubyfruit Jungle (1973)
Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1973)
Pat Conroy, The Great Santini (1976)
Samuel R. Delany, Heavenly Breakfast (1979)
Philip K. Dick, VALIS (1981), perhaps the only book that could be considered both an autobiographical novel and a work of science fiction
Isabel Allende, The House of Spirits (1982), includes many elements from her family history
Charles Bukowski, Ham on Rye (1982)
J. G. Ballard, Empire of the Sun (1984)
Marguerite Duras, The Lover (1984)
Jeanette Winterson, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1985)
Jaan Kross, The Wikman Boys (1988)
Samuel R. Delany, The Motion of Light in Water (1988)
Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried (1990)
Davis Miller, The Tao of Muhammad Ali (1996), described as a 'non-fiction novel'.
Homer Hickam, Rocket Boys (1998)
James Frey, A Million Little Pieces (2003), marketed as a memoir before a media controversy questioned its accuracy.
Craig Thompson, Blankets (2003), an autobiographical graphic novel.
Tobias Wolff, Old School (2003), loosely based on Wolff's life although more novel than biography.
Muhammad Ali with Hana Yasmeen Ali, The Soul of a Butterfly (2004)
James Frey, My Friend Leonard (2005)
Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (2007)
Daniel Selby Retracing My Steps (2009)
Peter Selgin, Life Goes to the Movies (2009)
Mona Simpson, Anywhere But Here
Tao Lin, Richard Yates (2010)

Notes

^ Philippe Lejeune, "Autobiographical Pact," pg. 19