Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Awards » National Book Critics Circle Award - Autobiography / Biography

Categories: General Nonfiction, Literary Fiction, Memoir / Autobiography, Biography, Criticism, Poetry, Autobiography / Biography
The National Book Critics Circle, founded in 1974, is a nonprofit organization consisting of more than 600 active book reviewers from all over the country who are interested in honoring quality writing and communicating with one another about common concerns. Each year in March, they present awards to the best books published in English in six categories: Fiction, General Nonfiction, Biography, Autobiography, Poetry, and Criticism. *In 2005 the category Autobiography/Biography was separated into Memoir/Autobiography and Biography.

2019

Know My Name: A Memoir
Know My Name: A Memoir
Author: Chanel Miller
  • Currently 4.8/5 Stars.
 6


Other Versions: Paperback

2018

Belonging: A German Reckons with History and Home
Belonging: A German Reckons with History and Home
Author: Nora Krug
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 1


Other Versions: Paperback

2017

Nine Continents: A Memoir In and Out of China
Nine Continents: A Memoir In and Out of China
Author: Xiaolu Guo
  ?


Other Versions: Paperback

2004

de Kooning : An American Master
de Kooning : An American Master
Author: Mark Stevens, Annalyn Swan
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1


Other Versions: Hardcover

2003

Khrushchev: The Man and His Era
Khrushchev: The Man and His Era
Author: William Taubman
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 3


Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Paperback, Paperback

2002

Charles Darwin : The Power of Place
Charles Darwin : The Power of Place
Author: Janet Browne
  ?


Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Paperback, Paperback

2001

Boswell's Presumptuous Task: The Making of the Life of Dr. Johnson
Boswell's Presumptuous Task: The Making of the Life of Dr. Johnson
Author: Adam Sisman
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 2


Other Versions: Hardcover

2000

Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
Author: Herbert P. Bix
  • Currently 2.5/5 Stars.
 3


Other Versions: Hardcover, Hardcover, Hardcover, Paperback

1999

The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White
The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White
Author: Henry Wiencek
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 3


Other Versions: Hardcover, Paperback, Paperback

1998

A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash
A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash
Author: Sylvia Nasar
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 168


Other Versions: Audio Cassette (Abridged), Audio CD (Abridged)

1997

Ernie Pyle's War: America's Eyewitness to World War II (Modern War Studies)
Ernie Pyle's War: America's Eyewitness to World War II (Modern War Studies)
Author: James Tobin
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 1


Other Versions: Hardcover

1996

Angela's Ashes
Angela's Ashes
Author: Frank McCourt
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 796


Other Versions: Audio CD (Abridged), Hardcover, Paperback, Paperback, Paperback, Hardcover, Paperback, Audio Cassette, Audio CD, Hardcover, Hardcover, Paperback, Hardcover, Paperback, Paperback, Paperback, Paperback, Paperback, Paperback, Paperback, Hardcover, Paperback, Paperback, Audio Cassette (Unabridged), Paperback, Paperback, Paperback, Audio CD (Abridged), Paperback, Paperback, Audio CD (Unabridged), Audio Cassette (Abridged), Audio Cassette (Abridged), Paperback, Paperback, Paperback, Paperback, Paperback, Paperback, Audio Cassette (Abridged), Paperback, Paperback, Paperback, Audio Cassette (Abridged), Paperback, Audio Cassette (Abridged), Paperback, Audio Cassette (Abridged), Paperback, Paperback, Audio Cassette (Abridged), Audio Cassette (Abridged), Paperback, Paperback, Audio Cassette (Abridged), Hardcover

1995

Savage Art : A  Biography of Jim Thompson
Savage Art : A Biography of Jim Thompson
Author: Robert Polito
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 1


Other Versions: Hardcover

The Market's bargain prices are even better for Paperbackswap club members!
Retail Price: $18.95
Buy New: $14.29 (save 24%) or
Become a PBS member and pay $10.39+1 PBS book credit Help icon(save 45%)

1994

Shot in the Heart
Shot in the Heart
Author: Mikal Gilmore
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 28


Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio Cassette

1993

Genet : A Biography
Genet : A Biography
Author: Edmund White
  ?


Other Versions: Hardcover, Paperback

1992

Writing Dangerously: Mary McCarthy And Her World
Writing Dangerously: Mary McCarthy And Her World
Author: Carol Brightman
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1


Other Versions: Hardcover

1991

Patrimony : A True Story
Patrimony : A True Story
Author: Philip Roth
  • Currently 2.7/5 Stars.
 3


Other Versions: Hardcover, Hardcover, Paperback, Hardcover, Paperback

1990

Means of Ascent (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 2)
Means of Ascent (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 2)
Author: Robert A. Caro
  • Currently 4.4/5 Stars.
 5


Other Versions: Paperback, Audio Cassette

The Market's bargain prices are even better for Paperbackswap club members!
Retail Price: $60.00
Buy New: $35.49 (save 40%) or
Become a PBS member and pay $31.59+1 PBS book credit Help icon(save 47%)

1989

A First-Class Temperament: The Emergence of Franklin Roosevelt
A First-Class Temperament: The Emergence of Franklin Roosevelt
Author: Geoffrey C. Ward
  • Currently 4.5/5 Stars.
 2


Other Versions: Hardcover

1988

Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Author: Richard Ellman
  ?


Other Versions: Hardcover

1987

Chaucer: His Life, His Works, His World
Chaucer: His Life, His Works, His World
Author: Donald R. Howard
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1


Other Versions: Paperback, Hardcover

1986

Tombee: Portrait of a Cotton Planter : With the Journal of Thomas B. Chaplin (1822-1890)
Tombee: Portrait of a Cotton Planter : With the Journal of Thomas B. Chaplin (1822-1890)
Author: Theodore Rosengarten
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 3


Other Versions: Paperback, Hardcover

1985

Henry James: A Life in Letters
Henry James: A Life in Letters
Author: Henry James
  ?


Other Versions: Paperback, Hardcover

1984

Dostoevsky: The Years of Ordeal , 1850-1859 (Dostoevsky (Frank, Joseph))
Dostoevsky: The Years of Ordeal , 1850-1859 (Dostoevsky (Frank, Joseph))
Author: Joseph Frank
  ?


Other Versions: Paperback, Hardcover

1983

Minor Characters : A Beat Memoir
Minor Characters : A Beat Memoir
Author: Joyce Johnson
  • Currently 4.4/5 Stars.
 6


Other Versions: Paperback, Hardcover

The Market's bargain prices are even better for Paperbackswap club members!
Retail Price: $16.00
Buy New: $12.79 (save 20%) or
Become a PBS member and pay $8.89+1 PBS book credit Help icon(save 44%)