An, Autobiography

Excellent seller service....have no completed read but so far very good read....it is not the usual bio ...gives you insight into her writing style and topics...If you have noy read any of her works read this one first...

Readers should be warned that the printing in this book is so fine it is practically illegible. You need a huge magnifying glass to read it. I have read Trollope's Autobiography before and think it better than any of his novels. I bought it for a friend and when I saw how 'fine printy' it was, I told her to throw it away. One should be forewarned.

I ordered it. It is in unreadably small print and cannot be enlarged on my kindle. I can read newspaper print without glasses but even with reading glasses I cannot read this book. I was very disappointed as I love the writer.

Agatha Christie will always be one of my favorite authors. Her autobiography gives you some insight into her interesting life. She is honest and wicked smart with her observations of humanity. The book rambles a little bit but is still interesting.

I truly enjoyed slow, detailed flow of the story. Beautiful language,easy, enjoyable reading. It would be different Agatha from that one you know from detective stories. But it is still a brilliant writer.

I just downloaded this ebook offered by HarperCollins and was dismayed to find that there were absolutely NO pictures included!!!!!!!! I was extremely disappointed that in this day and age a complete version of this work would not be offered by a major publisher. I checked a copy of the original book published by Dodd, Mead in 1977 and available for FREE from my public library - and found that it included 26 photos . . . sooooo . . . where's the pics??? Just another example of the greed by major publishers to rush a product in an e-format and think that no one would notice . . . what a ripoff!!!!!!!! Beware of what is offered in ebooks . . I do love having the accessibility . . . but not at the cost of content.

Christie's autobiography is fascinating. She is very humble for being the best-selling author of fiction for all time. For non-fiction apparently Euclid gets that honor. Christie claims she is not that great of an author compared to Elizabeth Bowen, for example. In this autobiography, you hear how she first started writing mysteries and how her service during the first World War was part of the foundation for it. She leaves out some of the more juicy personal revelations as proper women of that time period did. But you get a glimpse into a fascinating time of English history. She was born September 15, 1890 and died in 1976. In her later years, she married a much younger man who was eventually unfaithful to her. Might have liked to hear more about her writing life, but this is still a fascinating tale.

I've read a handful of biographies and seen a few TV specials on Agatha Christie, but I had never picked up her autobiography until I saw it offered free on Audible. I was amazed to discover that she narrated it herself.

Her autobiography was engaging and reminded me of why, from an early age, I was enthralled by her books. I've read them all and consider myself a big fan. I found this bio in her own words and spoken from her own lips were wonderful glimpses into the life of a very private woman. She stayed out of the press and out of the public spotlight and I think that's what added to her mystique for me.

The autobiography is not an expose and probably will leave Christie lovers with the same unanswered questions, but, on the otherhand, I don't blame her for treating her own life as, well, her own life. There was plenty else she talked about in her exciting life and her travels and her habits and writing to not disappoint.

I will say that the one down part is that this is an original recording from the late 1970's so audio quality is rough. It was tough to understand her several times with the scratchy recording. Still, it was worth it. Fans should definitely take this opportunity to hear her tell her own story.

Agatha Christie: An Autobiography (1977, this edition 2010) is an updated edition, which includes photographs (both black and white, and colour) and a CD of Christie dictating the autobiography to her typist. It took 15 years to write (from the age of 60-75) because she was more focused on writing her well-known detective novels than writing about herself. This autobiography is a rambling 532 pages.

She commences, not with factual details, but with her childhood home, Ashfield, in the coastal town of Torquay in Devon, England, which remained one of her eight homes throughout her life. She was the youngest of three children, with sister Madge and brother Monty. The first hundred pages are rambling with no focus on chronological order – but what we do learn is that she was ‘painfully shy’ and socially awkward. The 10 pages describing her American father’s death when she was 11 years old, and how her devastated mother reacted, is a poignant well-documented account in which the tone of her writing changes drastically – for the better.

She is not interested in a career because ‘you were waiting for The Man, and when the man came, he would change your entire life.’ She married Archie Christie in 1914.

Madge lays down the challenge that Agatha can’t write a detective story because it would be too difficult, followed by the advice in a letter from Lord Louis Mountbatten (Prince Philip’s uncle) who suggested she use ‘a good formula.’ So at 48% into the autobiography is the first mention of her novels and the writing process. She transferred to a new publisher and her first book with William Collins, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926), was ‘far and away my most successful’ due to a good formula. In 2013 it was voted the best crime novel ever by 600 writers of the Crime Writers’ Association.

The answer that most readers want to know is to the question – what happened during the 10 days she disappeared in 1926? It is not answered, but it is alluded to: ‘the next year of my life is one I hate recalling.’ Her mother died, and she decided to deal with the family home, Ashfield, instead of going to Spain with Archie. When he returned he was ‘quite simply, not Archie … he told me straight out’ about the woman he was in love with. He left that night and so did she – she was eventually found at a hotel and diagnosed with amnesia. ‘So, after illness, came sorrow, despair and heartbreak.’ She added, ‘from that time, I suppose, dates my revulsion against the Press, my dislike of journalists and of crowds … Life in England was unbearable.’

Hence it wasn’t so much that marrying her husband changed her life, it was the divorce in 1928 that did. She travelled alone to Baghdad.

The chapter ‘Second Spring’ is one of her best in this autobiography, because Iraq is remembered with happiness, yet it is also interesting – especially for me as I lived there for a year. ‘Not until you travel by yourself do you realise how much the outside world will protect and befriend you.’ When an Iraqi recites poetry, she writes ‘I should never have envisaged myself, coming all the way to Iraq so as to have Shelley’s ‘Ode to a Skylark’ recited to me by an Iraqi policeman in an Eastern garden at midnight.’ She returned to Baghdad a year later and met archaeologist Max Mallowan, 14 years younger than her. They married. From then her output of a book a year, and her venture into other genres, such as poetry, songwriting, drama, and historical fiction, is recounted, although she can’t remember writing some of them.

Her autobiography is a long tale with really only a few interesting chapters. She is liberal in her writing, flowing where her thoughts take her – here and there, back and forth, and repeat. There are some references to her writing routine, her likes and dislikes, and her feelings about specific events – some quite honestly, but there are only a few gems in the gravel. Dates are rarely mentioned, and it is usually through world events that the reader can determine the time line. Nevertheless for the avid Christie fan it is yet another of her books to add to a vast and varied collection.

Agatha Christie was born at the end of the Victorian era, and lived until 1976. Her experiences as a child, in both World Wars, and helping her archaeologist husband make for fascinating reading. The details she remembers make her world come alive.

She wrote this autobiography as if she were conducting a conversation with the reader. She fills it with memories, opinions, and chit chat. At one point, she states, "I was severely criticized for not keeping to the subject" by her composition teacher, and her autobiography shows that she never grew out of this. She rambles from one topic to another, then back again, with honesty and excitement. As she unapologetically says, "one thing does so lead to another but why shouldn't it?" The charm of the book is this wandering about, giving the reader such a vibrant picture of the woman behind the novels.

Despite it's length, I was never bored with her autobiography, as Christie's wit and warm personality make it a delight to read.

Regarding the Audible audio version:
It was difficult to listen to while trying to accomplish housework, due to the old recording, but it was forgivable as I could not imagine hearing this autobiography in anyone else's voice. What a fascinating, encouraging, interesting, and down-to-earth account. I enjoyed it immensely, and felt like I was sitting down in a conference or to tea listening to Agatha Christie share her life, experience, and journey to creating. I think I would have deeply enjoyed knowing her personally.

When I found out this one existed, I had to scoop it up. To read about the infamous Agatha Christie's life in her own words? Priceless.

A hefty length at 560 pages, Christie took her time writing this one at leisure, and a year after her death her daughter published it posthumously. The style is her traditional formal tone, but she also tells her tale as one would having conversations with friends. It's clear from the beginning that she highly valued her childhood home, Ashfield. In fact, a great bulk of the book is spent discussing details of her childhood and growing up. It's clear she remembers these times fondly and places much emphasis on the value of family and experiences as one ages. She recounts the smallest of details that I personally wouldn't be able to remember. It's clear she loved having imagination and playing make believe games with her miniature house designs and dolls.

She begins the book with her love of Ashfield and ends it with a last visit to where Ashfield once stood. It's gone and she still was missing it, seeing all the differences and changes, while finding a small familiar spot she could still recognize. She placed a lot of value on locations, travel, and houses. None spoke to her like her childhood home it doesn't seem. She was a collector of houses, in fact, at one time owning seven at once!

She speaks in detail of her parents, her sister, her nannies and the maid, her first travels and dances, the fashions of the Victorian time, and her interests and loves for music and singing, art and beauty, learning French and the trials and experiences of various schooling. Her parents financial burden only strengthened after her father passed away. She spent time recalled a lot of miniscule details for over a hundred pages during all this, but also injecting a lot of philosophy about several things.

Interesting how Christie sees servants of her days versus of today and how important they were. She said she couldn't imagine her childhood being so full without her nanny and kitchen maid. Apparently they added much warmth and experience to her life, and she feels they were highly respected and even controlling of the household.

Also interesting to note her feeling of approval for how the Victorian era viewed their children's capabilities, versus today where parents automatically feel their children should be able to shine at everything because of opportunity (which she does not agree with.) She basically says in that day parents would recognize what their children would be good at and not find it limiting, but instead realistic.

Here's a quote from the book I liked:

"I suppose it is because nearly all children go to school nowadays and have things arranged for them that they seem so forlornly unable to produce their own ideas."

If you want to read this one to see how she came up with ideas for her stories, or even much details about writing, you will likely be disappointed. I'm not sure when closing this book whether Christie even enjoyed writing that much. It definitely wasn't her first choice of career - she felt she was not good enough to be a professional musician but says it's best to be realistic with yourself and not do something mediocre if you can't shine at it. She doesn't even start talking about writing and books until much later on - she finally starts writing and sells her first book at page 283!

Even when starts publishing, she mainly discusses other things such as travel and friends. She mentions Miss Marple maybe twice in the book, Hercule Poirot rarely. I was hoping for perhaps a word of two about her apparent dislike of having to depend so much on that detective, but it wasn't really there. Every time she returned to writing it was only to try and make extra money from the way she makes it sound. Later on she said she was writing for money still, and wanting to concentrate more on plays for enjoyment after finishing her obligatory novel of the year. She did say she was proud of herself for Ten Little Indians and how she considers it her most complex work.

Since she went into so much detail with your youth, she tells of each man she almost married or cared for, and finally for her fiance and eventual husband Archie Christie. It's clear she loved him dearly and they had a good relationship for quite awhile. The big controversy of her disappearance for fourteen days where some people thinks she faked her own death was not mentioned AT ALL. Where it would be in a timetable, she makes a point to say she is writing about what she wants to write about and not dwell on unpleasantries.

One of the best things about this book was an honest inspection of the times, lifestyles, and thought processes of the Victorian Age. It's clear Agatha loved being a part of all that. Her travel stories were intriguing some of the time, but honestly grew a bit dull as she spent hundreds of pages just talking about locations, travel, the plants of the area, and her enthusiasm for it.

When it came closer to mid life she stopped being personal and took a distant approach with the rest of the autobiography. The reason could be her dislike of media and desiring privacy, or else because travels was the most important thing in her life (which it seemed to be) and she thought the best thing to do was write about her wonderful experiences.

Overall some great moments and insights. It took me awhile, however, as some parts of it are a little dull. I also feel she left a lot of her personal life out and kept herself distant in the second half. It would have been great to read more about her writing and characters and the individual books as well. Overall a must for Christie fans and autobiography enthusiasts.

This is a reprint of Agatha Christie's autobiography over a period between 1950 and 1965. Out of print for over three decades, this new edition includes a CD in which Agatha Christie talks about being a writer. Note that the famous eleven-day disappearance in 1926 (see the movie Agatha for speculation) is not explained which in turn is disappointing yet adds an aura of mystery to Ms. Christie. Born in 1890, her late Victorian childhood in Ashfield comes across as idyllic (but somewhat boring) except for her vivid description of her caring indolent dad and the Agatha's Husband game played with her sister. The action picks up in the second act with her first marriage to Archibald Christie, their child Rosalind and her first novel. Her second marriage to younger Max Mallowan during the Depression also provides insight into what made Ms. Christie tick while her characters like Poirot and Marple almost seem real. Ironically readers know of her novels, but few have seen her plays (like Witness for the Prosecution) on the stage. At times in her works, Ms. Christie sympathizes with murderers as their cause was just (see Murder on the Orient Express) which is intriguing. Filled with pathos and humor; and enhanced by photos and the CD, An Autobiography by Agatha Christie is a wonderful look at the life of the Grand Dame of mystery.

Harriet Klausner

Some of Agatha Christie's fans may complain that this autobiography does not tell them the things they really want to know, such as why Christie briefly disappeared after her first husband confessed his infidelity, or how one can write successful mystery stories.

But near the conclusion of this book, Christie herself says, "I have remembered, I suppose, what I wanted to remember; many ridiculous things for no reason that makes sense." (548) It is better, then, to take this work not as autobiography per se but as a long memoir, touching in turn on those aspects of Christie's life that most interested her. Christie's life had its disappointments, even tragedies, but from the first sentence in which she boasts of a "happy childhood," Christie revels in emphasizing those aspects of the past she enjoyed in the interest of engaging and amusing her readers as well. Some of her anecdotes are laugh-aloud funny.

There are no profound ideas here and only the most superficial touch on philosophy and religion. (Her hobby was collecting houses.) True, Christie doesn't tell all and doesn't tell deeply, but what she does tell is expressed with that wonderful eye for detail that made her a master storyteller, the best-selling fiction writer of all time.

I had tried to read the authorized biography of Mrs. Christie written by Janet Morgan but found it too difficult to wend a way through all the facts thrown in. This biography was a welcome change and a book I couldn't put down. I'm sure this will be a book I'll read again and again. Mrs. Christie's account of her life is not meant to be all encompassing, but rather, the things that came to mind as she wrote. She is very honest about her shortcomings and especially wonderful were her thoughts as to her state of mind and thoughts as to why one does certain things. She was very modest about her writing talent.

Unlike one reviewer, I didn't find it a fault that she didn't address the disappearance event as she clearly writes about her problems after her mother's death which occurred just previous to her disappearance in which she describes her lack of memory and mental breakdown, implying she was going through a nervous breakdown before her husband asked for a divorce and that event must have furthered that condition. I don't find it difficult to believe that she has little to no memories of that time, but in any event, I appreciate so much that she took the time to share her thoughts about her life with us and I would have it no other way than the way she chose to write the book. Her writing almost feels as though she is sitting right beside me talking....she is one talented writer.

I would recommend this book for anyone interested in Mrs. Christie. For other views of her life, i would recommend Richard Hack's "The Unauthorized Biography...." as it is well written and will keep one's attention. Not recommended is Morgan's "Authorized biography..." as the writer relies so heavily on what Mrs. Christie herself wrote and presenting facts and facts and facts. It isn't a "reading" book but a book of gathered facts. The best of the lot by far is the biography in Mrs. Christie's own words.

I am actually amazed that I never read Agatha Christie's autobiography before now, since I have loved her books and re-read them many times over the years.

She was born in 1890 in Devon, England and died in 1976 in Oxfordshire, England. She started this autobiography when she was 60 and finished it when she was 75. And, just to make sure people don't get disappointed right away, her publishers state flatly in the preface (of the edition that I own) that she does not, EVER, mention the infamous disappearance the year her mother died and Archie Christie asked her for a divorce. That will be a mystery never solved. You get the sense that she left quite a bit of her emotions and feelings out of the book. She mentioned frequently in the book that bad times were to be got through so that one could enjoy the good times.

The book does ramble on delightfully, as she herself would probably put it. "What I want is to plunge my hand into a lucky dip and come up with a handful of assorted memories." (from the Foreward). Here's a critical paragraph about how one should view her autobiography:

"We never know the whole man, though sometimes, in quick flashes, we know the true mam. I think, myself, that one's memories represent those moments which, insignificant as they may seem, nevertheless represent the inner self and oneself as most really oneself." (also from the Forward).

There is an amazing amount of detail regarding Victorian and Edwardian England. Her ability to describe things minutely and interestingly was one of the things I always loved about her books.

The main outlines of her life are there, as are quite a few details about her family. She loved her family immensely and it shows. She discusses her father's lack of business skills that wasted away the fortune he inherited and her brother Monty's wholly unsatisfactory life in the straightforward way that she wrote her books. She was an extremely practical person, I think.

Her interest in archaeology because of her (2nd) husband Max Mallowan manifested itself in quite a few of her books, and I think that perhaps some of my interest in archaeology was because of her interest. She had one daughter, Rosalind, who died in 2004, and a grandson, Mathew Prichard, who runs "the family business" as it were.

There are a few preachy parts and I would like to have had more dates, but she warns you in the Foreward, and you must simply sit back and let her tell her story and understand her the way she wanted to be understood.

The book ends before her husband, Max Mallowan was knighted for his distinguished archaeological career in 1968 and before she herself was appointed a dame of the British Empire in 1971. Truly an interesting woman, truly an interesting autobiography.

Christie's autobiography is fascinating. She is very humble for being the best-selling author of fiction for all time. For non-fiction apparently Euclid gets that honor. Christie claims she is not that great of an author compared to Elizabeth Bowen, for example. In this autobiography, you hear how she first started writing mysteries and how her service during the first World War was part of the foundation for it. She leaves out some of the more juicy personal revelations as proper women of that time period did. But you get a glimpse into a fascinating time of English history. She was born September 15, 1890 and died in 1976. In her later years, she married a much younger man who was eventually unfaithful to her. Might have liked to hear more about her writing life, but this is still a fascinating tale.

Strangely enough, I never particularly liked Christie as an author of mysteries, although I considered her dark thriller, Endless Night, to be far and above the rest and totally unlike her other writings.

But this autobiography is nearly a masterpiece. It was one of those books that I never wanted to end. When you're counting the pages left and feeling rather sad, you know you've come upon a veritable treasure.

Agatha Christie, perhaps the best known mystery writer of all time, did not ever plan on becoming a writer. And when she did become one, it took her years to accept this as her profession and to believe that there was something other than money to be gained by writing books. Her autobiography is a pleasant ramble through the fascinating live lived by the creator of those master sleuths, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Her life was no mystery but most definitely an adventure.

Agatha Christie began writing her life story from her second husband's archaelogical dig in Iraq. It is set up in a rather rambling manner, starting from a brief family history to her earliest childhood memories and on through her life. Throughout these memories are punctuated by various tangents, often involving her writings, other times not. It is not a straightforward chrononlogical telling of her life, but rather like having a pleasant conversation or reading a leader that she has written to her readers. It allows fans of her writing to get to know the woman behind those characters.

While not as detalied as some fans might wish for - as author and editor, Christie has left out some events - and rather long, it is a pleasing read for any fan of Christie's stories. I learned much about her life that I did not know, including novels she wrote using pseudonyms, and took joy in reading her views on social concerns. While the time period she lived in and wrote about may seem long gone, Christie's words prove again and again to be timeless.

Agatha Christie is still the only true Queen of Crime. Her creations of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot are still as fresh and popular as when she was alive. Her immense popularity is in still contrast to the shyness she showed when in contact with the media. She kept her personal life very much hidden from the general public and mostly avoided giving interviews.

It is then even more refreshing that her autobiography, published in 1977 the year after her death, shares so many intimate thoughts and ponderings. Although it does not reveal all the mysteries behind the enigmatic author, she fails for instance to mention her sudden disappearance in 1926, it shows what a wonderfully strange life she has lived. The years of the war are covered in great detail and it is clear that that period was a big turning point in her life. In comparison Agatha does not spend a lot of time on how her writings came about, a lack she mentions in the introduction as being a conscience decision. More focus has been put on how she sees the world around here evolve. As such this work is very much like a historical, impressionistic painting of the world of Agatha Christie. The humor she interweaves through her narrative makes clear that she was always very aware of how relative her success and position in live has been. Something that is completely in line with her humble and shy character.

Agatha Christie, An Autobiography is a very personal and touching book that should be on the shelve of every Christie fan and is a real joy to read.

Often times autobiographies are dull things of interest only to the author or those who may be mentioned in the book, others are glowing brag fests relating how marvelous the subject is, or are filled with juicy gossip about other celebrities. This one is completely different in that Christie did not attempt to write a complete chronicle of her life, or to focus on what the public might want to hear (in fact she deliberately left out the very episode - her disappearance - that most would want to know more about) but instead told about those parts of her life that she was interested in remembering. For example most autobiographies rush through the subject's childhood and focus on the parts of their adult life that made them famous, not so here. Instead Christie takes the first third of her tale to describe her life before she ever thought of Hercule Poirot.

What the reader gets instead of stories about the great and famous is a charming glimpse into the life of a middle-class child born at the end of the Victorian era, her perceptions of a society that was rapidly changing as she grew to young adulthood. She tells about her life as a child in a comfortable household filled with servants, her teenage years with her widowed mother, as a young woman caring for wounded soldiers, as a bride then a single mother through her later years as a successful author and her second, happier marriage to an archaeologist and their travels to the Middle East. She glosses over meeting the Queen but tells at length about various nannies and secretaries that were part of her everyday life.

For fans of Christie it is particularly interesting to learn what inspired certain of her characters or plots, what was occuring in her life while writing some of the novels, to see people or situations that one can recognize in a favorite novel. For anyone interested in life in the early twentieth century this book also gives an insight into that time that is rarely seen.

Agatha Christie chooses to write her autobiography in her own way. She remembers those parts of life she wants to, usually those most pleasant. She describes her family and childhood with good feeling and love. She had a very happy childhood and one of the best passages in the book is when she speaks about the happiness she had in small things in everyday life, one of the most pleasant being her mother's reading to her.
"What has one enjoyed most in life? I daresay it varies with different people. For my own part, remembering and reflecting. It seems that it is almost always the quiet moments of everyday life. Those are the times, certainly, when I have been happiest. Adorning Nursie's old grey head with blue bows, playing with Tony, making a parting with a comb down his broad back, alloping on what I feel to be real horses across the river my fancy has set in the garden. Following my hoop through the stations of the Tubular Railway. Happy games withmy mother. My mother later, reading Dickens to me, gradually getting sleepy her spectactles half falling off her nose and her head dropping forward and myself saying in an agonized voice." Mother you're going to sleep' to which my mother with great dignity replies' Nothing of the kind darling. I am not in the least sleepy!' A few minutes later she would be asleep. I remember feeling how ridiculous she looked at her spectacles slipping off her nose and how much I loved her at that moment'.
This autobiography is filled with detailed and interesting perceptions of people . It is however a bit marred by her social preaching.
One gets from it however a sense of worlds different from our own. Perhaps most memorable is that of her own family home, with her whist playing father and her more imaginative mother, with the many servants whose perspective on life she understands.
She in her own judgment had a very pleasant and happy life, despite the hard times especially when her first husband betrayed her in the same year her beloved mother passed away. But the long successful second marriage and the success as a writer perhaps above all the financial success were elements she was much grateful for. She closes most appropriately by thanking God 'for my good life and the love that has been given me' She concluded the work at the age of seventy - five but went on to live for another eleven years.

I first encountered Agatha Christie's book when I was in high school (back in the early 1980s). They were the first "mystery" novels I'd ever read, and I've been a mystery fan ever since.

I bought my copy of "An Autobiography" in a used book shop, off a clearance table. I think I paid a quarter for it. I knew that she had written an autobiography, but wasn't sure that I wanted to read it. But, hey, for a quarter? Count me in.

Christie's memoir reads much like any of her mystery novels: simply written in plain language. Christie was never a writer who wrote with wordy, flourishing literary pretensions. She wrote to tell a story. Her memoir is very much the same.

As I think other's have pointed out, there's little mention of Christie's famous disappearance; it's briefly mentioned. She has little recall of the details. I think that she was a person going though a bad time (a divorce, and all the publicity that went with it -- being famous makes your private life very public). I think she was just emotionally exhausted, and needed some time to be on her own. Of course, the fact that she was a famous mystery writer who disappeared has given rise to all sorts of theories over the years.

I'd not call this the best autobiography I've ever read. It's rather slow in parts. However, reading about her process of writing, and how she came up with some of the ideas for her stories makes for interesting reading. Also interesting is her tales of traveling to Egypt with her archeologist husband (her second husband).

Overall, the book gives us a glimpse into the life and mind of the best-selling mystery writer of all time.

I love all of her books and was curious about her life. This one dragged for a while when she went into such great detail about her childhood, but definitely picked up later. She shed some insight on writing some specific books and plays. What a legacy!

I picked up Agatha Christie's biography off a dusty shelf in the library... it hadn't been read since 1984, and it still had one of those cards you had to write in names and stamp dates in. Interestingly, I wasn't drawn to the book due to the author. I hadn't even read more than one book by Ms. Christie, and that was in high school for required reading. What drew me to the book was the simple unpretentious title "The Story of My Life". (This is an older copy of the book, not the printing titled Agatha Christie an Autobiography.)It was the first page, the first paragraph in the book,that hooked me.

"One of the luckiest things that can happen to you in life is, I think, to have a happy childhood. I had a very happy childhood."

If you continue reading you'll have to agree. With tenderness, Agatha recounts sun-filled days at her home Ashfield, describing family and friends (both real and imaginary), servants, and experiences with fond poignancy.

Her father she describes:

"By modern standards my father would probably not be approved of. He was a lazy man.......I don't know what the quality was he had...he had no outstanding characteristics. I think that he had a simple and loving heart, and he really cared for his fellow man."

A family game, when Agatha is older and courting

"We use to have a family game, invented by my sister and a friend of hers- it was called 'Agatha's Husband'. The idea was that they picked two or three of the most repellent strangers in a room, and it was then up to me that I had to choose one of them as my husband, on pain of death or slow torture by the Chinese.

'Now then, Agatha, which will you have-the fat young one with pimples, and the scurfy head, or that black one like a gorilla with the bulging eyes?'

'Oh, I can't-they're so awful.'

'You must-it's got to be one of them. Or else red hot needles nad water torture.'

'Oh dear, then the gorilla.'

In the end we got into the habit of labelling any physically hideous individual as 'an Agatha's husband':"Oh! Look! That's a REALLY ugly man-a real Agatha's husband."

Many funny family stories are recounted in this book, as well as some painful life experiences in Agatha's adult life. Yet, she still manages to keep a cheerfullness, and a somewhat balanced attitude, which is refreshing.

I heartily recommend this book.

Even in countries that are still mad at the British this lady sells more than ever...and her autobiography is as fun to read as all the rest. Her memories and sentences have stuck in my mind for years since first reading this. She has such a gift for girl-friend chatter and deep ideas expressed informally, as if over tea together. You never feel alone reading Agatha.

For me, this book is rated 5 stars, and the only other book that I rate this much is the Autobiography of Nelson Mandela!

Even if Nelson Mandela was extrovert and I feel usually more inspired by extrovert people than by introvert one (Agatha Christie), this book is amazingly beautiful and for me is a full source of positive inspiration for life.

I have never read her novels, or any crimi, but her life story is just very inspiring!

Thanks for the book, Agatha!

Over the past year I've been reading all of Agatha Christie's books in order and have found them to be quite entertaining and often insightful. Her autobiography offers many insights into her own life and work, along with keen observations about people and society. What a brilliant lady.

I love Trollope, but I would caution anyone looking to buy a paper edition of this book to NOT buy the one "published" by "Clearspace" with a cover illustration of a wooded path. SInce the copyright has expired, the producer of this book has apparently taken a text file & printed it out in an incredible slap dash fashion--the font is 8 or 9 point, and the kerning and spacing is messed up on most pages. The footnotes are basically unreadable. A total rip-off. I would not pay $2.00 for the product I ordered & received. I ordered it as a gift for a senior who will not be able the tiny font. If you want a reasonable priced edition of this book, do what I had to do next-- go order a used copy, from reputable publisher like Oxford, in good condition.
PS This is the first time I have ever felt "ripped off" by an the store product.

There are really 3 autobiographical works that Agatha Christie wrote: there's this one, of course, which, if I remember right, covers her childhood and the early years of her first marriage, including how she began writing. Then there's "Come, Tell Me How You Live," about the 2nd part of her life, during her marriage to the archeologist Max Mallowan.
Then there's the novel (written under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott), "Unfinished Portrait." Although many things in "Unfinished Portrait" were clearly changed around for the sake of the story and don't pertain to her life at all, it is very frank emotionally about what was probably the hardest time of her life -- her divorce from her 2nd husband. It also tells a little more about her writing, since the heroine of the story is also a writer.
All 3 of the books are good reading.

Sure reading Agatha Christie is a bit of escapism; to see if you can guess the killer, solve the puzzle, but I think she's a bit better than that. Let's ask another question. Why read books at all? "...I liked him very much. He was gentle and polite---and he knew a lot really. Things out of books, I mean." That's one reason why we may read, but what about novels, why read those? Those are not "books" in the sense of learning things. OK, maybe you can fudge the category and point and include novels (at least classic novels that seem to have lessons or wisdom in them), but detective stories? It's hard to include those herein too. But, at least in Miss Christie's case, I'd make an exception here even though on the surface detective stories, mysteries don't merit inclusion in the books the likes of Dickens and Dostoyesky wrote. Sherlock Holmes and many other detective stories, I'd suggest, are a lot more escapism in the simple sense of that phrase. And while many good books have nuggets of insight and interest in them I think Agatha Christie consistently has more than several in most of her books. Man in the Brown suit: A diary is useful for recording the idiosyncrasies of other people---but not one's own." Mrs. McGinty's Dead: "What a wonderful dispensation it is of Nature's," thought Hercule Poirot, "that every man, however superficially unattractive, should be some woman's choice." Murder of Roger Ackroyd: "Les femmes," generalized Poirot, "they are marvelous! They invent haphazard---and by miracle they are right. Not that it is that, really. Women observe subconsciously a thousand little details, without knowing that they are doing so. Their subconscious mind adds these little things together---and they call the result intuition."

Take this from Mrs. McGinty's Dead:

"I don't see what you mean."
Poirot: "Perhaps I do not see myself---not yet. One works through darkness towards light."

Poirot: "You look forwards, not back?'
Deidre: "I don't know that I look anywhere...I mean, today's usually enough, isn't it?"

Lines that these make passing international flights more bearable. That's why I like to read Christie on long flights. You read things like this and put your finger between the pages you have just read, cast a glance out the window 35,000 feet above daily life and contemplate it for a few minutes. Hmm, interesting; she is, Agatha Christie's take on things. It's not deep philosophy, but food for casual thought...if you pause long enough when reading her to savor these gems. As in travel, the journey is often more interesting than the dénouement of the trip. So, Agatha Christie is a great writer? I'm not saying that and Agatha Christie never pretended to be: "I will confess here and now that of the two things that have excited me most in my life the first was my car: my grey bottle-nosed Morris Cowley. The second was dining with the Queen at Buckingham Palace about forty years later. Both of these happenings, you see, had something of a fairy-tale quality about them. They were things that I thought could never happen to me: to have a car of my own, and to dine with the Queen of England." Agatha Christie, in other words, was rather "normal." And it was interesting to read this autobiography to see just how normal she was (even though she once did have a doctor called Stabb---how apropo). I rather just enjoy reading Christie and enjoy the way she characterizes people and life, normal life. Normal is good...as long as a person at least tries to look at things a bit differently sometimes. Agatha Christie always had a fresh way of looking at things. Too bad other "normal" people often have nothing to "say." Cheers

Reading Agatha Christie's autobiography was like a long visit with a treasured friend. She lived through very interesting times, and her descriptions and remembrances are absolutely priceless! Her sense of humor is delightful. When I finished it, I was sad because it was over. How I wish I had known her when she lived! I highly recommend this book, and not only to those who have enjoyed her novels and plays. This is more than a good read.

Even if you are not a fan you will find much to like in Mrs. Christie's autobiography. A labor of love on her part, it took her over twenty years to write in the odd cracks between her mysteries. She writes of a gilded childhood and a peripatetic adulthood with warmth and humor. A great introduction to a grand lady.

As an avid fan of Agatha Christie, I wanted to read her autobiography. I couldn't find it on the store.com or at the local public library. Finally, I found an old, tattered copy in one of the Rutgers University libraries.

This book can change your life! Not only does Christie recount her life in an interesting and exciting way, but she also comments on a wide variety of comments -- friendship, parties, poetry, marriage, etc. Many times, I find myself quoting the wisdom Christie has included within her book.

This is a wonderful book, and I highly recommend it. I could not put it down; it was very interesting, especially because of the aforemention edinclusion of her comments on every imaginable topic.

Unfairly the author was deemed a disgrace during his school days and he burns with indignation over his treatment fifty years later. At twelve he went from Harrow to Winchester. His father had taken two farms, had no capital, and had given up his career as a lawyer. After Winchester Trollope returned to Harrow.

When his mother wrote a book about her stay in the United States, it was a success. The family's pecuniary circumstances improved, but the boy remained friendless. DOMESTIC MANNERS OF THE AMERICANS was the first of Mrs. Trollope's travel books. In her case politics was an affair of the heart.

At Orley Farm the mother surrounded the family with moderate comforts. After two years the family decamped to Belgium to avoid creditors. Mrs. Trollope wrote novels while a son and her husband were dying of consumption. The author then hurried to London to assume a job at the Post Office. After the father's death, Mrs. Trollope moved back to England. The author's father had had a life of misery through no fault of his own, suffering a blighted ambition.

Seven years later Anthony went to Ireland to work as a surveyor clerk for the Post Office. He met his wife there and married in 1844. In 1845 his first novel was finished. Two Irish novels and an historical novel were failures. He surveyed postal facilities in England and conceived of THE WARDEN story at Salisbury. It was begun in 1852. When it was published in 1855 there were notices of it in the press. It was not as great a failure as the others. He wrote BARCHESTER TOWERS in railway coaches as he traveled in them on Post Office business. The author's brother supplied the plot for DR. THORNE.

To pursue his other career Trollope allotted himself so many pages a week. (This bit in the autobiography is famous.) He finished DR. THORNE on one day and started THE BERTRAMS the next. Trollope went to Egypt, to Scotland, to the West Indies for the Post Office. He created FRAMLEY PARSONAGE for CORNHILL MAGAZINE. John Everett Millais illustrated FRAMLEY PARSONAGE, THE SMALL HOUSE AT ALLINGTON, PHINEAS FINN, and RACHEL RAY.

Anthony Trollope settled at Waltham Cross and in 1866 became a member of the Garrick Club and subsequently a number of other clubs. His comments on other novelists of the 19th century are interesting. He claims authors and critics should not be in the same company. In 1867 THE LAST CHRONICLE OF BARSET was brought out in monthly installments. That same year Trollope resigned from the Post Office. Evidently Anthony Trollope inherited his mother's stamina.

I can`t say nothing more than this word, this book is really amazing. Her life is unbelievable, passionate, beautiful, she was so intelligent, so normal that you can`t belive it. When you read it, you feel that she is talking to you. You feel her emotion or crying. SHE WAS AMAZING, WONDERFUL.

That book was great I loved that book because it told everything about her life in it, it told about when she was growing up and what happened in her life, while she was growing up. Life is great when you make somthing out of it. When Agatha Christie started getting sick she just didn't care she still just kept on writing and when she died somebody wrote the rest of it to say thats all the writing she has left for anyone because she had died. She was a great author because when she wrote her books she made them interesting to people to pick up her next book that she wrote.

Agatha Christie recalls a happy childhood in Victorian England. Unfortunately, it's a way of life now gone. Hers was a fairy tale upbringing when customs, manners and the family group were all important in upper-class society. Her portraits of the family, her governesses, the servants, her pets are descriptive and funny. Now I know why she became such a great writer. Wonderful!

I randomly picked this book in a library - I was looking for something to read and this seemed interesting enough. I had no idea how captive this would be. Agatha Christie doesn't write, she paints beautiful portraits with her words. From the moment I picked up this book it was impossible to put down. The way she talks of her life (and of course, her life itself) is truly enchanting. I don't think I could ever do this book justice, but I assure you - time spent on reading this book will be time well spent.

Agatha Christie's, An Autobiography, is an excellent read. Unlike most books of this type, it is not chronological in the true sense of the word. It's almost as if Dame Agatha is talking to you personally about her life. She jumps from one topic to another much as one would in an ordinary conversation. Thoroughly entertaining!

In her autobiograpy, Agatha Cristie lets us in on the mystery of her most insightful, fearless, honest, adventurous, human, open character - herself. I first read her autobiography when I was 9 years old and an avid reader of her prolific work. Since then, I entered her world more times than I can remember, each time a joyous discovery. I am truly thankful that such a talented woman has shared her vision of life, her version of reality.

While some parts of her first autobiography (I understand there is another, later one), were interesting or entertaining, I just can't get excited over it. Not only is her disappearance on being rejected by her first husband not covered, but there is zero mention of sexual attraction or sex life with either of her two husbands. She dwells on her very early childhood until you want to scream in the beginning. You do gradually get a picture of her personality, and her travel stories, joys, and hardships, are interesting, esp. her outsized reaction to bedbugs endemic to The Orient Express. It was interesting that her second husband, 14 yrs. her junior, was the aggressor in seeking to marry her, and you were glad for her sake, since she'd been devastated by the first husband's adultery and insistence on a divorce. But I read elsewhere that the second husband eventually asked for a divorce (unverified so far in my research), and that he had a long-standing affair with a woman he married as soon as Christie died. Gotta' find the second autobio and see what really transpired in that second marriage. She brought a LOT to it, and was very beneficial to him. I had hoped that she would be rewarded for that by undying devotion and fidelity, but apparently not.

Agatha Christie's, An Autobiography, is an excellent read. Unlike most books of this type, it is not chronological in the true sense of the word. It's almost as if Dame Agatha is talking to you personally about her life. She jumps from one topic to another much as one would in an ordinary conversation. Thoroughly entertaining!

In her autobiograpy, Agatha Cristie lets us in on the mystery of her most insightful, fearless, honest, adventurous, human, open character - herself. I first read her autobiography when I was 9 years old and an avid reader of her prolific work. Since then, I entered her world more times than I can remember, each time a joyous discovery. I am truly thankful that such a talented woman has shared her vision of life, her version of reality.

While some parts of her first autobiography (I understand there is another, later one), were interesting or entertaining, I just can't get excited over it. Not only is her disappearance on being rejected by her first husband not covered, but there is zero mention of sexual attraction or sex life with either of her two husbands. She dwells on her very early childhood until you want to scream in the beginning. You do gradually get a picture of her personality, and her travel stories, joys, and hardships, are interesting, esp. her outsized reaction to bedbugs endemic to The Orient Express. It was interesting that her second husband, 14 yrs. her junior, was the aggressor in seeking to marry her, and you were glad for her sake, since she'd been devastated by the first husband's adultery and insistence on a divorce. But I read elsewhere that the second husband eventually asked for a divorce (unverified so far in my research), and that he had a long-standing affair with a woman he married as soon as Christie died. Gotta' find the second autobio and see what really transpired in that second marriage. She brought a LOT to it, and was very beneficial to him. I had hoped that she would be rewarded for that by undying devotion and fidelity, but apparently not.

A definite good read. Thank goodness I managed to get my hands on it. One would think that an autobiography of the Queen of crime would be all about mysteries and writing, but this book is more than that. It's a celebration of life and living. A truly entertaining and engrossing book. Two enthusiastic thumbs up!

Until I read this work of AC, I never knew someone can make you interested in their life so deeply. As most of her fictions, this book wins with one virute. Its simplicity. It is clean, down-to-earth and so so wonderful. Isn't she beautiful? So full of LIFE.

I can see very interesting prospective towards this world, and how she enjoyed her life with her surroundings.
Besides being a successful author, Christy also presents the very fond attitude and life style which could really teach me a lot. Her sentimental writings also move me so much.

I want to say, up front, that I'm a HUGE Christie fan -- I've read everything that she wrote, over 80 mysteries, plays and her Mary Westmacott pseudonym stuff. However, I was very disappointed in this, her autobiography for multiple reasons which I will elaborate upon here in detail.

First, she utterly fails to discuss her famous 11-day "disappearance" in 1926 (to the Harrogate Spa), which is probably the most intriguing thing that ever happened in her lifetime! Here, I'll cite a website ([...]

"But Norman, a former doctor, believes the novelist was in a fugue state, or, more technically, a psychogenic trance, a rare, deluded condition brought on by trauma or depression, which may also have led the writer and actor Stephen Fry to travel to Bruges in 1995 without leaving word with his friends or family."

Okay, I'm Hoyle with that (there was a Hollywood movie that implied that she was having an affair, which I did not necessarily accept as truth) -- but why leave such an important event out of an autobiography that is certain to be of huge interest to fans?

My second criticism is more pointed. Over the years, Christie issued MANY racist comments in her various works. I won't repeat them here as all fans will know what I'm talking about. Now, this was COMMON for writers to do throughout the 20th Century so, on it's face, taking into account that this was "an acceptable practice" for the era, I don't condemn Christie for this initial act of making such comments, even though many did not benefit or lend real support to the dialogue.

However, Christie died in 1976 and this autobiography was published in '77. By this time, racist commentary was being very much looked down upon (as it should have been), and Christie could have made some sort of positive overture, however minor, to say that she wished that she had not used certain words that were hurtful to people. No such apology, however minor, is found in this autobiography, that I could find, and I feel certain that by 1976, Christie had received many letters which pointed out these anachronistic racial comments, probably seeking some sort of reaction. Based upon the absence of such thoughts in her autobiography, I seriously doubt that any response was issued. I find that a sad omission.

Finally, as I read this book, I got the distinct impression that her heart was not at all in writing it, that it was a drudgery of sorts. I don't blame her for not wanting to write it but, if she didn't want to do it, she should have simply not done it, rather than issue something that reflects a sort of sideways contempt for her millions of fans.

Here's what I DID like about the work: I learned a great deal about little things that ended up in her mysteries (such as "Truelove"). I learned something of her family (not enough about her trials and tribulations in marriage, though), and I went away sort of feeling sorry for Christie's father. Beyond these things, she came off as pretty drab to me -- my expectations were so much higher as she had been a world-traveler and COULD have said so much more. I found that the whole thing lacked a sense of history.

So, I'll no doubt take some hits for my review and, if I'm in error about my facts, I'll come back and make corrections -- but I just think it could have been a super work and, compared to other autobiographies that I've read, I found this one dull and lacking in honesty.

I have a tendency to over-rate the media which I review but I can't go along with the crowd on this one. Perhaps I'm wrong in that they say you should review what's IN a book and not what is absent. I'm not certain about that but I welcome your sincere feedback and comments.

As near as I can tell, this book is not available in audio. the store has apparently forsaken those customers who are sight impaired and chosen to charge extra to read a book on the audio capable Kindle. Pretty cheap, the store!

The book is soooo very boring one might think she only wrote it to annoy her first husband, it goes on and on about her second husband Max and his excavations. There are some funny bits but the book is truely redundant and says very little about her actual detective stories. Try Cecil Beaton's biography so interesting and alive.