An autobiography (from the Greek, αὐτός-autos self + βίος-bios life + γράφειν-graphein to write) is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.

Origin of the term

The word autobiography was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English periodical the Monthly Review, when he suggested the word as a hybrid but condemned it as 'pedantic'; but its next recorded use was in its present sense by Robert Southey in 1809. The form of autobiography however goes back to antiquity. Biographers generally rely on a wide variety of documents and viewpoints; an autobiography, however, may be based entirely on the writer's memory. Closely associated with autobiography (and sometimes difficult to precisely distinguish from it) is the form of memoir.

See also: List of autobiographies and :Category:Autobiographies for examples.

Autobiography through the ages

The classical period: Apologia, oration, confession

In antiquity such works were typically entitled apologia, purporting to be self-justification rather than self-documentation. John Henry Newman's autobiography (first published in 1864) is entitled Apologia Pro Vita Sua in reference to this tradition.

The pagan rhetor Libanius (c. 314–394) framed his life memoir (Oration I begun in 374) as one of his orations, not of a public kind, but of a literary kind that could be read aloud in privacy.

Augustine (354–430) applied the title Confessions to his autobiographical work, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau used the same title in the 18th century, initiating the chain of confessional and sometimes racy and highly self-critical, autobiographies of the Romantic era and beyond.

In the spirit of Augustine's Confessions is the 11th-century Historia Calamitatum of Peter Abelard, outstanding as an autobiographical document of its period. The first autobiographical work in Islamic society was written in the late 11th century, by Abdallah ibn Buluggin, last Zirid king of Granada.

Early autobiographies

In the 15th century, a Spanish noble woman named Leonor López de Córdoba wrote her Memorias, which are considered to be the first autobiography in Castillian.

Zāhir ud-Dīn Mohammad Bābur,who founded the Mughal dynasty of South Asia kept a journal Bāburnāma (Chagatai/; literally: "Book of Babur" or "Letters of Babur") which was written between 1493 and 1529.

One of the first great autobiographies of the Renaissance is that of the sculptor and goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini (1500–1571), written between 1556 and 1558, and entitled by him simply Vita (Italian: Life). He declares at the start: "No matter what sort he is, everyone who has to his credit what are or really seem great achievements, if he cares for truth and goodness, ought to write the story of his own life in his own hand; but no one should venture on such a splendid undertaking before he is over forty." These criteria for autobiography generally persisted until recent times, and most serious autobiographies of the next three hundred years conformed to them.

Another autobiography of the period is De vita propria, by the Italian physician and astrologer Gerolamo Cardano (1574).

The earliest known autobiography in English is the early 15th-century Booke of Margery Kempe, describing among other things her pilgrimage to the Holy Land and visit to Rome. The book remained in manuscript and was not published until 1936.

Notable English autobiographies of the seventeenth century include those of Lord Herbert of Cherbury (1643, published 1764) and John Bunyan (Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, 1666).

Memoirs

A memoir is slightly different in character from an autobiography. While an autobiography typically focuses on the "life and times" of the writer, a memoir has a narrower, more intimate focus on his or her own memories, feelings and emotions. Memoirs have often been written by politicians or military leaders as a way to record and publish an account of their public exploits. One early example is that of Leonor López de Córdoba (1362–1420) who wrote what is supposed to be the first autobiography in Spanish. The English Civil War (1642–1651) provoked a number of examples of this genre, including works by Sir Edmund Ludlow and Sir John Reresby. French examples from the same period include the memoirs of Cardinal de Retz (1614–1679) and the Duc de Saint-Simon 2001/2010.

18th and 19th centuries

Notable 18th-century autobiographies in English include those of Edward Gibbon and Benjamin Franklin. Following the trend of Romanticism, which greatly emphasised the role and the nature of the individual, and in the footsteps of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions, a more intimate form of autobiography, exploring the subject's emotions, came into fashion. An English example is William Hazlitt's Liber Amoris (1823), a painful examination of the writer's love-life.

With the rise of education, cheap newspapers and cheap printing, modern concepts of fame and celebrity began to develop, and the beneficiaries of this were not slow to cash in on this by producing autobiographies. It became the expectation—rather than the exception—that those in the public eye should write about themselves—not only writers such as Charles Dickens (who also incorporated autobiographical elements in his novels) and Anthony Trollope, but also politicians (e.g. Henry Brooks Adams), philosophers (e.g. John Stuart Mill), churchmen such as Cardinal Newman, and entertainers such as P. T. Barnum. Increasingly, in accordance with romantic taste, these accounts also began to deal, amongst other topics, with aspects of childhood and upbringing—far removed from the principles of "Cellinian" autobiography.

Nature of autobiography

Autobiographical works are by nature subjective. The inability—or unwillingness—of the author to accurately recall memories has in certain cases resulted in misleading or incorrect information. Some sociologists and psychologists have noted that autobiography offers the author the ability to recreate history.

Versions of the autobiography form

Autobiographies as critiques of totalitarianism

Victims and opponents of totalitarian regimes have been able to present striking critiques of these regimes through autobiographical accounts of their oppression. Among the more renowned of such works are the writings of Primo Levi, one of many personal accounts of the Shoah. Similarly, there are many works detailing atrocities and malevolence of Communist regimes (e.g., Nadezhda Mandelstam's Hope against Hope).

Sensationalist and celebrity "autobiographies"

From the 17th century onwards, "scandalous memoirs" by supposed libertines, serving a public taste for titillation, have been frequently published. Typically pseudonymous, they were (and are) largely works of fiction written by ghostwriters.

So-called "autobiographies" of modern professional athletes and media celebrities—and to a lesser extent about politicians, generally written by a ghostwriter, are routinely published. Some celebrities, such as Naomi Campbell, admit to not having read their "autobiographies".

Autobiographies of the non-famous

Until recent years, few people without some genuine claim to fame wrote or published autobiographies for the general public. With the critical and commercial success in the United States of such memoirs as Angela’s Ashes and The Color of Water, however, more and more people have been encouraged to try their hand at this genre.

Fake autobiographies

This trend has also encouraged fake autobiographies, particularly those associated with 'misery lit,' where the writer has allegedly suffered from being a part of a dysfunctional family, or from social problems, or political repression. A notorious recent example is Fragments (1995) by 'Binjamin Wilkomirski'(Bruno Grosjean).

Fictional autobiography

The term "fictional autobiography" has been coined to define novels about a fictional character written as though the character were writing their own biography, of which Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders, is an early example. Charles Dickens' David Copperfield is another such classic, and J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye is a well-known modern example of fictional autobiography. Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre is yet another example of fictional autobiography, as noted on the front page of the original version. The term may also apply to works of fiction purporting to be autobiographies of real characters, e.g., Robert Nye's Memoirs of Lord Byron.

See also

Alphabiography

Autobiographical comics

Autobiographical novel

Autobiographical songs

Biography

Diary

Fake memoirs

Family history

Historical document

List of autobiographies

References

Further reading

Category:Biography

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name	Ashlee Simpson
background	solo_singer
birth name	Ashlee Nicole Simpson
alias	Ashlee Simpson-Wentz
born	October 03, 1984Waco, Texas, United States
origin	Richardson, Texas, United States
genre	Pop, pop rock
occupation	Singer, songwriter, actress
years active	2001–present
label	Geffen
website	www.ashleesimpsonmusic.com }}

Ashlee Nicole Simpson (born October 3, 1984) is an American singer and actress. She rose to prominence in mid-2004 due to the success of her number-one debut album Autobiography and the reality series, The Ashlee Simpson Show.

In October 2005, following a North American concert tour and a film appearance, Simpson released her second number-one album, I Am Me. Her third album, Bittersweet World, was released almost three years later in April 2008. The following month, she married musician Pete Wentz and announced that they were expecting a child. On November 20, 2008, Simpson gave birth to their son, Bronx Mowgli Wentz. Simpson filed for divorce on February 8, 2011, citing "irreconcilable differences."

Life and career

1984–2002: Early life and career beginnings

Simpson was born in Waco, Texas and raised in Richardson, Texas. She is the daughter of Tina Ann (née Drew), a homemaker, and Joe Truett Simpson, a former Baptist youth minister who is now her manager. She attended Prairie Creek Elementary. She has an older sister, Jessica, who is also a singer. Simpson began studying classical ballet when she was three years old, eventually becoming an accomplished dancer. She was admitted to the School of American Ballet in New York City at the age of 11, a year in advance. During that time, Simpson suffered from an eating disorder; the condition lasted for about six months before her parents stepped in and got her the help she needed to overcome the issue. When Jessica landed a record deal, Tina and Joe Simpson made the decision to relocate to Los Angeles, California, where Ashlee began appearing in television commercials.

Following the success of Jessica's first album, Ashlee became one of her backup dancers. She later began appearing in films and television series, including a 2001 episode of the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle, a minor role in the 2002 film The Hot Chick, and a recurring role on the family drama series 7th Heaven. Simpson recorded a song entitled "Christmas Past, Present and Future" in 2002 for the holiday album School's Out! Christmas, which was later re-released on Radio Disney Jingle Jams in 2004 and 2005. In the summer of 2003, she released a song called "Just Let Me Cry" for the soundtrack to the film Freaky Friday. She occasionally appeared on Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, a reality show documenting the married life of her sister, Jessica, and her then-husband, Nick Lachey.

2003–04: Autobiography and Saturday Night Live incident

After her appearances on the School's Out! Christmas and Freaky Friday albums, Simpson signed a record deal with Geffen Records. As an accompaniment to her debut album and in order to create interest in the beginning of her own music career, she filmed and appeared on her own reality television series, The Ashlee Simpson Show, which aired in the time slot following Newlyweds. It ran in the United States for eight weekly episodes over the summer of 2004 (a second season of 10 episodes aired from January to March 2005). The show dealt with the processes of writing, recording and performing Simpson's music, as well as aspects of her personal life.

Her first album, Autobiography, debuted at number one in the United States in July 2004, with first-week sales of around 398,000 copies. The album was certified triple-platinum by the RIAA in September 2004. Simpson co-wrote all of the album's tracks, describing it as "very true to my emotions", however, critical reviews were mixed. Rolling Stone magazine's Peter Relic characterised the album as a "mundane melange of Avril-ish brat pop and Sheryl Crow cod rock." The single which preceded the album, "Pieces of Me", was one of the biggest hits of the summer in the United States and was certified gold by the RIAA. The follow-up singles, "Shadow" and "La La", were less successful, although the latter became an RIAA-certified gold seller. At the Teen Choice Awards on August 8, 2004, Simpson received the "Song of the Summer" Teen Choice Award for "Pieces of Me", as well as the "Fresh Face" Award. She also won the Billboard Award for New Female Artist of the Year in December, and in the same month, Entertainment Weekly named her one of its Breakout Stars of 2004.

Simpson appeared as a musical guest on episode 568 of Saturday Night Live, and was scheduled to perform two songs. Her first song, "Pieces of Me", was performed without problems. However, when she began her second song, "Autobiography", the vocals for the song "Pieces of Me" were heard again before Simpson had the microphone to her mouth. She began to do an impromptu jig when she realized the embarrassing error, and then left the stage. During the closing of the show, Simpson appeared with the guest host, Jude Law, and said, "I'm so sorry. My band started playing the wrong song, and I didn't know what to do, so I thought I'd do a hoedown." On October 25, Simpson called in to the music video show Total Request Live and explained that due to complications arising from severe acid reflux disease, she had completely lost her voice and been advised not to sing by her doctor. She said that because of the acid reflux, her father wanted her to use a vocal guide track for the performance. During the performance her drummer hit the wrong button, which caused the wrong track to be played. Simpson said of the incident, "I made a complete fool of myself."

2005–06: Touring and I Am Me

On January 4, 2005, Simpson performed "La La" at the halftime show for the 2005 Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. After her performance, many of the 72,000-plus spectators booed. Some viewers noted that Kelly Clarkson had performed in the show earlier to a much more positive reaction, and asserted that Simpson's performance was poor and very off-key. After the Orange Bowl performance, an internet petition was created at PetitionOnline.com, which requested that Simpson stop producing music. It soon became one of the most active of the site's petitions. In regards to the negativity towards her, Simpson said, "That's cool. You don't always have to be a fan of everybody's music", adding that she receives a great amount of support from her fans. Around the time of the petition, Cosmopolitan magazine chose Simpson to be on the cover of the February 2005 issue, naming her the "Fun Fearless Female of the Year". Simpson's first North American tour ran from mid-February to late April 2005. The tour was described as "stripped down" without pyrotechnics. As well as material from Autobiography, Simpson performed her own unreleased song "Hollywood", The Pretenders' "Brass in Pocket", Blondie's "Call Me" and Madonna's "Burning Up". She had a supporting role as an aspiring actress named Clea in Undiscovered, an independent film which was released in theaters in August 2005. While her performance was met with indifference, the film itself was panned by critics and failed to reach the top 10 in its opening weekend, earning just $676,048 during its theatrical run. Her performance in the film earned her a Razzie nomination for Worst Supporting Actress.

Simpson's second album, I Am Me, was released on October 18, 2005. She wanted to incorporate the feel of music from the 1980s on the album, and unlike with her debut, she wanted to focus less on relationships and more on herself. The album debuted at number-one, selling around 220,000 copies in its first week, but sales fell quickly, and by April 2006, it had sold less than 900,000 copies in the United States and 3 million copies worldwide. Its lead single, "Boyfriend", became a top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 while the next two singles, "L.O.V.E." and "Invisible", reached the top 40. Simpson began a concert tour in late September in Portland, Oregon and appeared on the October 8, 2005 episode of SNL to promote the album. The first song she performed on the show was "Catch Me When I Fall", a ballad written about her previous SNL experience, and she thanked the crowd after her second performance. In mid-December, Simpson collapsed after performing in Japan, and was briefly hospitalized, consequently cancelling an appearance at the Radio Music Awards. The collapse and her subsequent hospitalization were attributed to exhaustion as a result of her busy work schedule. In March 2006, Simpson won an MTV celebrity surfing invitational competition, which also featured celebrities such as Meagan Good, Jack Osbourne, Ashley Parker Angel and Tony Hawk. On April 12, 2006, she hosted and performed at the MTV Australia Video Music Awards, where she won "Best Female Artist" and "Best Pop Video" for the single "Boyfriend". She began a summer tour on June 5, 2006, with Ashley Parker Angel as the opening act. Simpson said that after the completion of the tour, she would look at film scripts and continue her acting career.

Simpson had a nose job in April 2006. In the May 2007 issue of Harper's Bazaar, she said that she was not insecure about her appearance and had not been beforehand. She said that plastic surgery was a "personal choice" that one should only decide to do for oneself and not for others. In a September 2007 interview, her father, Joe Simpson said of the surgery: "There was a real problem with her breathing and that was cured". In mid-2006, Simpson gave an interview to Marie Claire magazine, in which she was said to have "had it with Hollywood's twisted view of feminine beauty" and was photographed painting a pro-female mural with a group of underprivileged girls from Los Angeles' Green Dot Public School. By the time the magazine hit newsstands, Simpson had already had her nose job, and some Marie Claire readers complained that this was hypocritical. The magazine received over 1,000 letters of complaint and the magazine's new editor expanded the letters section of the September issue of the magazine to give readers a chance to vent their frustrations. She played the role of Roxie Hart in the West End production of Chicago to rave reviews, from September 25 to October 28, 2006. Her performance in the show was described as "dazzling and near flawless."

2007–10: Bittersweet World, marriage, motherhood and Melrose Place

During 2007, Simpson worked on her third studio album, Bittersweet World with producers Timbaland, Kenna, and Chad Hugo. She described the album as being influenced by 1980s music—bearing similarities with I Am Me—while still incorporating elements of rock and pop and described her intention to go on tour to support the album. Geffen Records chairman Ron Fair said in December 2006 that working on Simpson's next album would be "very tricky" because of press scrutiny and "prejudices", but that Geffen would work with her to overcome that, "because she deserves to be heard and she deserves a shot." Bittersweet World was released in the United States on April 22, 2008 to mixed reviews. The album's first single, the Timbaland-produced "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)", was released as a digital download in December 2007, but failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single, "Little Miss Obsessive", was released in March 2008 and performed marginally better, reaching number ninety-six on the Hot 100. A collection of tops designed by Simpson was launched by the clothing retailer Wet Seal on April 22, in connection with the album's release, and she also began appearing in commercials for Canadian retailer Zellers to promote their independent clothing line, Request, in mid-2008. Bittersweet World has sold 126,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Simpson announced her engagement to Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz on April 9, 2008. She had previously been wearing what she described as a "promise ring" from Wentz for several months. She chose not to confirm or deny reports that she was pregnant, saying that it was something to "keep personal." On May 17, 2008, Simpson and Wentz married at Simpson's parents' residence in Encino, California, where her father officiated the ceremony. Her surname changed from Simpson to Wentz and she was briefly known professionally as Ashlee Simpson-Wentz. On May 28, 2008, Simpson and Wentz confirmed that they were expecting their first child. Simpson gave birth to their son, Bronx Mowgli Wentz, on November 20, 2008. Simpson appeared alongside her husband in the crime drama series CSI: NY in 2009.

Simpson returned full-time to television episodes by playing the role of Violet Foster in Melrose Place, the CW's revamp of the '90s series of the same name. She was originally signed to the show as a regular, but producers and CW executives decided to write out her character, and she left the show after 13 episodes. Various rumors circulated as to the reason for her sudden departure, with theories including feuds with other cast members, lack of acting ability and financial issues. Her departure was generally attributed to the show needing a "face lift" because of the decreasing viewing figures. Simpson stated that she had known all along that her character would leave the show once the murder mystery storyline had concluded. After her departure from Melrose Place, Simpson reprised her role in the Broadway musical production of Chicago. She began her Broadway run on November 30, 2009 and performed in New York for six weeks. She played eight shows a week until February 7, 2010. When her run was completed, she stated that she was going to take a break to spend time with her son before beginning to work on her fourth studio album.

2011–present: Fashion line and fourth album

On February 9, 2011, it was announced that Simpson had filed for divorce from Pete Wentz, citing irreconcilable differences. In the filing, she requested joint legal custody with visitation for Wentz, but sole physical custody and spousal support. She also asked that her name be restored to her birth name of Ashlee Nicole Simpson.

Simpson has created a fashion line in collaboration with her sister's successful brand. She is the co-creative director of the line, aimed at girls aged 7–16, which is set to be in stores by the end of 2011. In an interview with Paper magazine, Simpson stated that her new album would have a "folk feel". However, on June 23, 2011, Ryan Seacrest confirmed on On Air with Ryan Seacrest that Simpson had been having meetings with record executives along with previous collaborator, John Shanks, to figure out the exact direction of her next album.

Music and influences

When Simpson first broke onto the music scene in 2004, she was set apart from her sister, Jessica's already established image due to a different music style, different fashion choices, and a more assertive personality. Simpson's songs have been characterized by rock elements absent from her sister's music, and, particularly during her early career, Simpson would often wear outfits highlighting a rock or punk-influenced sense of style. She cites her childhood as being the time when she began to sing, and admits that she dreamed of being on Broadway and did not expect to break into the pop music scene. She trains with a vocal coach, and studies Etta James and Aretha Franklin albums for vocal inspiration. She has cited Gwen Stefani, No Doubt, Joan Jett, The Runaways, Madonna, Pat Benatar, Chrissie Hynde, and Debbie Harry from Blondie as her musical influences.

Filmography

Undiscovered

style="background:#B0C4DE;"	Year	Film	Role	Notes
2002	The Hot Chick	Monique
2005	|	Clea	Secondary Role

7th HeavenThe Ashlee Simpson ShowCSI: NYMelrose Place (2009 TV series)

style="background:#B0C4DE;"	Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Malcolm in the Middle	High School Girl
2002—2004	|	Cecilia Smith
2004—2005	|	Herself	Reality television>Reality show
2009	|	Lila Wickfield	Point of No Return (CSI: NY)>Point of No Return" (episode 18, season 5)
2009—2010	Melrose Place ||	Violet Foster

Theater

Chicago (musical)

style="background:#B0C4DE;"	Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Chicago (musical)>Chicago	Roxie Hart
2009	Chicago ||	Roxie Hart	Broadway

Discography

Autobiography (2004)

I Am Me (2005)

Bittersweet World (2008)

Awards and nominations

List of awards and nominations received by Ashlee Simpson

See also

List of Ashlee Simpson concert tours

References

External links

Category:1984 births Category:Living people Category:Actors from Texas Category:American dance musicians Category:American dancers Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American pop singers Category:American pop singer-songwriters Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American television actors Category:Baptists from the United States Category:Musicians from Dallas, Texas Category:Musicians from Texas Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:People from Dallas, Texas

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