Books like M train by Patti Smith

A nonfiction novel chronicling the adventures of a group of friends on their cross-country journey of discovery, featuring characters like Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty as real-life friends Neal Casady.

Elizabeth Gilbert recounts a year of self‑discovery after leaving her life in the United States, traveling through Italy, India and Indonesia to seek pleasure, devotion, and balance.

Patti Smith’s memoir charts her life in New York City, from the bohemian scenes of Max’s Kansas City and the Hotel Chelsea to a creative partnership with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in Brooklyn.

"Crying in H Mart" chronicles Michelle Zauner’s intimate journey through family, food, grief, and identity as an Asian‑American woman and Korean‑American singer, revealing how her mother’s cancer prompted a profound reconnection with Korean culture and culinary heritage.

After her father’s sudden death, Helen Macdonald turns to falconry, training a fierce goshawk named Mabel as a way to cope with grief and explore human-animal bonds.

John Steinbeck journeys across the United States with his French poodle Charley, exploring the country’s sights, sounds, and people in a candid travelogue that reflects on American life and identity.

Carrie Brownstein, guitarist and co‑founder of the pioneering riot grrrl band Sleater‑Kinney, shares her journey from underground feminist punk roots to mainstream acclaim in this candid memoir.

Cheryl Strayed chronicles her 1,100‑mile solo hike on the Pacific Crest Trail, a journey that confronts grief, self‑discovery, and resilience after her mother's death.

Rick Bragg’s biography chronicles the life of rock‑and‑roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis, from his Troubled Southern roots and explosive hits such as “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and “Great Balls of Fire” to the controversies, personal losses, and enduring collaborations that shaped American music.

Elvis Costello narrates his rise from London and Liverpool roots to rock‑star status, detailing the music industry’s triumphs and trials over four decades.

Interviews with the Beach Boys, their collaborators, and fans reveal the stories behind fifty of the band's songs, including "Surfin' U.S.A.," "California Girls," and "Good Vibrations."

The night of February 3, 1959, the headliners of the "Winter Dance Party Tour" - Buddy Holly, the "Big Bopper" (J.P. Richardson), and new Latino star Ritchie Valens - boarded a small chartered aircraft. The tour was going poorly, with subzero weather, heavy snow, a string of dates in small-town dance halls far apart, and travel on a rickety, badly heated bus that carried all the tour's stars and backup players, as well as the equipment. Audience reception was enthusiastic wherever the tour appeared, but the performers were enduring frostbite and exhaustion. That night Buddy Holly hired a plane to try to get a head start on a good night's sleep. Little did anyone know that this flight would become one of the key dates in rock history - the "day the music died," as Don McLean sang in "American Pie.". The deaths of Holly, Richardson, and Valens have spurred controversy among fans and historians alike, with conflicting theories about what happened in the days - and hours - before, during, and after the crash. Now, drawing on more than twenty years of interviews with fans, the surviving musicians, and the promoters and radio personalities who organized the tour, Larry Lehmer recreates the final days of these rock legends, and unearths startling new information about the crash and its aftermath. From the fans, he gathers snapshots showing the stars in informal settings, from performing onstage to partying with their friends. Posters, newspaper articles, radio interviews, and other firsthand accounts are reproduced to give the flavor of the time and important new facts about the tour.

An intimate oral history of rock legend Warren Zevon, told by his wife Crystal Zevon and drawn from over eighty interviews with music and cultural icons.

"Brown Eyed Handsome Man: The Life and Hard Times of Chuck Berry draws on voluminous public records and dozens of interviews done by the author himself to paint a complete picture of this complicated figure.". "Now, independent author Bruce Pegg has located Berry's friends, lawyers, business associates, and fellow musicians to illuminate a complicated life story. While sympathetic and admiring of Berry, Pegg does not paint an entirely rosy picture, placing Berry's life both within the larger African-American cultural experience and the world of mid-century American popular music. In doing so, he offers what should be the definitive portrait of one of the greatest stars of rock and roll, a story that will appeal to all fans of American popular music."--BOOK JACKET.

The autobiography of Chrissie Hynde, frontwoman of the Pretenders, charting her Ohio upbringing, London punk era, and rise to rock stardom with a blend of punk, new wave and pop.