Flavorwire

Everyone loves a good memoir — we don’t know what it is, but there’s just something about a true, personal story that gets us every time, especially when it comes from someone we’ve already been idolizing from afar. Enter Biographile, one of our recently-discovered favorite websites, dedicated to biographies and memoirs and the readers who love them. To commemorate the release of Grace Coddington’s new memoir, Grace, which hits shelves next week, the kind folks at Biographile have curated a list of some of their favorite biographies and memoirs by and about the right hand men (and women) who have found their own spotlight. Click through to see which they chose, and if your favorite sidekick memoir has gotten the brush, add on to their list in the comments!

Grace Coddington

Were it not for The September Issue, R.J. Cutler’s 2009 behind-the scenes documentary starring Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief and reigning force behind American Vogue (and inspiration for The Devil Wears Prada), Grace Coddington, the magazine’s delightfully outspoken creative director, would still be fashion’s best-kept secret. In her TIME review of the documentary, Mary Pols wrote, “If Wintour is the Pope… Coddington is Michelangelo, trying to paint a fresh version of the Sistine Chapel 12 times a year.” In her memoir, Grace, which comes out November 20, Coddington acknowledges the role the documentary played in her life. Initially resistant to the whole affair, Coddington eventually acquired an if-you-can’t-beat-them-join-them attitude and agreed to participate in the filming. Coddington stepped out of Wintour’s shadow and into spotlight, perhaps because she dared to speak her mind to the Devil.

Photo credit: Arthur Elgort, 1998. From Grace: A Memoir by Grace Coddington © 2012 by Grace Coddington.