Benvenuto Cellini Clive James (5 books, written as he lived) Robert Graves ("Goodbye to All That") Edward Abbey ("Confessions of a Barbarian" is good. His other books sucked.) Will Self ("Will". Maybe not for everyone.)

Goodbye to all That Robert Graves, had to read it at school in Northern Ireland and couldn't relate to any of it and had no knowledge of 20th century history, loved it decades later.