Author Guide · Memoir
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Anjelica Huston, the daughter of the director John Huston, spent her childhood on her father’s estate in the west of Ireland, a long way from Hollywood. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Prizzi’s Honor (1985), a film her father directed, and later played Morticia in The Addams Family (1991). Her two memoirs divide her life at the moment she moved to Los Angeles: A Story Lately Told (2013) covers Ireland, London and New York, and Watch Me (2014) covers Hollywood. This guide covers her two key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 2 key books · 2013–2014 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Anjelica Huston has written two memoirs: A Story Lately Told (2013), about her childhood in Ireland and her early years in London and New York, and Watch Me (2014), about her life and career in Hollywood. Start with A Story Lately Told; the second book continues where it ends.
Where to Start with Anjelica Huston
If you want her childhood and youth
→ A Story Lately Told (2013) — Ireland, London, modelling in New York.
If you want the Hollywood years
→ Watch Me (2014) — acting, the Oscar and Jack Nicholson.
2 Anjelica Huston Books, in Order
A Story Lately Told
Huston’s first memoir, published by Scribner, covers her childhood in Ireland, where her father John Huston bought the St Clerans estate in County Galway, and her coming of age in London and New York. Her Hollywood years are left for the second book.
Watch Me
The second volume, also from Scribner, covers her acting career, including Prizzi’s Honor, directed by her father, and The Addams Family, and her on-and-off relationship with Jack Nicholson from 1973 to 1990. It also includes her account of an alleged assault by Ryan O’Neal.
In What Order to Read Anjelica Huston
Read them in publication order. The two books were published a year apart and form one continuous life story: A Story Lately Told ends where Watch Me begins.
If you are mainly interested in her film career, you can start with Watch Me, but the first book explains the family she came from.
A reading path
1. A Story Lately Told (2013)
2. Watch Me (2014)
The years · 1951–2014
Quick facts about Anjelica Huston
- Known for
- Anjelica Huston is known as an Oscar-winning actor, for Prizzi’s Honor and The Addams Family, and as the daughter of the director John Huston.
- 1951
- Born in California, daughter of John Huston
- 1986
- Oscar for Prizzi’s Honor
- 2014
- Watch Me
- Born
- 8 July 1951, Los Angeles, California
- Parents
- The director John Huston and Enrica Soma
- Grew up
- Ireland (St Clerans, County Galway), then London
- Oscar
- Best Supporting Actress for Prizzi’s Honor (1985), at the 1986 ceremony
- Married
- The sculptor Robert Graham, from 1992 until his death in 2008
- Books
- Two memoirs, 2013 and 2014
The red mark is 2013: A Story Lately Told, her first memoir.
How Anjelica Huston Writes: Two Halves of One Life
Huston split her life story in two and published the halves a year apart. The break is geographical as much as chronological: the first book is set in Ireland, London and New York, the second in Los Angeles.
Both are first-person memoirs. Her father is a presence in both books, first in her Irish childhood, later as the director of Prizzi’s Honor, the film that won her an Oscar.
The second book is the more candid about her private life, from Jack Nicholson to other romances she confirms in it. For more memoirs by actors and musicians, see the reading list of the best celebrity memoirs; for a memoir of a young woman finding her way in New York, see Patti Smith.
Watch
Anjelica Huston on her memoir
Anjelica Huston talks with Mitch Glazer at Live Talks Los Angeles in 2014, on the release of her memoir.
Frequently asked questions about Anjelica Huston’s books
How many books has Anjelica Huston written?
Two: A Story Lately Told (2013) and Watch Me (2014). Both are memoirs.
What are Anjelica Huston’s books in order?
A Story Lately Told: Coming of Age in Ireland, London, and New York (2013), then Watch Me: A Memoir (2014).
Where should I start with Anjelica Huston?
With A Story Lately Told. It covers her childhood and youth, and Watch Me continues from where it ends.
What is Anjelica Huston’s most famous book?
A Story Lately Told (2013), her first memoir, about growing up as John Huston’s daughter in Ireland and starting out in London and New York.
Does Watch Me cover Jack Nicholson?
Yes. Watch Me covers her on-and-off relationship with Jack Nicholson, which lasted from 1973 to 1990, alongside her film career.
Did Anjelica Huston write her memoirs herself?
Both books are credited to Anjelica Huston alone, with no co-writer named.
Is A Story Lately Told worth reading if you’re not a fan?
Most of it takes place before she was famous, in Ireland, London and New York, so it reads as a coming-of-age memoir rather than a film-star book.
Does Anjelica Huston write about her father, John Huston?
Yes, in both books. He is part of her childhood in Ireland in A Story Lately Told, and Watch Me covers Prizzi’s Honor, which he directed.
Footnotes
- Anjelica Huston — Wikipedia
- A Story Lately Told — Simon & Schuster
- For Anjelica Huston, the story starts long before Los Angeles — NPR via KPBS
- Watch Me — Kirkus Reviews
- Anjelica Huston on Watch Me — Interview Magazine
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
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