Author Guide · Memoir & Fiction
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Sidney Poitier grew up on Cat Island in the Bahamas, in a family of tomato farmers, and went on to become the first Black man to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, for Lilies of the Field, at the 1964 ceremony. He wrote about that journey twice. This Life (1980) is the straight autobiography; The Measure of a Man (2000) is a reflection on the values that carried him, and his own reading of the audiobook won a Grammy in 2001. In 2007 Oprah Winfrey chose it for her book club. Late in life he also wrote letters to a great-granddaughter and a novel. This guide covers his four key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 4 key books · 1980–2013 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Sidney Poitier wrote four books: This Life (1980), The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (2000), Life Beyond Measure: Letters to My Great-Granddaughter (2008) and the novel Montaro Caine (2013). Start with The Measure of a Man, his best-known book and an Oprah’s Book Club pick.
Where to Start with Sidney Poitier
If you want his best-known book
→ The Measure of a Man (2000) — the values behind the career.
If you want the full life story and the film years
→ This Life (1980) — from Cat Island to Hollywood.
If you want his advice in letter form
→ Life Beyond Measure (2008) — written to a great-granddaughter.
If you want his fiction
→ Montaro Caine (2013).
4 Sidney Poitier Books, in Order
This Life
His first autobiography, published by Knopf, tells his life story from his childhood in the Bahamas to his career in Hollywood.
The Measure of a Man
Published by HarperSanFrancisco, it is less a chronological life story than a reflection on his character and values, which he credits to his parents and his childhood on Cat Island. His recording of the audiobook won the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album in 2001, and in January 2007 Oprah Winfrey chose the book for her book club.
Life Beyond Measure
A series of letters addressed to his great-granddaughter, in which Poitier, then in his eighties, writes about his family, his career and questions of belief, including whether God exists.
Montaro Caine
His only novel, published in 2013, when he was 86.
In What Order to Read Sidney Poitier
The three non-fiction books can be read in any order. This Life is the factual life story, The Measure of a Man covers the same life through the lens of values, and Life Beyond Measure distils it again as letters.
If you want the facts of his career first, start with This Life; if you want the book most readers know, start with The Measure of a Man. Read Montaro Caine last, as a curiosity: it is his only fiction.
A reading path
1. The Measure of a Man (2000)
2. This Life (1980)
3. Life Beyond Measure (2008)
4. Montaro Caine (2013)
The years · 1927–2022
Quick facts about Sidney Poitier
- Known for
- Sidney Poitier is known as the first Black man to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, for Lilies of the Field (1963).
- 1927
- Born in Miami; raised in the Bahamas
- 1964
- Wins the Oscar for Best Actor
- 1980
- This Life
- 2022
- Dies in Beverly Hills, aged 94
- Born
- 20 February 1927, Miami, Florida, while his Bahamian parents were visiting
- Grew up
- Cat Island and Nassau, the Bahamas
- Died
- 6 January 2022, Beverly Hills, California, aged 94
- Oscar
- Best Actor for Lilies of the Field, at the 1964 ceremony
- Grammy
- Best Spoken Word Album, 2001, for The Measure of a Man
- Diplomat
- Bahamian ambassador to Japan, 1997–2007
- Honours
- Honorary KBE (1974); Presidential Medal of Freedom (2009)
The red mark is 2000: The Measure of a Man, his best-known book.
How Sidney Poitier Writes: The Life as a Lesson
Poitier’s books keep returning to the same material, his childhood on Cat Island and his early years in the United States, and use it to ask what shaped him. This Life tells it as events; The Measure of a Man and Life Beyond Measure tell it as lessons.
He writes plainly and in the first person, often moving from a memory to the principle he draws from it. The later books are explicitly addressed to someone else, a reader looking for guidance or, in Life Beyond Measure, his great-granddaughter, which gives them the tone of advice rather than confession.
The novel Montaro Caine is a departure: fiction rather than a story from his own life. For more memoirs by actors who changed what was possible on screen, see the guides to Cicely Tyson and Viola Davis.
Watch
Sidney Poitier in 2013
Sidney Poitier talks to CBS Sunday Morning in a 2013 interview.
Frequently asked questions about Sidney Poitier’s books
How many books did Sidney Poitier write?
Four: three works of non-fiction, This Life (1980), The Measure of a Man (2000) and Life Beyond Measure (2008), and one novel, Montaro Caine (2013).
What are Sidney Poitier’s books in order?
This Life (1980), The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (2000), Life Beyond Measure: Letters to My Great-Granddaughter (2008) and Montaro Caine (2013).
Where should I start with Sidney Poitier?
With The Measure of a Man (2000), his best-known book. If you want the chronological story of his career, read This Life (1980) first.
What is Sidney Poitier’s most famous book?
The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (2000). Its audiobook, read by Poitier, won the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album in 2001, and Oprah Winfrey chose it for her book club in 2007.
Did Sidney Poitier write a novel?
Yes, one: Montaro Caine, published in 2013, when he was 86.
Did Sidney Poitier narrate his own audiobook?
Yes. He read The Measure of a Man himself, and the recording won a Grammy in 2001.
Is The Measure of a Man worth reading if you haven’t seen his films?
It does not depend on the films. Most of the book is about his childhood in the Bahamas, his parents and the values he took from them.
When did Sidney Poitier die?
On 6 January 2022, at his home in Beverly Hills, California, aged 94.
Footnotes
- Sidney Poitier — Wikipedia
- The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography — Wikipedia
- Oprah Picks Poitier — The New York Sun
- Sidney Poitier — Grammy.com
- Montaro Caine by Sidney Poitier — Janklow & Nesbit
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.
“The question of God, the existence or nonexistence, is a perennial question, because we don’t know.”
— Sidney Poitier, Life Beyond Measure: Letters to My Great-Granddaughter (2008)
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