Autobiography begins with a sense of being alone. It is an orphan form.
Source: Mother, in Three Penny Review (Summer 1986; repr. in Keeping a Rendezvous, 1992).
-- John Berger, (Nov 5 1926-2017), English painter, teacher, art critic; He began his career as a painter and teacher of drawing; became art critic for the Tribune, and New Statesman.