A memoir, as a literary genre, forms a sub-class of autobiography. Memoirs may appear less structured and less all-encompassing than formal autobiographical works. They are often about part of a life, and often a public part of one's life, rather than one's whole life, from youth to old age.

Memoirs are commonly written by political and military leaders.

Famous authors of memoirs

• Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon
• Ulysses S. Grant
• Arthur Ashe