Author Helen Fielding's late-'90s everywoman was a London-dwelling hot mess prone to girdle mishaps. Fielding constructed her novel from diary entries detailing Bridget's wildly wobbling weight, alcohol intake, cigarettes smoked and insecure sexual daydreams. But an acerbic wit always slipped out between bites of chocolate croissant. 

Keith Richards threw down the gauntlet. His raw, compelling 2011 best-seller "Life" lifted the curtain on  the ultimate rock 'n' roll survivor. Now a deluge of rock biographies are telling stories of making it through the 1970s alive while redefining fame.