# List of non-fiction works made into feature films

This is a list of nonfiction works that have been made into feature films. The title of the work is followed by the work's author, the title of the film, and the year of the film. If a film has an alternate title based on geographical distribution, the title listed will be that of the widest distribution area.
The list does not include documentary films that are based on real events and people which are not based chiefly on a written work. For other documentary film categories, see documentaries.

## Books

| Non-fiction work(s) | Film adaptation(s) |
| 13 Hours (2014), Mitchell Zuckoff | 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016) |
| The Accidental Billionaires (2009), Ben Mezrich | The Social Network (2010) |
| Across the Wide Missouri (1947), Bernard DeVoto | Across the Wide Missouri (1951) |
| Air America (1985), Christopher Robbins | Air America (1990) |
| Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors (1974), Piers Paul Read | Alive: The Miracle of the Andes (1993) |
| All the President's Men (1974), Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein | All the President's Men (1976) |
| American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer (2005), Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin | Oppenheimer (2023) |
| An Anthropologist on Mars (1995), Oliver Sacks | At First Sight (1999) |
| An Anthropologist on Mars (1995), Oliver Sacks | The Music Never Stopped (2011) |
| And the Band Played On (1987), Randy Shilts | And the Band Played On (1993) |
| Awakenings (1973), Oliver Sacks | Awakenings (1990) |
| The Big Short (2010), Michael Lewis | The Big Short (2015) |
| Black Hawk Down (1999), Mark Bowden | Black Hawk Down (2001) |
| A Brief History of Time (1988), Stephen Hawking | A Brief History of Time (1991) |
| Bringing Down the House (2003), Ben Mezrich | The Last Casino (2004) |
| Bringing Down the House (2003), Ben Mezrich | 21 (2008) |
| The Broken Seal: "Operation Magic" and the Secret Road to Pearl Harbor (1967), Ladislas Farago | Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) |
| Bully: A True Story of High School Revenge (1998), Jim Schutze | Bully (2001) |
| Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas (1995), Nicholas Pileggi | Casino (1995) |
| Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History (2003), George Crile III | Charlie Wilson's War (2007) |
| A Civil Action (1996), Jonathan Harr | A Civil Action (1998) |
| Class Action: The Story of Lois Jenson and the Landmark Case That Changed Sexual Harassment Law (2002), Clara Bingham and Laura Leedy Gansler | North Country (2005) |
| The Conquest of Space (1949), Chesley Bonestell & Willy Ley | Conquest of Space (1955) |
| The Dam Busters (1951), Paul Brickhill | The Dam Busters (1954) |
| The Day the World Ended (1969), Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts | When Time Ran Out (1980) |
| Dead Man Walking (1993), Sister Helen Prejean | Dead Man Walking (1995) |
| Dispatches (1977), Michael Herr | Apocalypse Now (1979) |
| Dispatches (1977), Michael Herr | Full Metal Jacket (1987) |
| Escape from Alcatraz (1963), J. Campbell Bruce | Escape from Alcatraz (1979) |
| The Execution of Charles Horman: An American Sacrifice (1978), Thomas Hauser | Missing (1982) |
| The Falcon and the Snowman: A True Story of Friendship and Espionage (1979), Robert Lindsey | The Falcon and the Snowman (1985) |
| Fast Food Nation (2001), Eric Schlosser | Fast Food Nation (2006) |
| The Final Days (1976), Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein | The Final Days (1989) |
| Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer (1984), Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine | Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999) (TV) |
| The Flight of Dragons (1979), Peter Dickinson | The Flight of Dragons (1982) (TV) |
| Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence (1996), Doris Pilkington Garimara | Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002) |
| Freeing the Whales (1989), Tom Rose | Big Miracle (2012) |
| The French Connection (1969), Robin Moore | The French Connection (1971) |
| Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team and a Dream (1990), H. G. Bissinger | Friday Night Lights (2004) |
| The Game of Their Lives: The Untold Story of the World Cup's Biggest Upset (1996), Geoffrey Douglas | The Game of Their Lives (2005) |
| The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld (1928), Herbert Asbury | Gangs of New York (2002) |
| The Hindenburg (1972), Michael M. Mooney | The Hindenburg (1975) |
| Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991), David Simon | Homicide: The Movie (2000) (TV) |
| In Cold Blood (1966), Truman Capote | In Cold Blood (1967) |
| Imperial Life in the Emerald City (2006), Rajiv Chandrasekaran | Green Zone (2010) |
| Into the Wild (1996), Jon Krakauer | Into the Wild (2007) |
| Killers of the Flower Moon (2017), David Grann | Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) |
| The Last Days of Patton (1981), Ladislas Farago | The Last Days of Patton (1986) (TV) |
| Lazarus and the Hurricane: The Freeing of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter (1991), Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton | The Hurricane (1999) |
| The Longest Day (1959), Cornelius Ryan | The Longest Day (1962) |
| Lost Moon (1994), Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger | Apollo 13 (1995) |
| The Mars Project (1952), Wernher von Braun | Conquest of Space (1955) |
| The Men Who Stare at Goats (2004), Jon Ronson | The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) |
| Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1994), John Berendt | Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) |
| Moneyball (2003), Michael Lewis | Moneyball (2011) |
| The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History (2007), Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter | The Monuments Men (2014) |
| The Mountain Road (1958), Theodore H. White | The Mountain Road (1961) |
| The Mothman Prophecies (1975), John Keel | The Mothman Prophecies (2002) |
| A Night to Remember (1955), Walter Lord | A Night to Remember (1958) |
| Nomadland (2017), Jessica Bruder | Nomadland (2020) |
| Ondskan (The Evil) (1981), Jan Guillou | Evil (2003) |
| The One That Got Away (1956), Kendall Burt and James Leasor | The One That Got Away (1957) |
| The Onion Field (1973), Joseph Wambaugh | The Onion Field (1979) |
| The Orchid Thief (1998), Susan Orlean | Adaptation. (2002) |
| Patton: Ordeal and Triumph (1963), Ladislas Farago | Patton (1970) |
| The Perfect Storm (1997), Sebastian Junger | The Perfect Storm (2000) |
| Pork Chop Hill: The American Fighting Man in Action, Korea, Spring, 1953 (1956), S. L. A. Marshall | Pork Chop Hill (1959) |
| Prince of the City: The True Story of a Cop Who Knew Too Much (1978), Robert Daley | Prince of the City (1981) |
| The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist (2009), Matt Baglio | The Rite (2011) |
| The Saga of Billy the Kid (1925), Walter Noble Burns | Billy the Kid (1930) |
| The Saga of Billy the Kid (1925), Walter Noble Burns | Billy the Kid (1941) |
| The Saga of Billy the Kid (1925), Walter Noble Burns | The Outlaw (1943) |
| The Saga of Billy the Kid (1925), Walter Noble Burns | The Left Handed Gun (1958) |
| The Saga of Billy the Kid (1925), Walter Noble Burns | Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) |
| The Saga of Billy the Kid (1925), Walter Noble Burns | Gore Vidal's Billy the Kid (1989) (TV) |
| The Sea Around Us (1951), Rachel Carson | The Sea Around Us (1953) |
| A Season on the Brink (1986), John Feinstein | A Season on the Brink (2002) |
| The Secret Life of Plants (1973), Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird | The Secret Life of Plants (1979) |
| The Serpent and the Rainbow (1985), Wade Davis | The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988) |
| The Smartest Guys in the Room (2003), Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind | Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) |
| The Story of Mankind (1921), Hendrik Willem van Loon | The Story of Mankind (1957) |
| Storyville, New Orleans (1974), Al Rose | Pretty Baby (1978) |
| Ten Days that Shook the World (1919), John Reed | October: Ten Days That Shook the World (1928) |
| Ten Days that Shook the World (1919), John Reed | Reds (1981) |
| Ten Days that Shook the World (1919), John Reed | Red Bells (1982) |
| Ten Rillington Place (1961), Ludovic Kennedy | 10 Rillington Place (1971) |
| The Three Faces of Eve (1957), Corbett H. Thigpen and Hervey M. Cleckley | The Three Faces of Eve (1957) |
| True Blue: The Oxford Boat Race Mutiny (1987), Daniel Topolski | True Blue (1996) |
| The True Story of Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero, Maxwell Anderson | The Wrong Man (1956) |
| The Turning Point (1982), Fritjof Capra | Mindwalk (1990) |
| Twelve Days of Terror (2001), Richard G. Fernicola | 12 Days of Terror (2004) |
| Voyage of the Damned (1974), Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts | Voyage of the Damned (1976) |
| We Were Soldiers Once... And Young (1992), Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway | We Were Soldiers (2002) |
| Zodiac (1986), Robert Graysmith | Zodiac (2007) |

### Biographies

| Book | Subject | Film adaptation(s) |
| Abbie Hoffman: American Rebel (1982), Marty Jezer | Abbie Hoffman | Steal This Movie! (2000) |
| The Agony and the Ecstasy (1961), Irving Stone | Michelangelo | The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) |
| Aimée & Jaguar. Eine Liebesgeschichte, Berlin 1943 (1994), Erica Fischer | Lilly Wust and Felice Schragenheim | Aimée & Jaguar (1999) |
| Blow: How a Small- Town Boy Made $100 Million With the Medellin Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All (1993), Bruce Porter | George Jung | Blow (2001) |
| Camille Claudel: 1864-1943 (1988), Reine-Marie Paris | Camille Claudel | Camille Claudel (1988) |
| Carve Her Name with Pride (1956), R.J. Minney | Violette Szabo | Carve Her Name with Pride (1958) |
| Chaplin: His Life and Art (1985), David Robinson | Charles Chaplin | Chaplin (1992) |
| Diamond Jim Brady (1933), Parker Morrell | Diamond Jim Brady | Diamond Jim (1935) |
| Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo (1983), Hayden Herrera | Frida Kahlo | Frida (2002) |
| The General (1995), Paul Williams | Martin Cahill | The General (1998) |
| The Great Impostor (1959), Robert Crichton | Ferdinand Waldo Demara | The Great Impostor (1961) |
| The Honest Courtesan (1992), Margaret Rosenthal | Veronica Franco | Dangerous Beauty (1998) |
| Jackson Pollock: An American Saga (1989), Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith | Jackson Pollock | Pollock (2000) |
| Joe Gould's Secret (1965), Joseph Mitchell | Joe Gould | Joe Gould's Secret (2000) |
| Inside Hitler's Bunker (2002), Joachim Fest | Adolf Hitler | Der Untergang (Downfall) (2004) |
| The Life and Times of Cleopatra (1958), by Charles Marie Franzero | Cleopatra | Cleopatra (1963) |
| Magic Fire: The Story of Wagner's Life and Music (1954), Bertita Harding | Richard Wagner | Magic Fire (1954) |
| The Man Who Was Peter Pan (1998 play), Allan Knee | J. M. Barrie | Finding Neverland (2004) |
| Marie Antoinette: The Journey (2001), Antonia Fraser | Marie Antoinette | Marie Antoinette (2006) |
| Our Sunshine (1991), Robert Drewe | Ned Kelly | Ned Kelly (2003) |
| Savage Messiah (1931), H. S. Ede | Henri Gaudier-Brzeska | Savage Messiah (1972) |
| Seabiscuit: An American Legend (1999), Laura Hillenbrand | Seabiscuit | Seabiscuit (2003) |
| Stung: The Incredible Obsession of Brian Molony (2002), Gary Stephen Ross | Brian Molony | Owning Mahowny (2003) |
| Triumph Over Pain (1940), René Fülöp-Miller | William T. G. Morton | The Great Moment (1944) |
| Truman (1992), David McCullough | Harry S. Truman | Truman (1995) |
| Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances, and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career (1997), George Plimpton | Truman Capote | Infamous (2006) |
| Viva Villa! (1933), Edgecumb Pinchon & Odo B. Stade | Pancho Villa | Viva Villa! (1934) |
| Wallace: The Classic Portrait of Alabama Governor George Wallace (1968), Marshall Frady | George Wallace | George Wallace (1997) |
| The White Rabbit (1952), Bruce Marshall | F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas | The White Rabbit (1967) (TV) (mini) |
| The Wild Boy of Aveyron (1802), Jean Marc Gaspard Itard | Victor of Aveyron | The Wild Child (French: L'Enfant Sauvage) (1970) |
| Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi (1984), Bob Woodward | John Belushi | Wired (1989) |
| Wiseguy (1985), Nicholas Pileggi | Henry Hill | Goodfellas (1990) |

### Autobiographies and memoirs

| Book | Film adaptation(s) |
| 84, Charing Cross Road (1970), Helene Hanff | 84 Charing Cross Road (1987) |
| Act One (1959), Moss Hart | Act One (1963) |
| Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall (1971), Spike Milligan | Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall (1972) |
| American Sniper (2012), Chris Kyle | American Sniper (2014) |
| Angela's Ashes (1996), Frank McCourt | Angela's Ashes (1999) |
| Another Bullshit Night in Suck City (2004), Nick Flynn | Being Flynn (2012) |
| The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965), Malcolm X and Alex Haley | Malcolm X (1992) |
| The Basketball Diaries (1978), Jim Carroll | The Basketball Diaries (1995) |
| Before Night Falls (1992), Reinaldo Arenas | Before Night Falls (2000) |
| Belles on Their Toes (1950), Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey | Belles on Their Toes (1952) |
| Between a Rock and a Hard Place (2004), Aron Ralston | 127 Hours (2010) |
| Born on the Fourth of July (1976), Ron Kovic | Born on the Fourth of July (1989) |
| Bound for Glory (1943), Woody Guthrie | Bound for Glory (1976) |
| Bravo Two Zero (1993), Andy McNab | Bravo Two Zero (1999) |
| Breaking the Surface (1996), Greg Louganis | Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story (1997) (TV) |
| Cash: The Autobiography (1997), Johnny Cash | Walk the Line (2005) |
| Castaway (1983), Lucy Irvine | Castaway (1986) |
| Catch Me If You Can (1980), Frank Abagnale | Catch Me If You Can (2002) |
| Cheaper by the Dozen (1948), Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey | Cheaper by the Dozen (1950) |
| Cheaper by the Dozen (1948), Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey | Cheaper by the Dozen (2003) |
| Chopper (1991–2011) (series), Mark Brandon Read | Chopper (2000) |
| Crazy (1999), Benjamin Lebert | Crazy (2000) |
| Day of the Stranger (1989), Novalyne Price Ellis | The Whole Wide World (1996) |
| The Devil's Double (2003), Latif Yahia | The Devil's Double (2011) |
| The Devil's Workshop (Czech: Komando padělatelů) (1983), Adolf Burger | The Counterfeiters (2007) |
| A Diary of A Demonstrator (1983), Soe Hok Gie | Gie (2005) |
| The Diary of a Young Girl (German: Het Achterhuis: Dagboekbrieven van 12 Juni 1942 – 1 Augustus 1944, The Annex: Diary Notes from 12 June 1942 – 1 August 1944) (1947), Anne Frank | The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) |
| The Diary of a Young Girl (German: Het Achterhuis: Dagboekbrieven van 12 Juni 1942 – 1 Augustus 1944, The Annex: Diary Notes from 12 June 1942 – 1 August 1944) (1947), Anne Frank | Diary of Anne Frank (Dutch: Dagboek van Anne Frank) (1962) (TV) |
| The Diary of a Young Girl (German: Het Achterhuis: Dagboekbrieven van 12 Juni 1942 – 1 Augustus 1944, The Annex: Diary Notes from 12 June 1942 – 1 August 1944) (1947), Anne Frank | The Diary of Anne Frank (1967) (TV) |
| The Diary of a Young Girl (German: Het Achterhuis: Dagboekbrieven van 12 Juni 1942 – 1 Augustus 1944, The Annex: Diary Notes from 12 June 1942 – 1 August 1944) (1947), Anne Frank | Anne no Nikki: Anne Frank Monogatari (アンネの日記 アンネ·フランク物語, Anne no nikki: Anne Furanku monogatari) (1979) (TV) |
| The Diary of a Young Girl (German: Het Achterhuis: Dagboekbrieven van 12 Juni 1942 – 1 Augustus 1944, The Annex: Diary Notes from 12 June 1942 – 1 August 1944) (1947), Anne Frank | The Diary of Anne Frank (1980) (TV) |
| The Diary of a Young Girl (German: Het Achterhuis: Dagboekbrieven van 12 Juni 1942 – 1 Augustus 1944, The Annex: Diary Notes from 12 June 1942 – 1 August 1944) (1947), Anne Frank | The Diary of Anne Frank (Dutch: Het dagboek van Anne Frank) (1985) |
| The Diary of a Young Girl (German: Het Achterhuis: Dagboekbrieven van 12 Juni 1942 – 1 Augustus 1944, The Annex: Diary Notes from 12 June 1942 – 1 August 1944) (1947), Anne Frank | Anne no nikki (アンネの日記) (1995) |
| The Diary of a Young Girl (German: Het Achterhuis: Dagboekbrieven van 12 Juni 1942 – 1 Augustus 1944, The Annex: Diary Notes from 12 June 1942 – 1 August 1944) (1947), Anne Frank | Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001) (TV) (mini) |
| The Diary of a Young Girl (German: Het Achterhuis: Dagboekbrieven van 12 Juni 1942 – 1 Augustus 1944, The Annex: Diary Notes from 12 June 1942 – 1 August 1944) (1947), Anne Frank | The Diary of Anne Frank (German: Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank) (2016) |
| The Diary of a Young Girl (German: Het Achterhuis: Dagboekbrieven van 12 Juni 1942 – 1 Augustus 1944, The Annex: Diary Notes from 12 June 1942 – 1 August 1944) (1947), Anne Frank | Where Is Anne Frank (2021) |
| The Disaster Artist (2013), Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell | The Disaster Artist (2017) |
| Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia (1988), Joseph D. Pistone | Donnie Brasco (1997) |
| Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot: The Autobiography of a Dangerous Man (1989), John Callahan | Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot (2018) |
| Elegy for Iris (1999), John Bayley | Iris (2001) |
| Enemy Coast Ahead (1946), Guy Gibson | The Dam Busters (1954) |
| Carandiru Station (Portuguese: Estação Carandiru) (2001), Drauzio Varella | Carandiru (2003) |
| Fair Game (2007), Valerie Plame | Fair Game (2010) |
| Finding Fish (2001), Antwone Quenton Fisher | Antwone Fisher (2002) |
| Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (1990), Ben Carson | Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (2009) (TV) |
| Girl, Interrupted (1993), Susanna Kaysen | Girl, Interrupted (1999) |
| A Gloomy Soliloquy (1946), Olavi Paavolainen | Sign of the Beast (1981) |
| Gorillas in the Mist (1983), Dian Fossey | Gorillas in the Mist (1988) |
| Growing Up Brady: I Was a Teenage Greg (1992), Barry Williams | Growing Up Brady (2000) (TV) |
| Gypsy: A Memoir, Gypsy Rose Lee | Gypsy (1962) |
| Gypsy: A Memoir, Gypsy Rose Lee | Gypsy (1993) (TV) |
| Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman (2005), Jamie Reidy | Love & Other Drugs (2010) |
| Hideous Kinky (1992), Esther Freud | Hideous Kinky (1998) |
| Highest Duty (2009), Sully Sullenberger | Sully (2016) |
| How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2001), Toby Young | How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008) |
| I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang! (1932), Robert Elliott Burns | I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) |
| I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), Maya Angelou | I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1979) (TV) |
| I, Tina (1986), Tina Turner | What's Love Got to Do with It (1993) |
| I Was Hitler Youth Salomon (German: Ich war Hitlerjunge Salomon) (1990), Solomon Perel | Europa Europa (1990) |
| I'll Cry Tomorrow (1954), Lillian Roth | I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955) |
| Iron & Silk (1986), Mark Salzman | Iron & Silk (1990) |
| Jarhead (2003), Anthony Swofford | Jarhead (2005) |
| Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen (2005), Julie Powell | Julie & Julia (2009) |
| Lady Sings the Blues (1956), Billie Holiday | Lady Sings the Blues (1972) |
| The Learning Tree (1964), Gordon Parks | The Learning Tree (1969) |
| Leaving Las Vegas (1990), John O'Brien | Leaving Las Vegas (1995) |
| Life Is Not a Fairy Tale (2005), Fantasia Barrino | Life Is Not a Fairy Tale: The Fantasia Barrino Story (2006) (TV) |
| Listen to the Voices of the Sea (日本戦歿学生の手記　きけ、わだつみの声, Nippon senbotsu gakusei no shuki: Kike wadatsumi no koe) (1949), Elyesa Bazna | Listen to the Voices of the Sea (1950) |
| Live from Baghdad (1991), Robert Wiener | Live from Baghdad (2002) |
| Lone Survivor (2007), Marcus Lutrell | Lone Survivor (2013) |
| The Man-eaters of Tsavo (1907), John Henry Patterson | Bwana Devil (1952) |
| The Man-eaters of Tsavo (1907), John Henry Patterson | The Ghost and the Darkness (1996) |
| Man in Black: His Own Story in His Own Words (1975), Johnny Cash | Walk the Line (2005) |
| Marley & Me (2005), John Grogan | Marley & Me (2008) |
| Midnight Express (1977), Billy Hayes | Midnight Express (1978) |
| A Mighty Heart (2003), Mariane Pearl | A Mighty Heart (2007) |
| Mommie Dearest (1978), Christina Crawford | Mommie Dearest (1981) |
| The Motorcycle Diaries (Spanish: Diarios de motocicleta) (1995), Che Guevara | The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) |
| Mr. Nice (1996), Howard Marks | Mr Nice (2010) |
| Murder, Inc. (1951), Burton Turkus | Murder, Inc. (1960) |
| My Autobiography (1964), Charlie Chaplin | Chaplin (1992) |
| My Dog Skip (1995), Willie Morris | My Dog Skip (2000) |
| My Early Life: A Roving Commission (1930), Winston Churchill | Young Winston (1972) |
| My Father and Myself (1968), J. R. Ackerley | Secret Orchards (1979) |
| My Left Foot (1954), Christy Brown | My Left Foot (1989) |
| My Life in France (2006), Julia Child | Julie & Julia (2009) |
| My Posse Don't Do Homework (1992), LouAnne Johnson | Dangerous Minds (1995) |
| My Week with Marilyn (2000), Colin Clark | My Week with Marilyn (2011) |
| The Naked Civil Servant (1968), Quentin Crisp | The Naked Civil Servant (1975) (TV) |
| Never Cry Wolf (1963), Farley Mowat | Never Cry Wolf (1983) |
| Nine and a Half Weeks: A Memoir of a Love Affair (1978), Elizabeth McNeill | 9½ Weeks (1986) |
| One Who Walked Alone (1986), Novalyne Price Ellis | same as above |
| Operation Cicero (German: Der Fall Cicero) (1950), Ludwig Carl Moyzisch | 5 Fingers (1952) |
| Our Cancer Year (1994), Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner | American Splendor (2003) |
| Out of Africa (1937), Karen Blixen | Out of Africa (1985) |
| Papillon (1969), Henri Charrière | Papillon (1973) |
| Papillon (1969), Henri Charrière | Papillon (2017) |
| Permanent Midnight (1995), Jerry Stahl | Permanent Midnight (1998) |
| The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy (1981), Elizabeth Kendall | Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019) |
| The Pianist (1946), Władysław Szpilman | The Pianist (2002) |
| Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1957), Jean Kerr | Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960) |
| Pour en finir avec Octobre (1982), Francis Simard | Octobre (1994) |
| Prisoners are People (1952), Kenyon J. Scudder | Unchained (1955) |
| Private Parts (1993), Howard Stern | Private Parts (1997) |
| Proved Innocent: The Story of Gerry Conlon of the Guildford Four (1990), Gerry Conlon | In the Name of the Father (1993) |
| Prozac Nation (1994), Elizabeth Wurtzel | Prozac Nation (2001) |
| Raging Bull: My Story, Jake LaMotta | Raging Bull (1980) |
| Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bülow Case (1985), Alan Dershowitz | Reversal of Fortune (1990) |
| Riding in Cars with Boys (1992), Beverly D'Onofrio | Riding in Cars with Boys (2001) |
| Rocket Boys (1998), Homer Hickam | October Sky (1999) |
| Rogue Trader: How I Brought Down Barings Bank and Shook the Financial World (1995), Nick Leeson | Rogue Trader (1999) |
| A Rumor of War (1977), Philip Caputo | A Rumor of War (1980) (TV) (mini) |
| Running with Scissors (2002), Augusten Burroughs | Running with Scissors (2006) |
| See No Evil (2003), Robert Baer | Syriana (2005) |
| Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1926), T. E. Lawrence | Lawrence of Arabia (1962) |
| Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1926), T. E. Lawrence | A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia (1990) |
| Seven Years in Tibet (German: Sieben Jahre in Tibet. Mein Leben am Hofe des Dalai Lama) (1952), Heinrich Harrer | Seven Years in Tibet (1997) |
| Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda (2003), Roméo Dallaire | Shake Hands with the Devil (2007) |
| The Short-Timers (1979), Gustav Hasford | Full Metal Jacket (1987) |
| The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music (2008), Steve Lopez | The Soloist (2009) |
| Somebody Up There Likes Me (1955), Rocky Graziano | Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) |
| The Story of My Life (1903), Helen Keller | The Miracle Worker (1962) |
| The Story of My Life (1903), Helen Keller | The Miracle Worker (1979) (TV) |
| The Story of My Life (1903), Helen Keller | Helen Keller Monogatari: Ai to Hikari no Tenshi (ヘレン·ケラー物語 愛と光の天使) (1981) (TV) |
| The Story of My Life (1903), Helen Keller | The Miracle Worker (2000) (TV) |
| The Story of My Life (1903), Helen Keller | Black (2005) |
| Soul Surfer (2004), Bethany Hamilton | Soul Surfer (2011) |
| The Story of the Trapp Family Singers (1949), Maria von Trapp | The Trapp Family (German: Die Trapp-Familie) (1956) |
| The Story of the Trapp Family Singers (1949), Maria von Trapp | The Trapp Family in America (German: Die Trapp-Familie in Amerika) (1958) |
| The Story of the Trapp Family Singers (1949), Maria von Trapp | The Sound of Music (1965) |
| The Strawberry Statement (1969), James Simon Kunen | The Strawberry Statement (1970) |
| A Tale of Love and Darkness (2002), Amos Oz | A Tale of Love and Darkness (2012) |
| The Taliban Shuffle (2011), Kim Barker | Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016) |
| A Taste of My Own Medicine (1988), Edward Rosenbaum | The Doctor (1991) |
| Then They Came for Me (2011), Maziar Bahari | Rosewater (2014) |
| To America with Love (1976), Abbie Hoffman | Steal This Movie! (2000) |
| Touching the Void (1988), Joe Simpson | Touching the Void (2003) |
| Truth and Duty: The Press, the President and the Privilege of Power (2005), Mary Mapes | Truth (2015) |
| Tuesdays with Morrie (1997), Mitch Albom | Tuesdays with Morrie (1999) |
| Twelve Years a Slave (1853), Solomon Northup | Solomon Northup's Odyssey (1984) (TV) |
| Twelve Years a Slave (1853), Solomon Northup | 12 Years a Slave (2013) |
| UFO Crash at Roswell (1991), Kevin D. Randle and Donald R. Schmitt | Roswell (1994) |
| Under the Tuscan Sun (1996), Frances Mayes | Under the Tuscan Sun (2003) |
| The Walton Experience (1978), Travis Walton | Fire in the Sky (1993) |
| Wild (2012), Cheryl Strayed | Wild (2014) |
| The Wolf of Wall Street (2007), Jordan Belfort | The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) |
| Yes Man (2005), Danny Wallace | Yes Man (2008) |

### Manuals and self-help books

| Book | Film adaptation(s) |
| Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man (2009), Steve Harvey | Think Like a Man (2012) |
| Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man (2009), Steve Harvey | Think Like a Man Too (2014) |
| Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1969), David Reuben | Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972) |
| He's Just Not That Into You (2004), Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo | He's Just Not That Into You (2009) |
| The Joy of Sex (1972), Alex Comfort | Joy of Sex (1984) |
| Life Begins at Forty (1932), Walter B. Pitkin | Life Begins at 40 (1935) |
| Queen Bees and Wannabes (2002), Rosalind Wiseman | Mean Girls (2004) |
| Queen Bees and Wannabes (2002), Rosalind Wiseman | Mean Girls 2 (2011) (TV) |
| Queen Bees and Wannabes (2002), Rosalind Wiseman | Mean Girls (2024) |
| The Secret (2006), Rhonda Byrne | The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020) |
| Sex and the Single Girl (1962), Helen Gurley Brown | Sex and the Single Girl (1964) |
| What to Expect When You're Expecting (1984), Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel | What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012) |

## Essays and articles

| Essay/article | Film adaptation(s) |
| "Adventures in the Ransom Trade", William Prochnau, Vanity Fair | Proof of Life (2000) |
| "The Allman Brothers Story", Cameron Crowe and Faybeth Diamond, Rolling Stone, 6 December 1973 | Almost Famous (2000) |
| "The Ballad of the Urban Cowboy: America's Search for True Grit", Aaron Latham, Esquire, 1978 | Urban Cowboy (1980) |
| "Biker Boyz", Michael Gougis, New Times LA, April 2000 | Biker Boyz (2003) |
| "The boys in the bank: A fouled-up holdup moves step by step from threats to farce to violence", P. F. Kluge and Thomas Moore, Life, 22 September 1972 | Dog Day Afternoon (1975) |
| "A Butler Well Served by This Election", Wil Haygood, The Washington Post, 2008 | The Butler (2013) |
| "The Death and Life of Dith Pran", Sydney Schanberg, The New York Times Magazine, 20 January 1980 | The Killing Fields (1984) |
| Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson, based on two-part series in Rolling Stone, 1971 | Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1997) |
| "The Flash of Genius", John Seabrook, The New Yorker, 1993 | Flash of Genius (2008) |
| "The Great Escape: How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran", Joshuah Bearman, Wired, 2007 | Argo (2012) |
| "Jerry and Marge Go Large", Jason Fagone, The Huffington Post, 2018 | Jerry & Marge Go Large (2022) |
| "Life's Swell", Susan Orlean, Outside, 1998 | Blue Crush (2002) |
| "The Man Who Knew Too Much", Marie Brenner, Vanity Fair, 1996 | The Insider (1999) |
| "Mark of a Murderer", Mike McAlary, Esquire, 1997 | City by the Sea (2002) |
| "The Muse of the Coyote Ugly", Elizabeth Gilbert, GQ, March 1997 | Coyote Ugly (2000) |
| "Nazi Spies in America", Leon G. Turrou, New York Post, 5 December 1938 – 4 January 1939 | Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) |
| "Racer X", Ken Li, Vibe, 1998 | The Fast and the Furious (2001) |
| "Shattered Glass", Buzz Bissinger, Vanity Fair, 1998 | Shattered Glass (2003) |
| "Someone to Lean On", Gary Smith, Sports Illustrated, 16 December 1996 | Radio (2003) |
| "Something's Got To Give", Darcy Frey, The New York Times Magazine | Pushing Tin (1999) |
| "To See and Not See", Oliver Sacks | At First Sight (1999) |
| Tora! Tora! Tora!, Gordon W. Prange, Reader's Digest, October–November 1963 | Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) |
| "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night", Nik Cohn, New York, 1976 | Saturday Night Fever (1977) |
| "The Worst Marriage in Georgetown", Franklin Foer, The New York Times Magazine, 6 July 2012 | Georgetown (2019) |