Comments on: Great biographies?

Question: Great biographies?

pracowity — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 07:14:20 -0800

I want to read great biographies. Which are the best?

I want scholarly biographies with reliable sources and footnotes. I am particular to creative people working in the arts or sciences. I don't much care for generals and kings, though a great biographer could change my mind. I want to learn about what they created, not just about where they lived and who they loved. But above all, I want great writing. If there are several biographies of a person, I want to know which are best.

By: andrew cooke

andrew cooke — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 07:33:47 -0800

pais's subtle is the lord was hailed as an excellent biography of einstein although i found it really hard going (i mention it because it has a very good reputation and addresses the science involved at a professional level so gives you a very good idea of "what they created"; i fact, i should try reading it again).

hodge's alan turing - the enigma a great read and gets the politics right. a brilliant tribute to someone who should be (is, i guess) a geek hero figure. it covers the maths quite well (although nothing like as throroughly as pais covers the physics), but its great strength is portraying a gay genius in a direct, sympathetic manner.

By: Decani

Decani — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 07:40:35 -0800

I don't know whether you'd consider these as meeting your criteria, but this one on Harry Houdini is pretty good, I thought. I also enjoyed Jim Derogatis's "Let It Blurt", on Lester Bangs

By: McGuillicuddy

McGuillicuddy — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 08:10:20 -0800

Aldous Huxley : A Biography by Sybille Bedford is a really good book about one of the greatest writers and thinkers of 20th century. On the same topic, This Timeless Moment: A Personal View of Aldous Huxley by his second wife Laura Archera Huxley is an interesting book too. If you haven't read much Huxley, start with This Timeless Moment. But Bedford's book is more encyclopedic of Aldous' entire life.

Gandhi An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth is a life altering book for almost everyone that reads it.

By: SPrintF

SPrintF — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 08:26:12 -0800

Alan Bullock's Hitler and Stalin, a comparative biography of two of the great dictators of the 20th century.

By: Quartermass

Quartermass — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 08:30:26 -0800

My favorite (mostly because I am a sociologist, and like to read about sociologists) is Max Weber: A Biography, writen by his widow Marianne Weber.

Here is Max's wiki, so you can get your feet wet.

By: carter

carter — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 08:39:33 -0800

I've enjoyed all these:

Sylvia Nasar's biography of mathematician John Nash, "A Beautiful Mind."
Ray Monk's biography of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, "The Duty of Genius."
And another vote for Andrew Hodge's biography of Alan Turing.

I'm on the look-out for a good biography of Edison, if anyone has any recommendations.

By: Captaintripps

Captaintripps — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 08:48:09 -0800

Robert Caro's multi-volume biography of Lyndon Johnson is absolutely fascinating.

My Life as a Radical Lawyer by Bill Kuntsler is not a greatly written work, but it really manages to capture the civil rights struggle from a perspective one doesn't usually read.

I've read three biographies of Vlad the Impaler (all serendipitously) and Radu Florescu's is well-sourced and keeps your attention.

The Forgotten Soldier is not about a general or king, just your common German soldier during World War II. The story is not all that common to read.

While not a standard biography, The Marriage Diaries of Robert & Clara Schumann, from an era where couples kept such things, tend to blow the whole Schumann as loonie idea into proportion.

I'll be honest, Miles by Miles Davis and Quincy Troupe has one source, Miles Davis, and it's not that reliable. However, his embellishments and Troupe's poor editing don't mess up the anecdotes, which are key to any jazzer's life. And there are some great ones, especially Davis and Bird in the back of a taxi.

By: skyboy

skyboy — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 09:00:06 -0800

The Autobiography of Malcolm X (as transcribed by Alex Hailey) was required reading at my high school, with good reason. Though it's practically pop-culture lit now, I'd still highly recommend it.

By: skyboy

skyboy — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 09:06:18 -0800

Oh, and since you expressed an interest in creative figures, here are two highly visual books -- which I consider to be "biographies," but you might disagree:

Tibor Kalman: Perverse Optimist
The Journey is The Destination: the Journals of Dan Eldon

By: elgilito

elgilito — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 09:07:52 -0800

Frida by Hayden Herrera is a good biography of Frida Kahlo and an excellent introduction to her works. There's more about her love life than about her political beliefs but since Frida Kahlo's painting is deeply personal it may not be such a problem.

By: LittleMissCranky

LittleMissCranky — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 09:08:39 -0800

William Manchester's two books on Churchill. Manchester died before completing the last volume, but the first two are well worth reading on their own.

By: Jongo

Jongo — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 09:13:54 -0800

The two I'm going to be working at are:

Blake by Peter Ackroyd
David Cairns' two volume biography of Hector Berlioz

By: nj_subgenius

nj_subgenius — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 09:31:31 -0800

John Adams or Truman, by David McCullough.

By: nj_subgenius

nj_subgenius — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 09:34:12 -0800

...taking under advisement the exceptions to your rule. I'd probably stick with John Adams.

By: pmurray63

pmurray63 — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 09:36:39 -0800

A couple of previous threads on similar topics: 1, 2.

By: forallmankind

forallmankind — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 09:42:20 -0800

Literary Outlaw on William Burroughs is my all time favorite.

This autobiography by Robert Evans, former head of Paramount Pictures, is an inspiring read.

And for complete, unadulterated page-turning awe, try Heroes and Villains, Steven Gaines' extraordinary biography of The Beach Boys - you'll read it again and again....

By: josh

josh — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 10:00:05 -0800

Richard Ellman's biography of Yeats is quite good.

By: Duck_Lips

Duck_Lips — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 10:00:08 -0800

The Power Broker : Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro is an impressively well-researched study of the man who shaped New York City and Twentieth Century America (as an all-powerful unelected official). Caro's biographies of Lyndon Johnson are also excellent. I also enjoyed Peter the Great by Robert Massie. A non-fiction story told better than most historical fiction.

By: altolinguistic

altolinguistic — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 11:06:58 -0800

I'm reading Claire Tomalin's biography of Samuel Pepys, which takes you around and through and past his diaries, and it's fantastic.

By: scody

scody — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 11:14:39 -0800

Ellman's biography of Joyce is also essential.

Not anywhere as definitive, but still quite enjoyable: Stephen Greenblatt's recent bio of Shakespeare, Will in the World (besides being a very engaging read, his bibliographic notes are quite handy), and Frederic Morton's A Nervous Splendor, which is a social history of a specific moment in Viennese history through the prism of the last months of Crown Prince Rudolph (arguably the only "good," modern-thinking Hapsburg) leading up to his suicide.

By: NewGear

NewGear — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 11:38:29 -0800

This isn't as hifalutin' as many of the other suggestions, but I'm a simpleminded pop culture sort of a fellow...

The biography I've enjoyed more than any other is George Burns' book about his wife, Gracie: A Love Story. It's funny, it's romantic, and it's touching. It's a great profile of the comedienne and of show business life during the days of vaudeville and old time radio. I laughed throughout the book, and cried at the end. Highly recommended if you like entertainment biographies, comedy, and a story of true love.

By: jragon

jragon — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 11:49:29 -0800

Gandhi An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth is a life altering book for almost everyone that reads it.

Sure was for me.

By: IndigoJones

IndigoJones — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 12:01:47 -0800

The Forgotten Soldier is not about a general or king, just your common German soldier during World War II. The story is not all that common to read.

Spoiler- some claim this is fiction. Doesn't matter, it's still first rate.

Scholarly and great writing? Hm....

For good writing, try Paul Fussell's The Anti-Egoist a biography about Kingsley Amis. For that matter, read Amis's own memoirs.

A.L. Rowse on William Shakespeare. Wonderful writing, very full of himself. Compare and contrast with Greenblatt

By: ruelle

ruelle — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 12:05:39 -0800

How about something different?

London: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd is stunningly well written and a spellbounding tale of London.
It comes highly recommended.

By: thomas j wise

thomas j wise — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 12:27:18 -0800

While you're reading Richard Ellman on Joyce and Yeats, be sure not to forget his biography of Oscar Wilde. And a second for Claire Tomalin's biography of Pepys, which is a terrific read. I'm a fan of Robert Blake's Disraeli, which was recently reissued in paperback.

By: drezdn

drezdn — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 13:20:14 -0800

I second the Caro bio of Johnson. I picked one up the other day when I was waiting around the hospital, and it kept my attention the whole time despite the fact that 1) I have no interest in Johnson 2) I wasn't alive when he was.

By: CunningLinguist

CunningLinguist — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 14:00:11 -0800

I second the William Manchester bio of Churchill. Not just my favorite biography but among my favorite books.

By: meech

meech — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 17:23:07 -0800

I submit Graham Chapman of Monty Python - A Liars Autobiography although it is neither a biography nor scholarly. But it is the story of a creative man and uniquely written/constructed as well as being the best autobiography I have read. No appreciation of Monty Python required.

By: warbaby

warbaby — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 18:08:29 -0800

Barbara Tuchman has written two lovely biographies:

Stilwell and the American Experience in China: 1911-1945

A Distant Mirror: the calamitous 14th century

Both of these books are history as biography -- and consequently a little richer in context than many biographies. I'm currently reading William Manchester's biography of MacArthur and it's a plod because of too much emphasis on personality and not enough on historical context.

Hodges' biography of Alan Turing is excellent. One of the best biographies I've ever read. Understanding Turing's theory of computability is pretty damn important to understanding what computers can and can't do.

I'm linking the titles to Bookfinder.com the best used book metasearch on the web.

By: tellurian

tellurian — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 18:26:37 -0800

I don't know if you are familiar with any of Patrick White's work but if you are this is the book you need to read - or read it anyway then read some Patrick White.

By: alms

alms — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 18:42:57 -0800

Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda. He's a great storyteller, he meets and describes all kinds of interesting people, plus he gives you a good survey of Hindu metaphysics to boot.

By: LeLiLo

LeLiLo — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 21:24:32 -0800

The classic American theater autobiography is Act One, by Moss Hart.

For literature, At Random, the memoir of Bennett Cerf of Random House.

For music, an amazing book more in my own time frame, Papa John, by John Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas.

By: gsteff

gsteff — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 21:37:06 -0800

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman, which is physicist Richard Feynman's autobiography, is hilarious. Some great stories from inside the Manhattan Project, and his lockpicking adventures are legendary. If you read it, you'll enjoy it- that's a promise.

By: Sonny Jim

Sonny Jim — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 01:35:47 -0800

Brian Boyd's two-volume Vladimir Nabokov (1990-1) is compulsive reading. At least for me. It's probably the most successful treatment of a novelist's life and work that I know of.

By: blueberry

blueberry — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 03:28:00 -0800

I quite enjoyed Katharine Graham's autobiography Personal History. Made me wish I had known her.

By: nancoix

nancoix — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 08:53:39 -0800

If you want to read about the life and works of a true American literary genius, read "Walt Whitman: A Life" by Justin Kaplan. Excellent.

By: pracowity

pracowity — Tue, 12 Apr 2005 06:48:03 -0800

A thousand thanks to everyone.