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Best Nonfiction of 2012: Biography (page 2)

Cover art for HELLO, GORGEOUS
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 9, 2012
Kirkus Star HELLO, GORGEOUS: BECOMING BARBRA STREISAND
by William J. Mann
"Even though we know the answers to most of the questions--Will our heroine win the coveted role of Fanny Brice in Funny Girl? Will she live happily ever after with her Prince Charming, Elliott Gould?--this book makes getting to them a treat."
Hollywood chronicler Mann (How to Be a Movie Star: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood, 2010, etc.) divulges the blood, sweat and tears that propelled a diva's rise to stardom. Read full book review >
Cover art for MAO
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012
Kirkus Star MAO: THE REAL STORY
by Alexander V. Pantsov, Steven I. Levine
"The Great Helmsman fully fleshed, still complicated and ever provocative."
A comprehensive, authoritative new study that challenges the received wisdom regarding Mao's relationship with Stalin and the Soviet Union. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE LAST VIKING
NONFICTION
Released: Sept. 25, 2012
Kirkus Star THE LAST VIKING: THE LIFE OF ROALD AMUNDSEN
by Stephen R. Bown
"A superb biography of a fiercely driven explorer who traveled across the last inaccessible areas on earth before technical advances made the journey much easier."
Bown (1494: How a Family Feud in Medieval Spain Divided the World in Half, 2012, etc.) delivers an intensely researched, thoroughly enjoyable life of one of history's best explorers. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE VOICE IS ALL
NONFICTION
Released: Sept. 18, 2012
Kirkus Star THE VOICE IS ALL: THE LONELY VICTORY OF JACK KEROUAC
by Joyce Johnson
"A triumph of scholarship."
An exemplary biography of the Beat icon and his development as a writer. Read full book review >
Cover art for I'M YOUR MAN
NONFICTION
Released: Sept. 11, 2012
Kirkus Star I'M YOUR MAN: THE LIFE OF LEONARD COHEN
by Sylvie Simmons
"Taking on a looming subject with intelligence and wit, Simmons manages to take the full measure of her man."
An elegant, deeply researched life of the Canadian musician, poet and novelist. Read full book review >
Cover art for ON A FARTHER SHORE
NONFICTION
Released: Sept. 4, 2012
Kirkus Star ON A FARTHER SHORE: THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF RACHEL CARSON
by William Souder
"A poignant, galvanizing, meaningful tribute."
Fifty years after the publication of Rachel Carson's seminal Silent Spring, Pulitzer Prize nominee Souder (Under a Wild Sky: John James Audubon and the Making of The Birds of America, 2004, etc.) examines the legacy and lasting impact of Carson's passionate environmental work. Read full book review >