THE NATURE OF BIOGRAPHY

by John A. Garraty ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

The biographer of Woodrow Wilson and Henry Cabot Lodge in biographizing his own craft, goes far beyond its history, mechanics and psychological problems. These are decidedly constituent features, but the ""life"" of biography proceeds into the question of what knowing and communicating about a person basically means, basically entails. What is another person- so far as research, intuition, judgment, stylistic force, dramatic sense may reveal and convey? As a well-contrived account of this form, touching upon everything from Plutarch's use of anecdote to Freeman's prodigious research into the environment of Washington, on the biographer's typical distortion of facts to the psychoanalytic method, this analysis offers a literary feast. But in dealing with the overriding question of understanding a man and expressing such an understanding, in dealing with the inherent significance of biography, it is important as well as immediately entertaining reading.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1957

Categories: NONFICTION