Summer Books 2003: Biographies
Books Capture Essence of the Art of Biography Writing

 See Books of Summer 2003

June 30, 2003 -- How do you capture the essence of another person -- their foibles and fears, their motivations, their weaknesses -- in the written word? NPR's Lynn Neary explores the art of writing a good biography. See guests' recommended biographies and listeners' suggestions.

Guests' Suggestions:

» Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith by Andrew Wilson

» Christo and Jeanne-Claude: A Biography by Burt Chernow, Wolfgang Volz

» Karel Capek - Life and Work by Ivan Klima, Norma Comrada (Translator)

» Dvorak in America: In Search of the World by Joseph Horowitz

» Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston by Valerie Boyd

» Isaac Newton by James Gleick

» Benjamin Franklin by Edmund S. Morgan

» John Paul Jones: Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy by Evan Thomas

» Wings of Madness: Alberto Santos-Dumont and the Invention of Flight by Paul Hoffman

» Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? The Carter Family and Their Legacy in American Music by Mark Zwonitzer & Charles Hirshberg

» Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand

» An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963 by Robert Dallek

» John Adams by David McCullough

» The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family by Mary S. Lovell


Listener Suggestions:

» First In His Class: A Biography Of Bill Clinton by David Maraniss

» Benjamin Franklin by Edmund S. Morgan

» The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris

» Dorothy Parker, What Fresh Hell Is This? by Marion Meade

» Old Books, Rare Friends: Two Literary Sleuths and Their Shared Passion by Leona G. Rostenberg, Madeleine B. Stern

» Dorothy Parker, What Fresh Hell Is This? by Marion Meade

» Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy by Jane Leavy

» Koufax by Ed Gruver

» Positively Fourth Street by David Hajdu

» Eleanor of Aquitaine by Marion Meade

» Jane Austen: A Life by Claire Tomalin

» Washington: The Indispensable Man by James Thomas Flexner

» Churchill: A Biography by Roy Jenkins




In Depth

Search for biographies on NPR

Great Americans Who Never Made it to the History Books - Talk of the Nation discussion.

Lost Literary Classics - Talk of the Nation discussion of great but oft-ignored books.

Profile of Mark Zwonitzer's book about the Carter family, Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? The Carter Family and Their Legacy in American Music.


Other Resources

Tattered Cover Bookstore, Denver, Colorado

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