Biography: A User's Guide

by Carl Rollyson

Overview

Carl Rollyson's Biography: A User's Guide is an informative and entertaining text for those interested in biography. No aspect of the genre, from A to Z, goes uncovered: issues around authorized and unauthorized biography, censorship, libel, fair use, public domain (referred to as "PD" by publishers and editors), and a great deal more-including examples drawn from published biographies, as well as general and specific assessments of the biographer's art. Mr. Rollyson demonstrates that biography has more dimensions than are generally gleaned from book reviews and academic discourse. In a lively and provocative style, he argues with other biographers and critics, avoiding the polite and vague tones of many reference books on the subject.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781566637800
Publisher:	Dee, Ivan R. Publisher
Publication date:	03/13/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.34(w) x 9.47(h) x 1.14(d)

About the Author

Carl Rollyson has written biographies of Rebecca West, Norman Mailer, Martha Gellhorn, Lillian Hellman, Marilyn Monroe, and (with Lisa Paddock) Susan Sontag. He lives in Cape May County, New Jersey.

What People are Saying About This

Mary Dearborn

"For biographers, Rollyson has written an absolutely essential guide to compelling biographical issues. But Biography: A User's Guide is also a treat for readers of literature--and anyone who loves good gossip. It's studded with gems of provocative insight and behind-the-scenes stories. Rollyson, a seasoned biographer, makes no secret of his biases or his reputation as a biographical outlaw: the story of his adventures in writing his biography of Susan Sontag is more than worth the price of admission. A fascinating book."--(Mary Dearborn, author of Mistress of Modernism: The Life of Peggy Guggenheim and Mailer: A Biography)

Patricia O'Toole

Carl Rollyson is to biography what Boswell was to Johnson: indispensable. An excellent biographer himself, Rollyson is also the finest critic of the art as well as a thoroughly delightful guide to the pleasures of reading biography and the perils of writing it.

John Heilpern

For anyone mad enough to write a biography, this witty, definitive book is absolutely essential reading. For anyone who merely loves reading biography, it's a smashing insider's guide. Mr. Rollyson is informed and passionate and fun about a subject he knows intimately. He's also unafraid to let his personal opinions show, thank goodness. In short, he's written a wonderfully entertaining biography about the art of biography.

Ann Waldron

"Carl Rollyson knows more about biographies than anyone else in the world. His independent mind, his experience, and his voracious reading have equipped him to produce amazing insights into the reading--and writing--of biographies. A unique book."--(Ann Waldron, author of Eudora: A Writer's Life, The Princeton Imposter, and The Princeton Murders)

Mary S. Millar

"Wide ranging and provocative, Carl Rollyson's guide takes an intrepid journey through the many ramifications of biography--its history, its subjects, its practitioners, and its pitfalls. The section on 'fair use' alone makes his book essential reading for everyone involved in the art of writing lives. Add to those Rollyson's trenchant reviews of biographies new and old, and the guide becomes a master class in the virtues and vices of its subject."--(Mary S. Millar, author of Disraeli's Disciple: The Scandalous Life of George Smythe)

Patricia OToole

"Carl Rollyson is to biography what Boswell was to Johnson: indispensable. An excellent biographer himself, Rollyson is also the finest critic of the art as well as a thoroughly delightful guide to the pleasures of reading biography and the perils of writing it."--(Patricia O'Toole, author of The Five of Hearts: An Intimate Portrait of Henry Adams and His Friends and When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt after the White House)

Marion Meade

"Carl Rollyson's Biography: A User's Guide offers something witty and wonderful for everybody. Readers of biographies will be amazed to get a backstage guided tour of how these books are really produced. Writers of biographies should keep a copy under their pillows."--(Marion Meade, author of Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell Is This? and The Unruly Life of Woody Allen)

Editorial Reviews

With his high-powered and perceptive page-turners on Lillian Hellman, Rebecca West, Martha Gellhorn and Susan Sontag, Carl Rollyson has shown himself to be amongst the very first rank of contemporary biographical practitioners. More than this, however, with Biography: A User's Guide, Rollyson now proves that he is also the genre's foremost and most brilliant anatomist. His new book is typically erudite, mischievous, irresistible, and endlessly stimulating.

Roger Lewis Roger Lewis

Carl Rollyson's Biography: A User's Guide offers something witty and wonderful for everybody. Readers of biographies will be amazed to get a backstage guided tour of how these books are really produced. Writers of biographies should keep a copy under their pillows.

Marion Meade

Rollyson is a lively and opinionated and knowledgeable writer, with much to impart.

The Boston Globe - Sven Birkerts

Carl Rollyson knows more about biographies than anyone else in the world. His independent mind, his experience, and his voracious reading have equipped him to produce amazing insights into the reading—and writing—of biographies. A unique book.

Ann Waldron

Promise(s) to generate discussion in the field.

The Biographer's Craft

Wide ranging and provocative, Carl Rollyson's guide takes an intrepid journey through the many ramifications of biography—its history, its subjects, its practitioners, and its pitfalls. The section on 'fair use' alone makes his book essential reading for everyone involved in the art of writing lives. Add to those Rollyson's trenchant reviews of biographies new and old, and the guide becomes a master class in the virtues and vices of its subject.

Mary S. Millar

Reflections on the biographer's art have become too much the domain of literary critics. It is timely that ground has been recovered with Carl Rollyson's Biography: A User's Guide, written by a practicing biographer who mixes reflection with commentary on the practical and ethical aspects of the craft, and who is not afraid to speak his mind. Here's a book to read and heed whatever one's position on the totem pole.

Doug Munro

For anyone mad enough to write a biography, this witty, definitive book is absolutely essential reading. For anyone who merely loves reading biography, it's a smashing insider's guide. Mr. Rollyson is informed and passionate and fun about a subject he knows intimately. He's also unafraid to let his personal opinions show, thank goodness. In short, he's written a wonderfully entertaining biography about the art of biography.

John Heilpern

For biographers, Rollyson has written an absolutely essential guide to compelling biographical issues. But Biography: A User's Guide is also a treat for readers of literature—and anyone who loves good gossip. It's studded with gems of provocative insight and behind-the-scenes stories. Rollyson, a seasoned biographer, makes no secret of his biases or his reputation as a biographical outlaw: the story of his adventures in writing his biography of Susan Sontag is more than worth the price of admission. A fascinating book.

Mary Dearborn

Carl Rollyson is to biography what Boswell was to Johnson: indispensable. An excellent biographer himself, Rollyson is also the finest critic of the art as well as a thoroughly delightful guide to the pleasures of reading biography and the perils of writing it.

Patricia O'Toole

With his high-powered and perceptive page-turners on Lillian Hellman, Rebecca West, Martha Gellhorn and Susan Sontag, Carl Rollyson has shown himself to be amongst the very first rank of contemporary biographical practitioners. More than this, however, with Biography: A User's Guide, Rollyson now proves that he is also the genre's foremost and most brilliant anatomist. His new book is typically erudite, mischievous, irresistible, and endlessly stimulating.

Roger Lewis

Rollyson is a lively and opinionated and knowledgeable writer, with much to impart.
— Sven Birkerts

The Boston Globe

This book makes a notable contribution to a rare genre—the literature on biography.

The Washington Times

Rollyson is a lively and opinionated and knowledgeable writer, with much to impart.
— Sven Birkerts

Boston Globe

Biographer Rollyson (English, Baruch Coll.; Rebecca West: A Life) provides an unusual mix of expertise and first-person anecdotes in 100 brief essays on various aspects of biography. Organized alphabetically by topic, the essays cover subjects ranging from "fair use" to "living figures" and include such prominent biographers as the late Richard Ellmann. The topical strategy may help readers who think, much like a biographer, in terms of categories, thus suiting Rollyson's work for writers and students. However, the organization also obscures some content, e.g., a detailed examination of John F. Kennedy biographies dominates the essay "Definitive Biography," yet it is only through the index that readers can find linked material on Kennedy. Rollyson maintains an informal writing style even for narrating academic questions, as in the essay "Libel," wherein he discusses legal constraints regarding the use of unpublished material. The popularity of biographies has recently encouraged in-depth discussion about the genre's development in both scholarship and journalism, evident in Nigel Hamilton's Biography: An Annotated Historyand David Burton's Animating History: The Biographical Pulse. An optional purchase for academic and large public libraries.
—Marianne Orme

Library Journal