It seems as if good biographies are usually written posthumously.
By good, I mean honest and comprehensive--no whitewashing.
Steve Jobs' biography is one of the few recent exceptions.
I wonder if biographers are too fearful of litigation to write tell-all books while the subjects are still alive.
That could be it. It could also have to do with waiting until their legacy has been completed.
“the sense of being which in calm hours arises, we know not how, in the soul, is not diverse from things, from space, from light, from time, from man, but one with them and proceeds obviously from the same source.... Here is the fountain of action and of thought....
Especially when faced with the present trend of releasing a biography at age about 27.
Go to work, get married, have some kids, pay your taxes, pay your bills, watch your tv, follow fashion, act normal, obey the law and repeat after me: "I am free."
Anon
Or younger. Private Eye recently carried an entirely scathing review of not one but a series of recently released biographies dealing with some pretty-boy pop icon who looked about 12. I'm amazed that rubbish like that even has a market.Originally Posted by The Atheist
"I should only believe in a God that would know how to dance. And when I saw my devil, I found him serious, thorough, profound, solemn: he was the spirit of gravity- through him all things fall. Not by wrath, but by laughter, do we slay. Come, let us slay the spirit of gravity!" - Nietzsche
I think Jobs could not write his biography because it was obvious the victor was Gates.
Are you really that amazed? :P
“the sense of being which in calm hours arises, we know not how, in the soul, is not diverse from things, from space, from light, from time, from man, but one with them and proceeds obviously from the same source.... Here is the fountain of action and of thought....
You make an interesting point.
Perhaps the biographer wants the subject to live out his life--so that she can have more material to work with and more to write about.
Last edited by astrum; 05-18-2013 at 08:15 PM.
that, and is it rude to publish a biography about someone who is still alive? isn't that a "you're pretty much done, so it's about time i wrote a book about you," stab in the face?
“the sense of being which in calm hours arises, we know not how, in the soul, is not diverse from things, from space, from light, from time, from man, but one with them and proceeds obviously from the same source.... Here is the fountain of action and of thought....
That's almost right, shown by the barely-past-children whose biographies are published because they will be complete unknowns in 20,30 and 40 years' time.
Go to work, get married, have some kids, pay your taxes, pay your bills, watch your tv, follow fashion, act normal, obey the law and repeat after me: "I am free."
Anon
might as well, in that case.
“the sense of being which in calm hours arises, we know not how, in the soul, is not diverse from things, from space, from light, from time, from man, but one with them and proceeds obviously from the same source.... Here is the fountain of action and of thought....
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