[Biography: A User's Guide] [Author: Rollyson, Carl] [July, 2008]

by Carl Rollyson, Unknown Author

Carl Rollyson's 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 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.

Genres: Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published May 9, 2008

About the author

Carl Rollyson, Professor of Journalism at Baruch College, The City University of New York, has published more than forty books ranging in subject matter from biographies of Marilyn Monroe, Lillian Hellman, Martha Gellhorn, Norman Mailer, Rebecca West, Susan Sontag, and Jill Craigie to studies of American culture, genealogy, children’s biography, film, and literary criticism. He has authored more than 500 articles on American and European literature and history. His work has been reviewed in newspapers such as The New York Times and the London Sunday Telegraph and in journals such as American Literature and the Dictionary of Literary Biography. For four years (2003-2007) he wrote a weekly column, "On Biography," for The New York Sun and was President of the Rebecca West Society (2003-2007). His play, THAT WOMAN: REBECCA WEST REMEMBERS, has been produced at Theatresource in New York City. Rollyson is currently researching a biography of Amy Lowell (awarded a "We the People" NEH grant). "Hollywood Enigma: Dana Andrews, a biography of Dana Andrews is forthcoming in September from University Press of Mississippi. His biography, "American Isis: The Life and Death of Sylvia Plath" will be published in February 2013, the fiftieth anniversary of her death. His reviews of biography appear regularly in The Wall Street Journal, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, The Raleigh News & Observer, The Kansas City Star, and The New Criterion. He is currently advisory editor for the Hollywood Legends series published by the University Press of Mississippi. He welcomes queries from those interested in contributing to the series. Read his column, "Biographology," that appears every two weeks at bibliobuffet.com

Reviews

[Anson Cassel Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

The prospective reader needs to read the introduction. Rollyson there explains that his purpose has been to write a “quirky encyclopedia” whose topic headings are “arbitrary,” that reflects his personal “tastes and biases,” and that includes his own recycled book reviews. The author suggests that for “a truly random, serendipitous experience, just begin reading alphabetically.” But he’s also more than accommodating: “Read a line or two, and if it palls, move on to the next item. There is no need to suffer a boring moment and no need to consider the author’s feelings.”

I took the author at his word and moved through his compilation in one evening, sampling (or not) such topics as “Appearances,” “Empathy,” “Freud,” “Hagiography,” “Letters,” “Libel,” “Obituaries,” “Privacy,” “Sales,” “Suetonius,” and “Woolf, Virginia.” The book is fun; but in areas with which I was already familiar, I didn’t find it especially accurate or enlightening. For instance, Rollyson claims that Edmund Gosse is best known for his Life of Philip Henry Gosse (1890), rather than for his memoir, Father and Son (1907); and Rollyson seems not to know that Ann Thwaite, the biographer of both Gosses, has demonstrated the faultiness of the younger Gosse’s recollections.

The most interesting section of the book for me was one that Rollyson himself called unique: “Biographers in Fiction,” a description of 37 novelistic treatments of biographers and biographies. So, accept the book for what it is, an enjoyable assortment in which to dip at pleasure.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a few books by Rollyson, so there's really nothing new for me here. His format at first draws you in, but at points it is easy to grow weary of it, to the point I found myself skipping entries because of it. Some of the entries were of interest (especially to Rollyson, who writes numerous pages on subjects he obviously likes, but brief entries on everything else), but many were not. I gave this four stars because of the detailed entries, but refused to go five because too much of it was dull.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rollyson is an academic and the author of many biographies. The book discusses different issues around biographies and the pitfalls in writing and reading them. Include critiques of various biographies. He's really big on Boswell: "the best"!

Four years later, I don't remember much about this book. I assume I finished it; I would have said I didn't in my notes.

[Patrik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked Rollyson's approach of this book. A great book if you need some specific information about biography quickly.