Max: A Biography

by David Cecil

Max,: A Biography

507 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

Reviews

[Edward Champion · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a woefully obnoxious biography from the dude who gave us the terrific two volume bio on Lord Melbourne. It appears that Max Beerbohm's estate sought out Cecil to apply his contextual prowess to the great satirist and illustrator. But Cecil seems to have took the money and run, padding out his volume with ridiculously long excerpts of Max's letters (which are, of course, quite readable) while dismissing the many women in his life like the sexist Tory pig that Cecil is and even dissing my boy Oscar Wilde as a third-rate writer. In 1965. And while I understand that most biographers tend to fawn like a desperate sycophant before their subjects, Cecil's incessant flattery of Beerbohm reads almost like accidental satire at times. So we turn to this volume for Beerbohm's delicious illustrations and letters. But the cadences of Beerbohm's life seem to elude Cecil and are often dismissed and poorly rendered. Although there are some interesting run-ins with Edmund Gosse and Henry James (who surprisingly had a relatively decent sense of humor about being satirized, even though we all know he was a hopeless stiff).

[David]

This is not so much a biography as it is a fond memoir. Max Beerbohm wanted David Cecil to write his life. Cecil has done more than justice to Beerbohm’s story. He has quoted frequently from Beerbohm’s works—his letters, speeches, BBC talks, and even included reproductions of his drawings. It is a book which moves at a leisurely pace, lingering occasionally over exquisite details, and, one feels, it captures Beerbohm in a way of which he would have approved. I first noticed this book nearly 30 years ago on the shelf of one of my friends. When that friend died in 2010, he left me all his books. I am glad that I have, after nearly 30 years, finally read this one.

[D.M. Dutcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a superb biography of an exceedingly slight man.

Max Beerbohm is mostly known for his caricatures of famous men, and some light essays and fictions. The man himself however was connected to famous person after famous person; Chesterton, Shaw, Wilde, etc. As a boy he was an ironic dandy who fell in with Oscar Wilde and his transgressive crowd. He matured into a genteel curmudgeon. But for all his life he had a talent for making friends, and the book is as much about them and his times as Beerbohm himself.

It's exhaustive in detail, but sometimes too fawning. Beerbohm doesn't come across as likable as the author seems to think, and one wonders why so many people fell under his spell. His life wasn't all that interesting either; his main goals were leisure and doing light essays and caricatures. But the book succeeds in making a portrait of him as a denizen of the english gentlemanly class, warts and all.

[Jim Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Max Beerbohm was at the center of the Decadent Movement in 1890’s London, and yet he was not of it, despite his dandyish appearance and friendships with Wilde, Beardsley and Lord Douglas. He was more of an observer and his caricatures became famous for capturing the person behind the mask. He was an enigma, one that even this biographer is never quite able to figure out. Basically self-contained, he was a man who struggled to form real romantic attachments (as opposed to “falling in love” with a string of actresses he barely knew). He remained famous, even after finally finding love and moving to Italy in the early 1900’s with his art shows and novel Zuleika Dobson which spoofed the aesthetic Oxford of his youth. He also was the last man standing of the decadent generation—living up into the early 1950’s, still as witty and elegant as in his heyday. This bio is adequate but overly reliant on Max’s letter (as witty as they often are) and does go on longer than really needed.

[Peter Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who remembers Max Beerbohm now?This is a detailed biography of an Edwardian figure,famous for his caricatures of politicians,writers and famous people in late Victorian and Edwardian times;his essays and a couple of novels.It’s a beautifully written book about a major talent of his time but now largely forgotten.The skill of the writing kept me interested even when I wondered if I should spend time on a figure of only marginal importance now.I enjoyed his interactions with and comments on Oscar Wilde,GB Shaw,Arnold Bennett and Frank Harris.He lived a generally quiet life yet Cecil has written a fine biography which never flags.

[Andy Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Max Beerbohm was an artist and a social personality of the Edwardian era. His output was amusing and whimsical, yet seems unimportant today. Yet Max emerges from David Cecil's thumping biography as a man of great wit and charm who would have carved his niche in any age, including our own.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderfully written biography this is! Max Beerbohm was among the most interesting characters in the late 1900s to his death in the middle 20th century; he knew Oscar Wilde, Will Rothenstein, and other members of Wilde's crowd personally, and drew caricatures of them all. As his life progressed Max became well-known for his caricatures of politicians, authors, artists, and society figures that captured their characteristics, both in features and in personality.

Lord David Cecil has written this biography with great care. Stylistically his writing is clear and concise and yet retains the reader's interest; he keeps us fascinated with the details of Max's life from childhood forward. Many public figures are revealed as time goes on, and Max's relationships with them grows and changes. And through these relationships Max's own character becomes more clear. Cecil was at a disadvantage in writing this biography because Max kept no diaries, and destroyed most of the letters written to him by friends. His first wife, Florence, is portrayed in a way that we feel we know her well. In his 80s, close to death, he married a younger woman after Florence's death - Elisabeth Jungmann. Elisabeth had stepped into Max's life and become his caregiver in his old age; he married her to ensure that she would inherit his estate. He and Florence had produced no heirs.

For a look at the life of a talented and fascinating personality you can't beat this book. With its detailed portraits of Max's friends and the descriptions of the events of the times, Lord David Cecil's biography is among the best.