Frank Lloyd Wright: A Biography

by Meryle Secrest

Meryle Secrest's Frank Lloyd Wright: A Biography focuses on Wright's family history, personal adventures, and colorful friends and family. Secrest had unprecedented access to an archive of over one hundred thousand of Wright's letters, photographs, drawings, and books. She also interviewed surviving devotees, students, and relatives. The result is an explicit portrait of both the genius architect and the provocative con-man.

"Secrest seizes the themes most evocative of certain of our cultural myths, forging them into a coherent and emotionally plausible narrative."—New Republic

"An engaging narrative."—New York Times Book Review

"The real triumph of this biography . . . is the link it makes between Frank Lloyd Wright's personal life and his architecture."—The Economist

"Secrest's achievement is to etch Wright's character in sharp relief. . . . [She] presents Wright in his every guise."-Blair Kamin, Chicago Tribune

"An extremely engaging profile."—The Philadelphia Inquirer

"A spellbinding portrait."—Library Journal

"The best [biography] so far, a huge and definitive accumulation of fact."—Time

Genres: Biography, Architecture, Nonfiction, History, Art, Design, Biography Memoir

652 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Meryle Secrest was born and educated in Bath, England, and lives in Washington, DC. She is the author of twelve biographies and was awarded the 2006 Presidential National Humanities Medal.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I set out to read just one book about F LL Wright to gain knowledge of his career and life. After reading reviews of different books, I decided to go with this straight shooting biography. There are many books about his designs, and we had visited his first home and studio in Oak Park last summer, so I was looking for something to offset that.

I was NOT disappointed. This book, in addition to following the development of his designs and career, also has many of the messier, cruder details, starting with the roots of his family (which gives the book a bit of a slow start), his father the spendthrift itinerant preacher, the overbearing love of his mother, the development of his embattled loner/misunderstood genius aura, his shoestring budgets, the Welsh hatred of the English, the derivative designs and moon-lighting, the early successes, the gathering of wealthy patrons, the theater fire, the flight of fancy, the scandal, the horrible murder, the trips to Japan, the dogged wrath of his third spouse scorned, the hearings and arrests, the opposition to war, and the investigations, but also the roots of his ideas, their development over time, his failures and his brilliant inspirations.

In addition to all of that, the book also describes his difficult interaction with his clients, including the unyielding will of the designer, the last minutes sketches, the leaky roofs, the faulty wiring, inflexible interiors, and, naturally, the budget overruns. And finally you also find the childish jealousies, the scathing insults, the bragadocio, the endless grudges, the begging for money, the blatant manipulations, the impulsive spending, the emotional outbursts, and the ridiculous stunts … But this stuff is not separated by type as I have just done; it is all mixed together following a rough chronological order, as it would be if you were seeing it in real time. All in all, this is a very revealing, very informative, fun read.

[Ray Foote · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was what I think a biography should be - objective and extremely detailed

[David J Gill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meryle Secrest is a good story teller (a talent for narrative not for making things up) and Wright gives her a lot of material to dig into. Sections of this book on Wright's antics are frankly hilarious. But Wright's life is also wrenching, heroic, mesmerizing, profound, impossible to interpret and unbelievable by turns. Some conclude that he was just a horrible person. He had a talent for invective and self invention and could not share the spotlight with anyone, but was more to the man than self interest.

What is the best biography of Wright? Hardcore Wright aficionados, the worshipful ones, don't like this one and despise Brendan Gill's Many Masks which is perhaps loose on facts. Secrest's is a great one as is Robert Twombly's. There is no multi-volume scholarly biography, surprisingly.

The best scholarship/writing on Wright and his work are probably the focused studies like Frank Lloyd Wright and the Art of Japan: The Architects Other Passion by Julia Meech, Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House: Architecture as Portraiture and Fallingwater Rising: Frank Lloyd Wright, E. J. Kaufmann, and America's Most Extraordinary House by Franklin Toker.

[Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a brick, but it is riveting the entire way through. It does one of my least favorite things that biographies do -- that is to give a brief version of the entire life and death of the subject at the outset -- but even that is done very well. Starting with Lloyd Wright's ancestors in Wales, every major personality in this history is fleshed out so that when the relationships are recounted, everyone seems like a real person. This is especially important when it comes to his wives, who could easily be dismissed with cheap psychological assessments, but are given equal validity.

Very well written, impeccably researched.

[Jim · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you are going to add photographs of a world famous architect's work, how about not making them so faded and blurry that they are indecipherable? The author takes great pains to outline the background of every minor and major character in ponderous detail. I found myself skipping over some of it, along with her conjectures about how FLLW felt or behaved based on her own opinion. Also, the book seemed to be very disorganized, mixing eras of his life out of order, using different names for the same people and discussing different projects in eras other than the ones that were relevant. Other than that, the storytelling was acceptable.

[Joshua Corey · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. This biography threaded the needle between thoroughness and readability extremely well. I actually thought the prose become more engaging as the book went on, which is rare in biography. I was happy to see my workplace mentioned in the following key anecdote:

"Henry Sayles Francis...acting director of the Cleveland Museum of Art...recalled having Wright [visit] in the spring of 1932. 'After dinner, Wright went to his bathroom to prepare for his lecture and was gone for some time. Finally he summoned his hostess. He had dropped a bridge of false teeth down the toilet. She arrived, and they peered down together but there was nothing they could do as he had already flushed.'"

[Pat Rolston · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully researched and executed biography capturing the wide range of contradictions that constituted Frank Lloyd Wright’s being. His life is an amalgam of conflicting family dynamics from a fawning overprotective mother to a father who abandoned his wife and children. The author explores Wright’s origins back to Wales and we come to understand the profound impact this heritage has on the life of Wright.

As the family dynamics and ancestry is explored the picture emerges of a young Wright who has been exposed to an amazing range of personalities. I found the author’s time spent tracking the connections intriguing and key to the puzzle of his many contraindications. He is a narcissist boarding on clinical while able to charm most anyone from wives to clients out of seemingly untenable dilemmas.

His iconic architecture and the path to his reputation as a giant of the profession is the heart of the book. The reader will be privy to the story behind the epic creations from Falling Waters to the Johnson and Johnson world headquarters. The backstory to his beloved Taliesin alone is worth the investment of time to read Secrest’s biography of this complex and irascible American icon of architecture.

[Bacongirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this was an excellent biography detailing the life of an architectural genius who was also a self-centered, overbearing person. The book starts a bit slowly with the author laboriously going over FLW's Welsh ancestry and Welsh-influenced background to the point that it's almost painful, but hang in there. After the author is done with that, she does a wonderful job of bringing the architect and his times to life. I found her account absolutely fascinating, and could not put this book down. The size of the book is intimidating, but don't let that put you off. I loved it-- but I didn't love Frank's thoughtlessness, financial stupidity, and arrogance. Even if this wasn't a truly engaging and entertaining book, it would still be worth reading just to learn more about arguably the most influential American architect of all time. I highly recommend this.

[Joan Colby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the definitive Wright biography. Secrist writes well and thoroughly of Wright’s professional and personal life. What struck me is how, due to “Loving Frank” so much is made of Wright’s romance with Mamah Cheney (which was short-lived due to her murder)—even Taliesen offers a “Loving Frank” tour, when his attachments to his first wife Catherine, his second the venomous Miriam Noel and his final to Olgivanna were of greater duration. Olgivanna probably had the strongest effect on Wright’s career and certainly was his helpmeet. Secrist maintains objectivity towards Wright’s mercurial character and doesn’t gloss over his failings any more than she diminishes his accomplishments.

[LINDA · Rating 2 out of 5]

The problem with reading biographies is that, often, you come away with a distaste for the subject. I did not enjoy the style in which this book was written. I felt that the author fell in love with her research and was afraid to omit facts, no matter how marginal they were to understanding Wright. My takeaway was that Frank Lloyd Wright was a arrogant, self-centered, unfaithful and uneducated man who took advantage of friends, acquaintances and aspiring architects. He did not even attend his mother's funeral after she devoted her life to his development. He may have been some kind of "genius" but he seemed to have no moral compass.

[Sasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, I admit I skimmed this book for information about his love life. Anyway, it's very detailed on *all* aspects of his life. Kind of makes me never want to write a biography - so much fact-finding/checking/recording!

[Dana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slow book to read...did learn a lot about FLLW's life's events, but think the author spent too much time on not-so important details. Will compare it to "Many Masks" by Brendan Gill when finished..

[Michael Mccabe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very readable biography. The author did a nice job of finding themes in FLW's upbringing that may have led to some of his peculiar characteristics.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was informative, but it was also wordy and tedious. It was a relief to finish it!

[Margaret Perkins · Rating 1 out of 5]

I decided not to finish this biography because I wasn't in love with the writing and it also bothered me how often the biographer used conjecture to talk about Frank Lloyd Wright's motivations/life events/goals. The book was overwhelmed with detail - from FLW's own autobiography, from letters, from newspapers and other sources - but the biographer still spent a lot of time guessing at what FLW would have done, why he would have done it, what events in his childhood made him behave the way he did, etc. It was disconcerting. I didn't believe any of the guesses or want them; it felt like telling the reader what to believe about the architect rather than letting the historical details speak for themselves.
Also, FLW was apparently pretty egotistical and he had a lot of affairs. That's not the biographer's fault, but it made me a little sad reading about how unhappy, in debt, or chasing unreachable things he constantly seemed to be. I really just wanted a book that explained the philosophies behind his creations and the details of what he built; I'll have to look elsewhere for that.

[Taylor Held · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a lot from this book, and therefore I am glad that I read it. But the author’s writing style made it challenging and at times dull. There were lots of unnecessary details. In some instances the transitions from subject matter were nonexistent, rolling from one topic to the next without even starting a new paragraph. And speaking of, there were pages without a single break in the paragraph…why? And my final critique, the author LOVES to write “the former” or “the latter” rather than just saying the person’s name, and that drove me nuts!

I was hoping to get a better understanding of FLLW’s design processes but this book is centered around his personal life, which is ok because the details of his life provide plenty of drama to unpack!

[Carla T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really hard to read. It took me about a month to digest it in parts. The first part which is very important which explains FLW family history and why he was so headstrong was such a drag to read. Once his career started, then it got easier to read. What an incredible life but he’s such a jerk in so many ways. Clearly he didn’t understand money and would borrow so much from so many. Any Rand completely misunderstood him so I will not connect “The Fountainhead” with FLW anymore. I still love his work.

[ltyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Balanced, well-researched, and detailed account of FLlW’s life. Really appreciate how the author made very clear what was fact, another person’s opinion, or her conjecture about his character or what might have happened. Despite what some reviews here suggest, that conjecture is necessary when writing a biography about someone who has passed, to help fill in the gaps and develop greater insight. And Secrest is in a good position to opine; she has done an extraordinary amount of research. Probably the best biography written about him.

[Anne DiLorenzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well researched biography of a complex man. Genius and narcissist, Wright is a hard person to pigeon hole. Influenced by his Welsh, Unitarian roots but, also a truly controversial modern man. The beginning of this book does drag while Secrest is going into excruciating detail about his Welsh forefathers and his large extended family. This is why I rated this book a 4 instead of a 5. Wright’s life is as fascinating as his architecture.

[SusanwithaGoodBook · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a lot of little bios in other books about FLW's work, but I still had a lot of questions about certain aspects of his life and family, so this was just the ticket. Well written and researched, and very detailed, it answered all my questions and more. Sure, parts of it were a little more than I needed, but overall it was a good read and very informative.

[Kaitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed learning about Frank Lloyd Wright's roots and was tickled to learn he lived in McGregor, Iowa for a short stint. We grew up living and loving the same hills. Heck, maybe some of my family even knew him as they lived only a couple towns away from him in Spring Green. I'll always been impressed with his artistry and love of nature and natural beauty!

[Jim Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mercurial is the word I think describes him.He did it his way.Everyone else was always wrong.Murders,fires,divorces,law suits,constant debt,socialist/communist leanings, never perturbed his genius.He was stubborn,hard headed,jealous,vengeful,and one of the most acclaimed architects of all time

[Cindy Wlazelek · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I learned a lot about the architect as a man (not a nice man), this was a very difficult book to read. Very very long and tedious book, with so very much detail.
I was hoping for a more enjoyable read, even if the topic was a difficult man.
Do not recommend.

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really could go be the book 3.5 stars. Sometimes way too much detail. Was not always presented in chronological order which was a little disconcerting at times. The authors is certainly no David McCullough.

[Balloon Bruce · Rating 1 out of 5]

92 pages in, and I was struggling to go on. Very disorganized, no narrative flow. DNF.

[Ryan Panzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rich and nuanced portrayal of a complicated genius. Highly recommend to anyone from south central Wisconsin.

[Beaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

He is a creep

[Debbie P · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I intended to skim through this tome, it was impossible with each page chock full of astounding and dishy details. Fascinating!

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book about a decade ago after a trip to Taliesen and finally got around to reading it. I don't remember anything about the tour of Taliesen, but it would be interesting to go back after reading this book. This is a very thorough biography of a fairly unlikable man. Wright was self-centered, childish and unfaithful, yet a great artist. Secrest treats her subject objectively, showing the strengths and weaknesses of the man and his architecture. She also does a great job of treating the women in his life as people in their own right -- in fact Secrest treats them better than Frank Lloyd Wright did! However, in describing Wright's life thematically, she sometimes skips around chronologically, leaving me confused about what year the events she was referring to took place. Also, in a book this long and dense, it would have been helpful if, when she mentioned a person that had appeared in a previous chapter, she had given the reader a reminder of who that person was, rather than just referring to him or her by last name. I made good use of the index in trying to figure our who people were! Finally, this book needed a lot more pictures of Wright's work, preferably in color. It was frustrating to read a long description of a beautiful building and not be able to see it. Despite these quibbles, I really did enjoy reading this book.

[Sujitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank Lloyd Wright was an archethect who went to Europe and designed some of the greatest homes ever. His whole life was filled with ups and downs. It all started with his parents divorce and how he never got to see his dad again. Through out Wrights life, he was never the best student at school but, he was very smart. Wright entered the university of Wisconsin were he got a degree for at archetecture. Wright later went to Europe to learn more about archetecture. Here I Learnt that he was deticated to his profession and he loved designing homes and buildings.
After his studies in Europe Wright came back to America to Become a great archetect. And he did! Wright became the the front cover of Archetecture at his time and is rememberd today as one of the best. This was a great book because it talks about every major scene in his life and gives a lot of knowledge about who you are reading about.