Second Wind Publishing discussion

In theory, I love the idea of reading biographies because I love to delve into the lives of fascinating people. From a writer’s perspective, it’s good research. What I want to know is: what are the best, the most authentic, and the most revealing biographies? Which are must-reads, and what makes them good?

My father shared his love of history with me and my siblings and since I was the youngest, I held on the longest, even to this day some forty years later. My father died two years ago and passed down to me, his library of history books. It is there I discovered David McCullough. Actually, I first saw him on Charlie Rose and wondered if my father had ever read any of his stuff. The first book I picked out was Truman, written by David McCullough. I didn’t know at the time McCullough received a Nobel Prize for his work on Truman. My view, my impression of Truman (the president) was irreversibly changed. David McCullough excels at two things. His research is exhaustive, faultless and thorough. Second, he is able to take all of that detailed research and drive a narrative storytelling style into an art form. He is an expert at giving the reader just the right level of information to hold their interest. I know history is boring for most us and I have to admit some of the stuff on history I’ve read over the years put a yawn on me.

McCullough also wrote John Adams which was just as interesting as Truman for the same reasons.

Other biographies I enjoyed the author’s style of writing:
Virginia Woolf A Biography by Quentin Bell 1972
A Reporter's Life by Walter Cronkite 2006
Jimmy Stewart a Biography by Marc Eliot 2006
John Lennon: The Life by Philip Norman 2008
Albert Einstein by Albrecht Folsing 1998
John F. Kennedy: A Biography, Michael O'Brien 2005

I havent read any biographies that I can recall but there are a few I would like to read but I have read How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling AuthorJanet Evanovichto delve into how janet writes her different series (Plum,Full etc)

I don't usually like biographies or memoirs, but I've just read an amazing memoir by Aura Imbarus - Out of the Transylvania Night. Her writing, how vivid she made the places and events, and how honestly she portrayed the main character's feelings (hers) were probably what drew me in. Plus the fact that there really is a good story arc and the character does change and grow.

I think the best biographies are the ones that tell more than a reader already knows about the person. I don't so much care for gratuitous tell-alls though. You know, those books that spill everybody's secrets just for the sake of doing so. If there was a lesson learned by the one whose biography it is, then releasing the secret is fine.

Biographies and memoirs that do not interest me, are those of the very young, like say twenty one and under. I think a biography needs more living, more life experience. On that note, I happen to be co-authoring a biographical series with renowned New York evangelist, singer songwriter Jessica Janna. Her story is told in seven parts, seven small books -- one for each decade of her life. The last will be a trade paperback to tie all together. What I like about her is since she is in her seventies, when she tells her story it is in little snippets, sort of like whenever she remembers something else. She is so full of wisdom, perhaps due to her harrowing as well as wonderful experiences, all of which she shares. Her second install, called SOWING details her adolescent and teenage years. It should appear on Amazon in about three weeks. Check it out!

The best one I ever read by Rice, "Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton," which was about the British explore Burton, (not the actor)who traveled the Middle East Africa and was involved with the discovery of the source of the Nile River.
The author didn't speculate and didn't try to be sensational, although Burton lived the kind of life that even today would make him notorious.
I've read some biographies where the author gets into theories about the subject and I don't care for that if I'm reading nonfiction.

@Rodney: As one who works with TBI victims (my job outside of writing) I'm very interested to read your story. It's wonderful that you recovered and I know the journey was hard.
@April: It's true that a person usually hasn't acquired the ability to self-analyze until they are much older than 21, so if you're going to write an autobiography you ought to wait until your 60 or 70, like Jessica Janna did. But sometimes a young life ends tragically or rebounds magically (see Rodney's post), and the read is often worthwhile. I'll look for SOWING. It sounds great!
@Mickey: I think I agree about the theories. Give me the facts and I'll form my own theories. No one knows for sure, except the person who lived it.

For some reason, I haven't read many biographies. But there are so many people I'm interested in, I'll have to change that. Certainly people like Mother Theresa, Thomas Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, Abraham Lincoln, Davy Crockett--various authors--the list is endless!