Most well done/least well done biographies

[mvd]

I'm not including autobiographies here. I'm talking about books and movies, too.

[terrya]

1. "Truman" and "John Adams" by David McCullough

Both excellent biographies. Well researched and very readable.

Terry

[mvd]

6. My grandfather owns that Adams biography

He also recommends it. I'll get around to a biography after I finish Grisham's "The Last Juror."

[felonious thunk]

9. I loved the Truman biography

It's quite a time investment to read it though!

[LisaM]

2. "Zelda" by Nancy Milford

Absolutely excellent, as is biography of Edna St. Vincent Millay ("Savage Beauty.") I think that "Zelda" is also the best biography I've ever read of F. Scott Fitzgerald, too, though it's not technically about him.

[bif]

3. Power Broker by Robert Caro

About Robert Moses. Excellent bio. I hated the Churchill bios by William Manchester.

[mvd]

7. What didn't you like about the Churchill bios?

Just curious.

[bif]

8. I didn't care for his writing style

You couldn't pick a more interesting person to write about. And I really like the information about him, except almost ever parqagraph had a quote in the middle of a sentence. Yhe choppyness got to me after a while.

While Churchlill like to get naked every once in a while, "The English climate was not condusive" to streaking across Picidally Circus in the buff.

Okay, I made that up, but that style drives me crazy.

[mvd]

4. I have picked my favorite

Last Train to Memphis, by Peter Guralnick. Biography of Elvis. Many call it Elvis's definitive biography, and I agree. It really shows how the world was changed post-Elvis.

Funny, I searched way back and did not find a topic on this.

[m-jean03]

5. There was one about James Dean

that seemed to only be graphic descriptions of sex he'd allegedly had with other men. Depending on your POV, I guess, this could be good or bad. It was entertaining, I guess, in a trashy sort of way, but not very good as far as biographies go.