Whose Life Is It Anyway? Biography

A Display and Readers’ Shelf

In the New Books Area at Meyer Library Fall 2002

Biography as Literary Form

 

Late Greek biographía, from Greek bíos life + gráphein to write.

“A Form of nonfictional literature, the subject of which is the life of an individual. In general, the form is considered to include autobiography, in which the author recounts his or her own history.

The earliest biographical writing probably consisted of funeral speeches and inscriptions, usually praising the life and example of the deceased. From this evolved the laudatory and exemplary biography with its associated problems of uncritical or distorted interpretation of available evidence. Such lives are still found, but they have produced their own antithesis in the denunciatory or debunking biography of which Lytton Strachey's Eminent Victorians (1918) is a famous modern example.

The origins of modern biography as a distinct genre lie with Plutarch's moralizing lives of prominent Greeks and Romans and Suetonius' gossipy lives of the Caesars, which quote documentary sources. While kings and leaders attracted biographical attention as a part of the general historical record of their times, few lives of common individuals were considered for themselves until the 16th century. In England in the 17th century, William Roper's life of Thomas More is an important example, and Izaak Walton and John Aubrey also produced brief biographies of writers and eminent persons. But the major developments of English biography came in the 18th century with Samuel Johnson's critical Lives of the English Poets and James Boswell's massive Life of Johnson, which combines detailed records of conversation and behavior with considerable psychological insight. This provided the model for exhaustive, monumental 19thcentury biographies such as A.P. Stanley's Life of Arnold and John Morley's Gladstone. Thomas Carlyle's conviction that history was the history of great men demonstrated the general belief of the time that biographical writing was an important method of understanding society and its institutions. In modern times, impatience with Victorian reticence and deference and the development of psychoanalysis have sometimes led to a more penetrating and comprehensive understanding of the biographical subject. Leon Edel's massive Henry James is a good example. Another modern development has been the group biography of a family or small body of close associates, such as Rebecca Fraser's The Bronts.

Biographical and autobiographical writing can easily pass into fiction when rational inference or conjecture pass over into imaginative reconstruction or frank invention or when the biographical subject itself is wholly or partly imaginary.”

 

Source Citation: "Biography" in Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature © 1995. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Published under license with Merriam-Webster. Reproduced in DISCovering Authors. Gale Group, 1999. Accessed November 14, 2002 in “Discovering Collection”. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale Group. Document Number: CD2101400020. SMSU Libraries: http://purl.missouristate.edu/library/databases/DISCOVERING

THE FIRST AMERICAN : THE LIFE AND TIMES OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN / H.W. BRANDS.

New York : Doubleday, 2000.

E302.6.F8 B83 2000.

 

GROVER CLEVELAND : A STUDY IN CHARACTER / ALYN BRODSKY.

New York : St. Martin's Press, 2000.

E697 .B84 2000.

 

SOME SORT OF EPIC GRANDEUR : THE LIFE OF F. SCOTT FITZGERALD / MATTHEW J. BRUCCOLI

Columbia, S.C. : University of South Carolina Press, c2002.

PS3511.I9 Z566 2002.

 

DENNIS POTTER : A BIOGRAPHY / HUMPHREY CARPENTER.

New York : St. Martin's Press, 1999, c1998.

PN1992.4.P68 C37 1999

 

TUXEDO PARK : A WALL STREET TYCOON AND THE SECRET PALACE OF SCIENCE THAT CHANGED THE COURSE OF WORLD WAR II / JENNET CONANT.

New York : Simon & Schuster, c2002

QC16.L647 C66 2002 

 

GIELGUD : A THEATRICAL LIFE / JONATHAN CROALL.

New York : Continuum, 2001.

PN2598.G45 C76 2001.

 

EISENHOWER : A SOLDIER'S LIFE / CARLO D'ESTE.

New York : Henry Holt, 2002.

E836 .D47 2002

 

CLONE : THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF AL PARKER, GAY SUPERSTAR / ROGER EDMONSON.

Los Angeles : Alyson Books, 2000.

PN2287.P24 A3 2000.

 

SAVING THE RESERVATION : JOE GARRY AND THE BATTLE TO BE INDIAN / JOHN FAHEY.

Seattle : University of Washington Press, c2001.

E99.S3 G373 2001.

 

SETTING THE WORLD ABLAZE : WASHINGTON, ADAMS, JEFFERSON, AND THE AMERICAN

REVOLUTION / JOHN FERLING.

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2000.

E302.5 .F46 2000.

 

MUSIAL : FROM STASH TO STAN THE MAN / JAMES N. GIGLIO

Columbia, Mo. : University of Missouri Press, c2001.

GV865.M8 G34 2001

 

MOTHER JONES : THE MOST DANGEROUS WOMAN IN AMERICA / ELLIOTT J. GORN.

New York : Hill and Wang, 2001.

HD8073.J6 G67 2001.

 

THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH : ALICE STEWART AND THE SECRETS OF RADIATION /

GAYLE GREENE

Ann Arbor, MI : University of Michigan Press, 1999.

R489.S78 G75 1999

 

CESAR CHAVEZ : A TRIUMPH OF SPIRIT / RICHARD GRISWOLD DEL CASTILLO

Norman, Okla : University of Oklahoma Press, c1995.

HD6509.C48 G75 1995.

 

MY WARS ARE LAID AWAY IN BOOKS : THE LIFE OF EMILY DICKINSON / ALFRED HABEGGER.

New York : Random House, c2001.

PS1541.Z5 H32 2001.

 

UNDERSTANDING THOMAS JEFFERSON / E.M. HALLIDAY.

New York : HarperCollins Publishers, c2001.

E332 .H183 2001.

 

FARADAY : THE LIFE / JAMES HAMILTON.

London : HarperCollins, 2002.

QC16.F2 H36 2002 

 

KIERKEGAARD : A BIOGRAPHY / ALASTAIR HANNAY.

Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2001.

B4376 .H36 2001.

 

JEFFERSON DAVIS, CONFEDERATE PRESIDENT / HERMAN HATTAWAY

Lawrence : University Press of Kansas, c2002.

E467.1.D26 H38 2002 

 

RACE WOMAN : THE LIVES OF SHIRLEY GRAHAM DU BOIS / GERALD HORNE.

New York : New York University Press, c2000.

E185.97.D69 H67 2000.

 

JEFFERSON DAVIS IN BLUE : THE LIFE OF SHERMAN'S RELENTLESS WARRIOR / NATHANIEL CHEAIRS HUGHES

Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, c2002.

E467.1.D265 H84 2002

 

BRITISH WOMEN AND THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR / ANGELA JACKSON.

London ; New York : Routledge, 2002.

DP269.8.W7 J33 2002 

 

CHURCHILL : A BIOGRAPHY / ROY JENKINS.

New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001.

DA566.9.C5 J46 2001.

 

WHEN I WAS A YOUNG MAN : A MEMOIR / BOB KERREY.

New York : Harcourt, Inc., c2002.

E840.8.K43 A3 2002.

 

LUDWIG VON MISES : THE MAN AND HIS ECONOMICS / ISRAEL M. KIRZNER.

Wilmington, Del. : ISI Books, 2001.

HB101.V66 K57 2001.

 

KANT : A BIOGRAPHY / MANFRED KUEHN.

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2001.

B2797 .K86 2001.

 

FICHTE ; THE SELF AND THE CALLING OF PHILOSOPHY, 1762-1799 / ANTHONY J. LAVOPA.

Cambridge, England ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2001.

B2847 .L38 2001.

 

SINCLAIR LEWIS : REBEL FROM MAIN STREET / RICHARD LINGEMAN.

New York : Random House, c2002.

PS3523.E94 Z627 2002 

 

WEEDING AT DAWN : A LESBIAN COUNTRY LIFE / HAWK MADRONE.

New York : Alice Street Editions/Harrington Park Press, c2000.

HQ75.4.M324 A3 2000.

 

INVISIBLE WOMAN : GROWING UP BLACK IN GERMANY / IKA HUGEL-MARSHALL

New York, N.Y. : Continuum, 2001.

HQ1625.H84 A3 2001.

 

DAN ELDON : THE ART OF LIFE / JENNIFER NEW

San Francisco : Chronicle Books, c2001.

TR140.E38 N48 2001

 

DIRTY POOLE : THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A GAY PORN PIONEER / WAKEFIELD POOLE.

Los Angeles : Alyson Books, c2000.

PN1998.3.P665 A3 2000.

 

THE LIFE OF LANGSTON HUGHES / ARNOLD RAMPERSAD.

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2002.

PS3515.U274 Z698 2002.

 

SIGMUND FREUD : PIONEER OF THE MIND / BY CATHERINE REEF.

New York : Clarion Books, c2001.

BF109.F74 R44 2001.

 

PRESIDENT NIXON : ALONE IN THE WHITE HOUSE / RICHARD REEVES.

New York : Simon & Schuster, c2001.

E856 .R44 2001.

 

A CHIEF JUSTICE'S PROGRESS : JOHN MARSHALL FROM REVOLUTIONARY VIRGINIA TO THE SUPREME COURT / DAVID ROBARGE.

Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 2000.

KF8745.M3 R63 2000.

 

RIMBAUD / GRAHAM ROBB.

New York : W.W. Norton & Co., 2000.

PQ2387.R5 Z825 2000.

 

THE MAN WHO MADE WALL STREET : ANTHONY J. DREXEL AND THE RISE OF MODERN FINANCE / DAN ROTTENBERG.

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, c2001.

HG2463.D66 R67 2001.

 

RICHARD WRIGHT : THE LIFE AND TIMES / HAZEL ROWLEY.

New York : Henry Holt and Co., 2001.

PS3545.R815 Z84 2001.

 

SOMEWHERE FOR ME : A BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARD RODGERS / MERYLE SECREST.

New York : Alfred A. Knopf : Distributed by Random House, 2001.

ML410.R6315 S43 2001.

 

A CONVENIENT SPY : WEN HO LEE AND THE POLITICS OF NUCLEAR ESPIONAGE / DAN STOBER

New York : Simon & Schuster, 2001

UB271.C62 L47 2001

 

THE MONARCHY : AN ORAL BIOGRAPHY OF ELIZABETH II / DEBORAH HART STROBER,

GERALD S. STROBER.

New York : Broadway Books, c2002.

DA590 .S76 2002.

 

DIG INFINITY! : THE LIFE AND ART OF LORD BUCKLEY / OLIVER TRAGER.

New York : Welcome Rain Publishers, c2002.

PN2287.L637 T73 2002

 

WITTGENSTEIN IN IRELAND / RICHARD WALL.

London : Reaktion, 2000.

B3376.W564 W3513x 2000

 

Videos:

BIOGRAPHY OF THE MILLENNIUM [VIDEORECORDING] : 100 PEOPLE, 1000 YEARS

New York, NY : A & E Television Networks, c1999. 4 Volumes

VIDEO CASSETTE N8362 – N8362

 

JAMES BALDWIN [VIDEORECORDING] : THE PRICE OF THE TICKET

San Francisco, CA : California Newsreel, 1990, c1989.

VIDEO CASSETTE N4422

 

MALCOLM X [VIDEORECORDING] : MAKE IT PLAIN

VIDEO CASSETTE N5272

 

MARTHA GRAHAM [VIDEORECORDING] : THE DANCER REVEALED

VIDEO CASSETTE N5522

 

MICHAEL JORDAN, HIS AIRNESS [VIDEORECORDING]

VIDEO CASSETTE N7892

 

MOUNTAIN WOLF WOMAN, 1884-1960 [VIDEORECORDING]

Madison, Wis. : Her Own Words, [1993?], c1990.

VIDEO CASSETTE N4255

 

THOMAS JEFFERSON [VIDEORECORDING]

PBS Home Video : Turner Home Entertainment, c1997.

VIDEO CASSETTE N7958

REFLECTIONS ON BIOGRAPHY / PAULA R. BACKSCHEIDER.

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1999.

CT21 .B28 1999

 

CONSTRUCTING AMERICAN LIVES : BIOGRAPHY & CULTURE IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY AMERICA / SCOTT E. CASPER.

Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, c1999.

CT34.U6 C37 1999

 

WRITING LIVES IS THE DEVIL : ESSAYS OF A BIOGRAPHER AT WORK / GALE E. CHRISTIANSON.

Hamden, Conn. : Archon Books, 1993.

CT21 .C48 1993

 

WHEN MEMORY SPEAKS : REFLECTIONS ON AUTOBIOGRAPHY / JILL KER CONWAY.

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1998.

CT25 .C68 1998

 

REPRESENTING LIVES : WOMEN AND AUTO/BIOGRAPHY / EDITED BY ALISON DONNELL

New York : St. Martin's Press, 2000.

PR756.W65 R46 2000.

 

LITERARY LIVES : BIOGRAPHY AND THE SEARCH FOR UNDERSTANDING / DAVID ELLIS.

New York : Routledge, 2000.

CT21 .E414 2000

 

UNCOVERING LIVES : THE UNEASY ALLIANCE OF BIOGRAPHY AND PSYCHOLOGY / ALAN C. ELMS.

New York : Oxford University Press, 1994.

BF39.4 .E46 1994

 

WORKS ON PAPER : THE CRAFT OF BIOGRAPHY AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY / MICHAEL HOLROYD.

London : Little, Brown, 2002.

PR6058.O47 W67 2002

 

ALL SIDES OF THE SUBJECT : WOMEN AND BIOGRAPHY / EDITED BY TERESA ILES.

New York : Teachers College Press, c1992.

HQ1185 .A45 1992

 

BIOGRAPHICAL PASSAGES : ESSAYS IN VICTORIAN AND MODERNIST BIOGRAPHY : HONORING MARY M. LAGO / EDITED BY JOE LAW

Columbia : University of Missouri Press, c2000.

PR756.B56 B56 2000

 

THE BIOGRAPHER'S ART : NEW ESSAYS / EDITED BY JEFFREY MEYERS.

New York : New Amsterdam, 1989.

PR756.B56 B56x 1989

 

THE DEVELOPMENT OF GREEK BIOGRAPHY / ARNALDO MOMIGLIANO.

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1993.

PA3043 .M6 1993

 

BIOGRAPHY : WRITING LIVES / CATHERINE N. PARKE.

New York : Twayne ; London : Prentice Hall, 1996.

CT21 .P35 1996

 

LIFE INTO ART : CONVERSATIONS WITH SEVEN CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHERS/ GAIL PORTER MANDELL.

Fayetteville : University of Arkansas Press, 1991.

CT21 .M25 1991

 

RESEARCHING PEOPLE / MAITY SCHRECENGOST.

Fort Atkinson, Wis. : Alleyside Press, c2001.

SMS Meyer Curric General CT21 .S37 2001

 

PLUTARCH AND THE HISTORICAL TRADITION / EDITED BY PHILIP A. STADTER.

London ; New York : Routledge, 1992.

PA4385 .P58 1992

 

SUBJECT TO BIOGRAPHY : PSYCHOANALYSIS, FEMINISM, AND WRITING WOMEN'S LIVES / ELISABETH YOUNG-BRUEHL.

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1998.

CT3203 .Y68 1998

Meyer Reference Department Reader’s Advisory Program

Project Group: Betty Evans, Reference Services Librarian. Charlotte Dugan, Reference Collection Resources Librarian. Lynn Cline, Head of Collections. & Douglas Stehle, Head of Reference. Hanging display art & design by Teresa Hollimon, Reference Student Assistant. Signs done by Jeanne Stephens, Graphic Designer, Instructional Technology & Media Services.

Duane G. Meyer Library Reference Department (417) 836-4535

SMSU Libraries | Southwest Missouri State University | Springfield, Missouri

Thanks and appreciation to Lynn Cline for bibliography of biographical works in the collection and to various library staff for display cases and display case books and items.

 

If you would like to see a showcase of library collections on a particular subject or topic, please contact Douglas Stehle, Head of Reference Services, with suggestions and recommendations. The Reference Department invites faculty to suggest topics relating to their research interests for display, to serve as consultant for such displays, or to consider working with Reference staff to showcase student work or class projects in an integrated fashion with library collections and materials.