Biography & Autobiography

"I don't think anyone should write their autobiography until after they're dead." — Samuel Goldwyn

Forgotten Movie Royalty
A new biography of early cinema’s first family, the Costellos.
Chris YogerstJun 12, 2020
The News They Wanted Not to Hear: On Robert Stone
Three new books offer an embarrassment of riches for fans of Robert Stone.
Rob LathamJun 2, 2020
Dave Brubeck Unsquared: On Philip Clark’s New Biography
Dave Mandl takes five with “Dave Brubeck: A Life in Time” by Philip Clark.
Dave MandlMay 10, 2020
- Biography & Autobiography
- Music
“Unless We Make Some Place”: On Andy Croft’s “The Years of Anger: The Life of Randall Swingler”
Robert Chandler delves into “The Years of Anger,” a biography of the unjustly neglected British poet Randall Swingler, by Andy Croft.
Robert ChandlerMay 8, 2020
- Around the World
- Biography & Autobiography
The (Yelling) Mothers of Us All
A new biography of a leading light — and loud voice — of second-wave feminism.
Rachel ShteirApr 26, 2020
Julian Barnes’s Anti-Brexit Belle Époque
A novel about a 19th-century French gynecologist tells us about life in the Brexit era.
Martin GelinApr 23, 2020
When Einstein Was Just Another Physicist
Audra Wolfe shows how the banality of Einstein’s time in Prague is precisely the point of Michael Gordin’s new book, “Einstein in Bohemia.”
Audra J. WolfeMar 23, 2020
Land of Poets and Bones: Spain’s Desmemoria
The saga of an artistic family in Franco’s Spain raises questions about reconciliation.
Jordan ElgrablyMar 22, 2020
Number of the Beast: On Óscar and Juan José Martínez’s “The Hollywood Kid”
The rise and fall and rise again of the Salvadoran gang MS-13 is seen through the story of one of its members.
Jeff PeerMar 20, 2020
Radical Lives: On New Biographies of Rose Pastor Stokes and Dorothy Day
Two new biographies of early 20th-century American radical women.
Elaine MargolinMar 14, 2020
Psychedelic Pioneer and Confidence Man
A new biography of Michael Hollingshead, the man who turned Timothy Leary on.
James PennerFeb 19, 2020
- Biography & Autobiography
A Sane Man in a Demented Age: On Julian Barnes’s “The Man in the Red Coat”
Richard M. Cho appreciates "The Man in the Red Coat," the new biography of Samuel Jean Pozzi by Julian Barnes.
Richard M. ChoFeb 18, 2020