Biography & Autobiography

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

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  Making a Man of the Mad Monk

  Douglas Smith’s new biography of “Mad Monk” Rasputin brings him into the human realm.

  Boris DralyukNov 23, 2016

  • Around the World

  • Biography & Autobiography

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  All That Bad

  Shehryar Fazli on Deirdre Bair's new biography of Al Capone.

  Shehryar FazliNov 20, 2016

  • Biography & Autobiography

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  Kafka: An End or a Beginning?

  Morten Høi Jensen revisits the life and work of Franz Kafka.

  Morten Høi JensenNov 19, 2016

  • Biography & Autobiography

  • Fiction

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  Renegade Rosset

  John Tytell on Barney Rosset, the gutsy dynamo of American alternative publishing.

  John TytellOct 29, 2016

  • Biography & Autobiography

  • Memoir & Essay

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  Edward Albee’s Beautiful Venom

  Shehryar Fazli reflects on Edward Albee's acerbic oeuvre.

  Shehryar FazliOct 27, 2016

  • Biography & Autobiography

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  The Dunce Gets a Doorstop: A Life of Jean Cocteau

  Kevin McMahon takes the measure of “Jean Cocteau: A Life” by Claude Arnaud.

  Kevin McMahonOct 17, 2016

  • Biography & Autobiography

  • Fiction

  • Film

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  A Newish Biography of Mark Rothko

  Grace Glueck on Annie Cohel-Solal's recent biography of Mark Rothko.

  Grace GlueckOct 11, 2016

  • Art & Architecture

  • Biography & Autobiography

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  Biography: Where White Lives Matter

  Kavita Das bemoans the lack of diversity in the biography genre.

  Kavita DasOct 8, 2016

  • Biography & Autobiography

  • Nonfiction

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  Tropic of Barney

  Loren Glass on the autobiography of Barney Rosset, legendary publisher of Grove Press.

  Loren GlassSep 29, 2016

  • Biography & Autobiography

  • History

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  Or Not So Well

  Glyn Salton-Cox on what "Or Orwell" and "Orwell's Nose" can tell us about the much-studied George Orwell.

  Glyn Salton-CoxSep 19, 2016

  • Biography & Autobiography

  • Nonfiction

  • Philosophy & Religion

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  Was the Black Prince Black? And Other Historical Questions

  What can a biographer do when their subject is elusive? John T. Scott finds out in his review of Catherine Fletcher's "The Black Prince of Florence."

  John T. ScottAug 31, 2016

  • Biography & Autobiography

  • History

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  The Odor of Mortality: On John Sutherland’s “Orwell’s Nose”

  In "Orwell's Nose," John Sutherland captures Orwell's essence in a brief 240 pages better than most biographers do in 600. But is it enough?

  Andrew FedorovAug 29, 2016

  • Biography & Autobiography