Who Says a Biography Has to Be Huge?

By Govani, Shinan | The Christian Science Monitor, March 25, 1999 | Go to article overview

Who Says a Biography Has to Be Huge?


Govani, Shinan, The Christian Science Monitor


The world's literary chain-saw critics are out for blood. What's behind all the commotion? A new line of "pocket biographies" published by Penguin Books.

Launched under the banner of Penguin Lives, the series of 24 short biographies is designed to hook up today's high-powered stylists with yesterday's mega-icons.

The first two books, released last month, include Edmund White on Marcel Proust and Larry McMurtry on Crazy Horse. Future matches include Carol Shields on Jane Austen, Jonathon Spence on Mao Tse- tung, George Plimpton on Muhammed Ali, Jane Smiley on Charles Dickens, and Peter Gay on Mozart. Physically, the books have a collectible, matched sense about them. They flaunt a '50s bookish look - complete with muted colors and a photo of the subject shown through a hole in the center of the cover. None of the books extends beyond 150 pages. "Biography lite," some will surely wag. A few critics have already accused the series of being unduly influenced by the popularity of the A&E Biography TV series, not to mention the weekly froth served up by People magazine. They mock the initiative as part of the miniaturization of our culture, one whose principle characteristics are a brief attention span and a preference for superficiality over deep knowledge. But can such easy cynicism really be tolerated in an era when not just the book but basic literacy is endangered? Biography is an enormously popular genre and always has been because there's a texture of actuality to it. …

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Who Says a Biography Has to Be Huge?
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