Biography

Ghostly Demarcations: On Ramon Fernandez Ghostly Demarcations: On Ramon Fernandez

The novelist Dominique Fernandez struggles to understand his father's years as a Nazi collaborator.

Jan 28, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Alice Kaplan

Misterioso Misterioso

Thelonious Monk was a more nuanced figure than the flimsy characterization of a way-out jazz cat could ever convey.

Dec 23, 2009 / Books & the Arts / David Yaffe

The Misunderstood Robber Baron: On Cornelius Vanderbilt The Misunderstood Robber Baron: On Cornelius Vanderbilt

T.J. Stiles's The First Tycoon is a gilded portrait of the robber baron Cornelius Vanderbilt.

Nov 11, 2009 / Books & the Arts / Steve Fraser

Mahler’s Body Mahler’s Body

Gustav Mahler's embrace of Germanness and battles with anti-Semitism.

Jun 24, 2009 / Books & the Arts / David Schiff

Not Easy Being Greene: Graham Greene’s Letters Not Easy Being Greene: Graham Greene’s Letters

A Life in Letters as chronicled by the determinedly elusive Graham Greene.

Apr 15, 2009 / Books & the Arts / Michelle Orange

This Small Extravagance: The Life of Shakespeare’s Mind This Small Extravagance: The Life of Shakespeare’s Mind

Writing a biography of the mind of Shakespeare is a challenge that requires the ingenuity of an artist.

Apr 15, 2009 / Books & the Arts / James Longenbach

An Alienation Artist: Kafka and His Critics An Alienation Artist: Kafka and His Critics

Unraveling the Kafkaesque mystique of Franz Kafka.

Feb 11, 2009 / Books & the Arts / Alexander Provan

In His League: Being George Plimpton In His League: Being George Plimpton

An affectionate and absorbing oral history raises questions of whether George Plimpton's amiable exterior concealed a man without qualities.

Jan 15, 2009 / Books & the Arts / Scott Sherman

That Girl: The Captivity and Restoration of Patty Hearst That Girl: The Captivity and Restoration of Patty Hearst

Was Patty Hearst really a rebel in search of a cause?

Dec 10, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Rick Perlstein

Her Nature Was Future: Emily Dickinson’s White Heat Her Nature Was Future: Emily Dickinson’s White Heat

The intimate friendship of Emily Dickinson and Thomas Wentworth Higginson takes wing in two new books.

Nov 19, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Ange Mlinko

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