A Life in Biography

Latest Episodes:

Episode 58: The Roth/Bailey Uproar May 22, 2021

Show notes

My view of what has happened to Bailey’s biography of Roth, how reviewers and readers have responded, and why what I’ve seen so far is inadequate.

Talking with Gail Crowther about her new book on Plath & Sexton, Three-Martini Afternoons at the Ritz May 08, 2021

Show notes

What goes into a dual biography, and what a sociologist can bring to the study of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton.

Episode 56: A talk with Ira Nadel about Philip Roth, Leonard Cohen, and authorized/unauthorized bios May 01, 2021

Show notes

A wide-ranging interview about how biography gets done, both authorized and unauthorized, with Nadel’s subjects, Leonard Cohen & Philip Roth, and more.

Episode 55: Tales Told Out of School, Part 2: 40 Years of Interviewing Apr 17, 2021

Show notes

What happens during and after interviews, with examples drawn from my biographies of Lillian Hellman, Rebecca West, Susan Sontag, Jill Craigie, and Michael Foot.

Episode 54, Part 1: Tales Told Out of School: 40 Years of Interviews Apr 10, 2021

Show notes

What happens during and after interviews with subjects ranging from Walter Matthau to Ellen Burstyn to Richard Wilbur.

Episode 53: Mike Peros, biographer of Dan Duryea and José Ferrer & how Mike became a biographer Apr 03, 2021

Show notes

Mike Peros describes how he became a biographer, how he researched his biographies of José Ferrer and Dan Duryea, and much more.

Episode 52: A Plethora of Plath, or Why So Many Biographies Mar 27, 2021

Show notes

Through the examples of Marilyn Monroe, Amy Lowell, William Faulkner, and Sylvia Plath, I explain why so many biographies of the same subject are published.

Episode 51: Talking with Bob Batchelor about his book, biography—how it gets done and so much more. Mar 20, 2021

Show notes

A conversation with Bob Batchelor about his work from John Updike to Stan Lee and much more about biography and its place in the world and in our imaginations.

Episode 50: A talk about biography with John Matteson, author of A Worse Place Than Hell Mar 13, 2021

Show notes

A wide ranging discussion of the choices a biographer makes and how John Matteson put together his group of figures present at the battle of Frederickburg

Episode 49: A talk with Kathleen Spaltro, Author of The Great Lie: The Creation of Mary Astor Mar 06, 2021

Show notes

A wide ranging of discussion of a great character actress, active in both silent and sound film, her relationships with Ronald Colman and Bette Davis, and her career as a writer of novels and memoirs.

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