I am not averse to reading biographies having read the ones about Chet Baker and Moshe' Dyan, but the preponderance of celebrity biogs is boring in the extreme.
What can you hope to learn about somebody who spent their life in the media spotlight? And how can a 25 year old write a biography having only started on life's journey?
Some months ago, I pondered the idea of reading Marcel Proust's great work but being honest the size of the seven volumes I found daunting and instead I bought a book of Graham Greene short stories on the request of my editor, Julia.
You can therefore imagine my trepidation when Julia suggested I study the new Marcel Proust biography, and try to read "Swann's Way" which is the first book in the collection. The biography is close to 1,000 pages and I have to admit I was not looking forward to attempting to read the book, but as Julia has been a great help to me, I would do my best. To my amazement, I find myself enjoying the biography.
To end this article, I would like to say I am saving to read another biography; this one is called "On the front line" and is the biography of reporter Marie Colvin who died in Syria, in 2011.
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