Winner of the National Book Award
A brilliant literary portrait, Isak Dinesen remains the only comprehensive biography of one of the greatest storytellers of our time. Her magnificent memoir, Out of Africa, established Isak Dinesen as a major twentieth-century author, who was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize.
With exceptional grace, Judith Thurman's classic work explores Dinesen's life. Until the appearance of this book, the life and art of Isak Dinesen have been—as Dinesen herself wrote of two lovers in a tale— "a pair of locked caskets, each containing the key to the other." Judith Thurman has provided the master key to them both.
"This, like the best biographies, is a book in which the reader can live."—Margaret Drabble, The New York Times Book Review
"Splendid, inestimably valuable . . . I cannot imagine that it will be supplanted. Right now it is the essential book on Isak Dinesen."—Chicago Tribune Book World
"Absorbing biography . . . This is a gothic tale worthy of the author of Seven Gothic Tales."—Victoria Glendinning, The Washington Post Book World
Anonymous
Posted November 21, 2009
I Also Recommend:
If you loved the movie "Out of Africa", and would like to read the book about the woman who actually lived the life portrayed in the movie, this biography is for you. It is well-researched and beautifully written. It reads more like a novel that a biography and keeps the reader interested all the way through. Isak Dinesen was a fascinating woman who lived an exciting life and left us with a wealth of literature, all of which is based on experiences from her own life. Judith Thurman does a great job in telling us how close the book was to her life, and where there were some discrepencies between fact and fiction. I can highly recommend this book to any Dinesen fan. It is most likely the best biography written about this talented, interesting woman.
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Overview
Winner of the National Book Award
A brilliant literary portrait, Isak Dinesen remains the only comprehensive biography of one of the greatest storytellers of our time. Her magnificent memoir, Out of Africa, established Isak Dinesen as a major twentieth-century author, who was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize.
With exceptional grace, Judith Thurman's classic work explores Dinesen's life. Until the appearance of this book, the life and art of ...