Works on Paper: The Craft of Biography and Autobiography

A selection by one of today's leading biographers of his lectures, essays, and reviews written over the last quarter of a century—mainly on the craft of biography and autobiography, but also covering what Michael Holroyd describes as his "enthusiasms and alibis"

Opening with a startling attack on biography, which is answered by two essays on the ethics and values of non–fiction writing, the book goes on to examine the work of several contemporary biographers, the place of biography in fictio...