I am about halfway through Robert Caro’s “The Path to Power” which is the 1st book of 4 detailing the life of former president Lyndon B. Johnson and his fascinating life and character. This series has always been considered to be the gold standard for biography and now I see why. It is not a genre I often stray into because I had the bias that they are typically dry, musty affairs. Caro quickly upends that idea for me. He takes an all-encompassing approach to provide context to every bit of Lyndon’s origins, every new detail builds upon the last to form a complete image of his childhood and upbringing. It almost feels like a towering fictional epic with lived-in characters and lore but the catch is that it all happened. There is a thoroughness to Caro’s meticulous process that is easy to admire, there are extensive interviews and testimonials from every figure in his life from his childhood barber to his fellow schoolmates to his extended family. It certainly helps that LBJ himself is a very peculiar individual with endless strange anecdotes and stories popping up around him.
It is definitely a dense and rich read that can get slow-going at times but there is a push or drive every page because you do know where it is going. I find myself trying to connect the dots of how LBJ gets from where he started to where we all know he ends up, it almost feels like a puzzle. The best part is how unbiased it feels, Caro goes over everything and it does not always (or almost ever) paint a pretty picture of LBJ. I have read memoirs before and they always seem to lack that extra bite needed to make something truly interesting, The Path to Power certainly has that bite.
Few questions to round out my musings:
1. Has anyone else read this?
2. What are other good biographies to read?
3. What makes a good biography?
by thestopsign