Sup!
I love biographies…. sometimes. I like learning what the person is like. I want to know how they acted, their thoughts and feelings, their essence.
Some biographies are amazing for this. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson really made Jobs come to life and was extremely entertaining.
Other biographies, like Paul Addison’s bio of Winston Churchill, seem to just list endless minutiae about the figure’s life. I feel like I learned more about Churchill’s character from his being mentioned briefly in other non fiction books than from this one—despite the fact that this entire book is about him.
How can I tell whether a biography will capture the figure’s essence? I want to read more biographies, but it feels like I’m gambling every time I pick one up. Thanks!
by daftpunko