biography

Oct 24 2011

Tarnishing an Icon: the perils of biogrpahy

Walter Payton

Image via Wikipedia

Jeff Pearlman‘s biography of Walter Payton has stirred some controversy. Shocking, I know, in this culture of celebrity and shock marketing.  But I also thinks it raises some interesting questions. Do we really want to know the history of iconic figures?  In particular, do we want to know the ugly details of our sports heroes?  Obviously, there is a market for books that offer salacious gossip about the lives of the famous. But is there something wrong with publishing the unseemly details of the life of a football player that is a hero to many; someone that seemed to represent all that is good about professional sports?

Sports Illustrated writer Peter King weighs in with his thoughts:

When the furor over the Walter Payton biography Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton surfaced last month, I told you I’d pass along my thoughts when I’d read it. Now that I have, I can tell you it’s terrific.

The painstaking detail is what makes this one of the best sports biographies I’ve ever read.

[...]

You pass judgment on whether a book about a beloved figure that both glorifies and tarnishes him should be written. My judgment is it should. Payton was a superstar, a public figure of national significance for 25 years. Were we demanding to know he used drugs and philandered and at times was a bad teammate with the Bears? No. But figures of renown are subjects of books all the time, and Payton’s life, as it turns out, is beyond interesting. It’s compelling. It’s most often riveting, particularly the parts about his formative years in the Deep South. It’s real history, not the gauzy stuff.

Oh. And the prologue of Sweetness … The first page of the book is jarring. It can’t get better than Pearlman’s meeting with Walter Payton. But the rest of the book lives up to the promise of the first page. It’s that good.

I am torn. It sounds like a fascinating book and full of great details about both Payton and the NFL, but I am not sure I really want to know the truth at this point. Perhaps I prefer to keep my unsullied view of Walter Payton. Perhaps I want to hang on to my icon rather than the real person behind it (flawed yes, but also compelling and real).

What about you? Do like to read iconoclastic biographies?  Do you prefer to keep your heroes on a pedestal?

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Sep 28 2011

Is James Madison an under-appreciated founding father?

This week’s Coffee & Markets tackles this subject and more with one of my favorite writers, Richard Brookhiser.  Pejman Yousefzadeh and I discuss Brookhiser’s new biography of James Madison, Madison’s battle with Hamilton, his break with Washington, and the last years of his life, when he foresaw the secession of states from the Union.

Listen below.

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Dec 6 2010

William F. Buckley (Christian Encounters) by Jeremy Lott

William F. Buckley (Christian Encounters Series)

Two things drew me to this short bio of William F. Buckley: the author Jeremy Lott is someone whose writings I have admired for some time and the subject, WFB, is something I have been interested in since high school.

So when I was offered a review copy it wasn’t a tough choice. As soon as I got it in the mail I breezed threw this brief biography - and promptly did nothing about it.  As with so many other books, I read this back in the summer but did not get a chance to review it until now.

And? It is an excellent introduction to one of the central figures of the post-war conservative movement. But it is important to keep in mind that it is just that: an introduction.

You can’t do justice to a man like Buckley in less than 150 pages. But this book does what this type of book should do: give an interesting overview of the life and times of the subject and prompt the reader to seek out more.

Keep Reading

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Feb 22 2010

Great Bastards of History by Jure Fiorillo

Jure Fiorillo’s Great Bastards of History: True and Riveting Accounts of the Most Famous Illegitimate Children Who Went on to Achieve Greatness is about the most famous illegitimate children who went on to achieve greatness.  Fiorillo primarily covers famous illegitimate children from England, France, and the United States, with a few from other countries.   These figures are discussed in chronological order, beginning with William the Conqueror and ending with Fidel Castro with many interesting persons in between.

Fiorillo’s basic argument is that these figures who were born out-of-wedlock tried to overcome the societal boundaries put up against illegitimate children.  This was true for many of the people, but not all (their success in overcoming the social stigma is dependent on when and where they were born).  I do not get the idea that many of them suffered too much for being illegitimate – sure some were denied higher social positions, but they made up for this in their success in other areas.  For example, although Leonardo Da Vinci was denied a vocation in his father’s field of work, he succeeded beyond all measure in his other pursuits.

I have read some reviews that have questioned Fiorillo’s choices – why she choose one person from a time period rather than another – but I do not think this is an issue.  I take this book as a general overview of pivotal illegitimates from history (although a very select group from limited points on the globe).  One reviewer questions why she choose Alexander Hamilton over Thomas Paine – the argument being that Paine had more of an impact on the American Revolution than Hamilton did.  However, I would argue Hamilton had a more profound effect on early American government than Paine did, thus a more lasting impact.

Finally, Fiorillo’s style of writing is easy to follow and understand.  She writes clearly and concisely.  The amount of information that is given is great considering the limited space for each person.

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Oct 18 2009

In the Mail: Looking East

–>Children of Dust: A Memoir of Pakistanby Ali Eteraz

Publishers Weekly

Eteraz, known for his blog Islamophere, opens his memoir with a vivid description of his father promising Allah that if God bestowed him with a son, that boy “will become a great leader and servant of Islam.” The rest of the book finds Eteraz, whose given name is Abir ul Islam (which translates as “Perfume of Islam”) trying to come to terms with his father’s mannat, or covenant, and understand the role that Islam will play in his life as well as the role he will play for Islam. Born in Pakistan but raised in the U.S. from age 10, Eteraz moves easily between describing the holy history and tenets of his faith while exploring and explaining the differences between the Islamic world and Western society. As Eteraz’s feelings for Islam change to fit his evolving personal, political and religious views, readers get a glimpse of all aspects of this hot-topic religion, from fundamentalism to reformism, salafism and secularism. A gifted writer and scholar, Eteraz is able to create a true-life Islamic bildungsroman as he effortlessly conveys his coming-of-age tale while educating the reader. When his religious awakening finally occurs, his catharsis transcends the page.

–> The Last Empress: Madame Chiang Kai-shek and the Birth of Modern China by Hannah Pakula

Publishers Weekly

Pakula, an experienced biographer of royal women (An Uncommon Woman: The Empress Frederick), looks at the imperious (if not imperial) wife of the Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, presenting a richly complex account of 20th-century China that, despite its length, remains thoroughly engrossing to the end. Born May-ling Soong (1897–2003) and educated in America, Madame Chiang and her five Soong siblings were wealthy, Christian, fluent in English and major players in Chinese politics. Marrying Chiang Kai-shek in 1927, the strong-minded and hot-tempered, shrewd and ruthless May-ling quickly became a partner in his efforts as Chinese leader until the Japanese invaded, and then in 1945 when Mao’s Communists drove him to Formosa (modern-day Taiwan), which he ruled until his death in 1975. From the 1930s to 1950s, Americans idolized Madame Chiang as a symbol of Chinese resistance to the brutal Japanese and as an anticommunist stalwart. But critics of her and Chiang’s ineffective, authoritarian, corrupt leadership soon became the majority. Pakula draws a vivid if often unflattering portrait of a charismatic Chinese patriot, her husband and family, in tumultuous and tragic times.

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