Salon Directory › b › Biographies (203 stories)

Biographies

Page 1 of 9 oldest ⇒
Dirty, sexy opera
In Germany, Wagner is worshiped like a god. His scheming, squabbling descendants are another story.
By Laura Miller Jan 15, 2008
Salon Book Awards 2007
From an imaginary history of Alaskan Jews to a compelling glimpse of the CIA, we pick the 10 most pleasurable reading experiences of the year.
By Laura Miller Dec 12, 2007
"I only dread one day at a time!"
Charles Schulz, the author of the beloved "Peanuts," was himself a depressive, self-deceiving character many found hard to love.
By Laura Miller Oct 13, 2007
Uncovering Gertrude and Alice
Janet Malcolm's search for the real Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas exposes some hard truths about the duo and biography itself.
By Christine Smallwood Sep 27, 2007
The lives of others
Biographer Meryle Secrest shares her secrets: Don't fall in love with Stephen Sondheim, and watch out for Salvador Dali's hit men.
By Rachel Aviv Jun 27, 2007
Nixon knows best
Richard Nixon continues to fascinate and repel us. On the 35th anniversary of Watergate, is it time to stop kicking Dick around and reconsider his accomplishments?
By Allen Barra Jun 15, 2007
What was so great about Catherine?
The Russian empress remains fascinating not because she attempted sex with a horse, but for expanding her empire, squashing her enemies and acting like, well, a man.
By Laura Miller Feb 13, 2007
Remembrance of social butterflies past
A new biography is perfect for those who haven't read "Remembrance of Things Past" -- but would like to pretend they have.
By George Rafael Jun 20, 2006
The rake of Rouen
A new biography depicts Madame Bovary's creator as a sexual adventurer who spent his life at war with his bourgeois self.
By Stephen Amidon Apr 15, 2006
The real Calamity Jane
America's favorite cross-dressing, gunslinging frontier woman was less (and more) than her legend would have you think.
By Margot Mifflin Dec 6, 2005
King Kaufman's Sports Daily
Casey Stengel was more genius than clown, a new book argues, and his brilliance as the Yankees manager was forged through years of losing in Brooklyn and Boston.
Apr 21, 2005
Lust, revenge and the religious right in 12th century Paris
The steamy, violent saga of medieval lovers Abelard and Heloise -- and their kinky letters -- uncannily anticipate today's battles over sex and religion.
By Priya Jain Dec 18, 2004
The genius next door
In Stephen Greenblatt's marvelous new study, William Shakespeare emerges as a drab and conventional burgher who somehow became the greatest writer the world has ever known.
By Laura Miller Sep 27, 2004
"Borges: A Life" by Edwin Williamson
Jorge Luis Borges went from being an unknown middle-aged librarian to one of the 20th century's most influential writers. So why do so few people read him now?
By Allen Barra Aug 27, 2004
"Lives" of our time
Paul Johnson's "Napoleon" embodies the best of Penguin's discontinued short biography series, while Jane Smiley's "Dickens," alas, represents the worst.
By Allen Barra Jul 1, 2002
The lady's Yves
Yves Saint Laurent's love for women was never so loudly professed as in the lines of his garments.
By Stephanie Zacharek Jan 22, 2002
Rick Bragg
He's gone from Calhoun County, Ala., to Islamabad and back, but the author of "Ava's Man" never leaves his family far behind.
By Lynda Cardwell Dec 13, 2001
Jeanne Moreau
When you visit the woman Orson Welles called "the greatest actress in the world," don't try to light her cigarette -- you might get burned.
By Jeff Galipeaux Dec 6, 2001
Meg Whitman
The CEO of eBay presides over a company worth more than four times as much as Kmart. Maybe there's something to this e-commerce thing after all.
By Loren Fox Nov 27, 2001
Wilma Mankiller
The first female chief of the Cherokee Nation, she took tragedy and illness and made strength. And don't even ask where she got her name.
By Andrew Nelson Nov 20, 2001
Tom Stoppard
For the last four decades, the playwright has filled the theater world with clever wordplay, big ideas and palpable passion.
By Amy Reiter Nov 13, 2001
"Isadora: A Sensational Life"
An excerpt from the new biography of dancer Isadora Duncan.
By Peter Kurth Nov 12, 2001
David Lynch
The pleasant, bizarre filmmaker who gave us the Lynchian world insists that now, more than ever, we must face the darkness.
By Brian Libby Nov 6, 2001
Roger Payne
After fighting to protect whales for 30 years, the biologist who discovered that humpbacks sing still feels nothing but awe for the huge "impossible animals."
By Amy Standen Oct 30, 2001
Don DeLillo
America's premier novelist of ideas has long anticipated a world in which spectacle and terror would achieve totemic significance in our everyday lives.
By Jeffrey MacIntyre Oct 23, 2001
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Salon Directory › b › Biographies (203 stories)

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