Booking Through Thursday – Too Much Information?

Published on by Margaret

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Suggested by Simon Thomas:

Have you ever been put off an author’s books after reading a biography of them? Or the reverse – a biography has made you love an author more?

I  like reading biographies and autobiographies, particularly of authors, so I’ve read quite a lot. None of them have changed my mind about the books they’ve written. I may not like what I’ve read about them but that has not affected my enjoyment of their books. There may be things about them, or alleged about them that I don’t like – I’m thinking of Lewis Carroll here – but even so I can separate that from what they’ve written.

spiral001Reading some biographies or memoirs has increased my enjoyment of an author’s books, for example reading Karen Armstrong’s The Spiral Staircase, which recounts her spritual journey from a convent to an academic career, makes me appreciate the honesty in her writing not only about Christianity, but also Judaism and Islam.

4 thoughts on “Booking Through Thursday – Too Much Information?”

  1. I enjoyed reading your post. I feel that way about Mark Twain. After reading is biography, I wanted to read more of what he had written. Happy BTT!

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  4. I feel the same way about Karen Armstrong — knowing something about her life makes her other, non-personal books that much more meaningful. I really don’t like dismissing an author’s work because of his or her biography — I’m interested in people’s lives, but not as a way to judge their art.

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