CHECK IT OUT:Live it up with a biography

Almost everyone knows that a biography is the story of a life. The word comes from the Greek — “bios” meaning “life” and “graphein” meaning “write.” There are also autobiographies (from “auto” meaning “self”) which are written by the subject of the biography.

Biographies are almost as old as writing. The ancients in the Middle East chiseled facts about their leaders on clay tablets. The Old Testament contains many biographies of kings and prophets. Plutarch’s “The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans” draws parallel lives of the famous and notorious in order to teach the proper way to live.

In the Middle Ages, the lives written about were not those of emperors but of saints. From this we get the word “hagiography” (from the Greek “hagios” meaning “holy”). The meaning has now grown in definition from the life of a holy person to the whitewashing of the subject in a worshipful manner.

Gradually, biographies began to be written about secular people. Sir Thomas Malory’s “Le Morte d’Arthur” (though technically a romance about a fabled person) is an example of this trend away from strictly church topics.

Up to this point, though, biographies were intended to provide moral examples. In the 18th century, however, we have two seminal books that revolve around the great Samuel Johnson. There is Johnson’s own massive “Lives of the Poets” and James Boswell’s “The Life of Samuel Johnson.”

These two books are indicative of the major differences in approach to writing a biography. Johnson’s friend and biographer, Boswell, approached his subject by delving into the facts. Boswell felt that the essence of the subject would reveal itself in the details.

Johnson, himself, believed that a biography should be more than just a chronology because facts are not necessarily the truth. He felt that an accumulation of stories and anecdotes would reveal the real person. Both styles, however, show that we now regard biographies as a form of history, not ethics.

This leads to the other kind of modern biography: the celebrity bio. The truth about Frank Sinatra won’t illuminate the 20th century, but reading about celebrities is a modern outgrowth of our natural tendency to be curious about famous people.

Celebrity bios find their roots in the 18th century with books about the then superstars David Garrick and Sarah Siddons. Whether the subject is starring in a Shakespeare play at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane or the latest Hollywood action-thriller, there is something naughtily satisfying in reading about these bigger-than-life people who have problems, debts, ungrateful children, whatever — just like the rest of us.

The problem for the reader, of course, is to recognize the difference between literary biographies and celebrity biographies. If you are looking for elegant writing and in-depth information, look for a literary biography such as “John Adams” by David McCullough, Robert Caro’s three volume masterpiece on LBJ, or Douglas Southall Freeman’s four volume “R.E. Lee.”

But if it’s juicy bits of celebrity life you’re looking for, you’ll enjoy a book like Kitty Kelly’s “Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography.” Even though we know that some of the “facts” may be of the tabloid variety, it’s a secret pleasure few can avoid. If one is reading for pleasure, does one want an incisive academic examination of Princess Diana’s tortured psyche? Or do we want to read the glamorous and tragic take on the princess with a broken heart? (See “Diana: Her True Story” by Andrew Morton.)

But all of this makes reading biographies a bit confusing. Just because a book is in print, it cannot be assumed that everything in it is the truth. (Remember that “A Million Little Pieces” by James Frey caused such a scandal recently?)

Publishers know that celebrity biographies sell well and often grind them out to financially support their more serious works. Another point to consider is the fact that dead people cannot sue — literally and figuratively. Libel laws in the United States prohibit libel suits brought in the name of the deceased.

It seems a bit unfair that once you are gone anyone can write anything they want about you. But the ones who suffer are really the readers who have to make sure of the reliability of the source. Unless, of course, the reader is lazing at the beach and just wants to wallow in Edward Douglas’ “Jack: The Great Seducer” or Christopher Andersen’s “Barbra: The Way She Is.”

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CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public Library. This week’s column is by Sara Barnicle. The library website can be found at

www.newportbeachlibrary.org. If there are any questions, please call the reference desk at 717-3800 ext. 2.