Bio Buff

Excavating remarkable women from the margins of history is a noble goal. Too often, the former fairer sex existed, if at all, exclusively as an addendum to their father and/or husband. She held value as a tribute to a man, both as his helpmate and adornment. However, while the tale of Mrs. Jordan is enjoyable, she is perhaps not the feminist heroine ClaireTomalin works so tirelessly to anoint in Mrs. Jordan’s Profession . Mrs. Jordan, nee Dorthea Bland (1761-1816), is know for her long career in the English theater as well as for her extensive production of illegitimate children on behalf of the future King William IV. Tomalin has an impressive grasp of the subject and provides interesting descriptions of the lifestyle of the period’s transient acting companies, both socially and economically.   The era’s otherness is aptly summarized without sentimentality in crisp sentences such as, when describing the protagonist’s son, “Henry reappeared at last in July too, after fourteen month...

Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith have written a book I love about a man I hate. Jackson Pollock, an alcoholic misogynist well-known in the New York art scene pre- Life magazine for public urination and violent rages under the influence, props up their fascinating looks at American history from the turn of the century until his death in 1956. The movement of his family from East to West, as they follow opportunities, or the promise of them, to the fields of Iowa, down to the cowboy territory on the old west and on to California is a tale quintessential to our country’s pathos. The migration back to metropolitan New York City subsequent the failure of these meandering dreams is the icing on the Americana cake. That sweep is epic. What disappoint is the artist in question: the emperor has no clothes. If we pour enough into him, like founding myths, Rivera, the WPA, Greenberg, and Guggenheim, Jackson’s story is worth telling. But by the extensive evidence presented, the record of...

In my experience, celebrities write autobiographies for two reasons: to make money and settle scores. I find both legitimate, but the latter vastly more interesting. It is also my view that they typically work best when presented as an intimate vignette. Few people not named Katherine Graham should attempt to pull off a meaty 600+ page chronicle detailing their life from cradle to grave in a manner of a professional historian. By this basis, Charlie Sheen’s contribution to the genre, House of Sheen, is a very good autobiography. Sheen touches on major life incidents without dwelling on them with pity, ruefulness or perverse self-justification. With a wink and a shrug, he tells his tales and moves steadily forth. The quality of his name dropping is top shelf, and he dishes with class, chiding his detractors but keeping the tone good-natured overall. If occasionally the omissions are glaring – family is generally off limits - and the flow can feel more like a series of greatest hits ...