Richard Ellmann, in the flesh

Posted on December 16, 2007 by sheila

Legends, indeed. Richard Ellmann’s biography of James Joyce is a towering achievement, a highwater-mark in the art of biography. Why bother write another bio of Joyce after that?? Of course people still do – but they all need to contend with that book first. It’s like Gerald Clarke’s biography of Capote. You can write more about him, you can try to write another biography – and good luck with that. Good luck with coming out from under Clarke’s shadow.

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2 Responses to Richard Ellmann, in the flesh

  1. Tom Sutpen says:
    December 16, 2007 at 4:31 pm

    Agreed. I would only add to that small canon Robert Caro’s life of Robert Moses (‘The Power Broker’, 1974) and you have the tripartite gold standard in biography.

    Thanks for ‘le linkage’!

    Reply
  2. red says:
    December 16, 2007 at 4:33 pm

    Tom – haven’t read that one – I’ll have to check it out!

    Loved the photo you posted today of Capote (speaking of which) and Harper Lee too.

    Reply

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