Biography Recent Picks

January 2009

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Some featured items are linked via a book cover to enable you to read more reviews.

Marrying Anita : a quest for love in the new India, Anita Jain.
"Anita Jain is an Indian-American woman in her thirties who lives in New York. Her life is a bit like Charlotte from Sex and the City - bleak evenings attending metropolitan dinner parties for singles with the growing fear that she will never marry. However, her parents have a better idea of how to find her a husband - they have logged her details on an Indian dating internet site. For years, she'd trusted the Western way of finding a husband, but now she's realised that maybe she had it all wrong - why is she leaving her future happiness to chance? Maybe there's something in arranged marriages after all. So she's travelling to India hoping to return with a husband. At age 32, and well past the cultural deadline for starting a family, Jain suddenly subjects herself to a whole new onslaught of expectations. Marrying Anita is a refreshingly honest look at our own expectations and the modern search for the perfect mate. Will she find a suitable man? Will he please her nosy parents, aunts, uncles and cousins? Is the new urban Indian culture all that different from America? And is any of this dating worth the effort?" (Amazon.co.uk)

The legend of Colton H. Bryant, Alexandra Fuller.
"Colton H Bryant grew up in Wyoming and never once wanted to leave it. Wyoming - wild, open and heartsearingly beautiful - loved him and he loved it back. Two things helped Colton get through school and the neighbourhood gang who chased after him on his bike yelling 'retard': his best friend Jake and his favourite mantra: Mind over matter - which meant to him: if you don't mind, it don't matter. Colton and Jake grew up wanting nothing more that the freedom to sleep out the great Wyoming night sky, and to be just like Jake's dad, Bill, a strong, gentle man of few words who can ride rodeo like nobody's business. Colton started work himself as a driller on a rig, despite his young wife begging him to quit. But Colton's dad worked on the rig, and his dad before him, and Colton claimed it was in his blood. Colton did die young and he died on the rig - falling to his death because the oil company neglected to spend the $2,000 on safety rails. His family received no compensation.The strong, sad story of Colton H Bryant's life could not be told without the telling of the land that grew him, where there are still such things as cowboys roaming the plains, where it is relationships that get you through and where a simple, soulful and just man named Colton H Bryant lived and died." (Amazon.co.uk)

Burghley : William Cecil at the court of Elizabeth I, Stephen Alford.
"William Cecil, Lord Burghley (1520-1598) was Elizabeth I's closest adviser and, as this revealing and provocative biography shows, the driving force behind the Queen's reign for four decades. Cecil, the steadfast rock of Elizabeth's government, had a deep and personal impact on the development of the English state. A committed Protestant, he guided the domestic and foreign affairs of the nation with the confidence of his religious conviction. Believing himself to be the divinely-instigated protector of his monarch, he felt able to disobey her direct commands. He was uncompromising, obsessive, supremely self-assured - a cunning politician as well as a consummate servant. This comprehensive biography gives proper weight to Cecil's formative years, his subtle navigation of the reigns of Edward VI and Mary I, his lifelong enmity with Mary Queen of Scots, and his obsession with family dynasty. It also provides a fresh account of Elizabeth I and her reign, uncovering limitations and concerns about invasion, succession and conspiracy. Intimate, authoritative, and enormously readable, this book will redefine our understanding of the Elizabethan period." (Amazon.co.uk)

The book of life : a compendium of the best autobiographical and memoir writing, edited by Eve Claxton.
"From childhood through to adulthood - if not necessarily maturity - "The Book of Life" offers the literary journal of a lifetime, in the company of the most fascinating and talented figures in history. From Alan Bennett's wartime childhood in Yorkshire to Mahatma Gandhi's experiment with cigarettes; Katherine Hepburn on her first acting job aged 21 and Primo Levi on being captured by Fascist militia at the same age; Darwin on his lifelong love - his work - and Nelson Mandela on his release from prison aged 71 ...life and living in all its manifold glories is represented. With insights that encompass generations and continents, this is a uniquely enjoyable immersion in some of the world's best, and most personal, writing." (Amazon.co.uk)

The last lecture, Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow.
"A lot of professors give talks titled The Last Lecture. Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?"

"When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave - Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams - wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because time is all you have and you may find one day that you have less than you think). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living."

In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humour, inspiration, and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come." (Amazon.co.uk)

The amazing world of James Hector, edited by Simon Nathan and Mary Varnham.
"James Hector was astounding. Scottish-born and trained as a surgeon, at 23 he took part in a daring British expedition to survey western Canada, and was given up for dead at a place still known - on account of his accident - as Kicking Horse Pass. Fortunately, he survived. Then head-hunted to carry out a geological survey of Otago, he arrived in New Zealand in 1861 and within a few years had founded all the country's leading scientific bodies, including the national museum (now Te Papa), the New Zealand Institute (now the Royal Society) and the Geological Survey (now GNS Science). A man of seemingly unbounded energy and interests, at various times he was also responsible for the Meteorological Department, the Colonial Observatory, the Wellington Time-ball Observatory, the Wellington Botanic Garden, and the Patent Office library. In this superb collection of essays, scientists, historians and Hector's descendants tell the fascinating and sometimes controversial story of Hector's life and work." (Amazon.co.uk)

Giants : the parallel lives of Frederick Douglass & Abraham Lincoln, John Stauffer.
"They were the pre-eminent self-made men of their time. Abraham Lincoln was born dirt poor, had less than one year of formal schooling and became the nation's greatest President. Frederick Douglass spent the first twenty years of his life as a slave, had no formal schooling - his masters forbade him to read or write - and became one of the nation's greatest writers and activists. At a time when most whites would not let a black man cross their threshold, Lincoln met Douglass three times at the White House. Their friendship was based on usefulness: Lincoln recognised that he needed Douglass to help him destroy the Confederacy and preserve the Union; Douglass realised that Lincoln's shrewd sense of public opinion would serve his own goal of freeing the nation's blacks." (Amazon.co.uk)

Heath : a family's tale, Janet Fife-Yeomans.
"Heath Ledger was a superstar on the world stage, a gorgeous guy, a true romantic, a man who was dedicated to his craft and who loved a laugh. This is the definitive look at the real life of Heath Ledger from childhood to fully-fledged stardom, with exclusive personal insights from his family and friends. It is also very much an Australian story about the beginning of a legend. Even before Heath achieved fame and fortune, the Ledgers were well-known in their hometown of Perth. Heath's great-grandfather, Sir Frank, was a pioneer of West Australian business, and he nurtured a warm, loving family. Heath's childhood was idyllic and happy, and he excelled at school, especially drama. When he was just 17 years old, he drove across the country to Sydney, determined to follow his passion for acting. He quickly became a celebrity but never forgot his roots. But behind Heath's journey to Hollywood, turmoil split the family. The book reveals how Sir Frank's fortune was lost, which thrust the Ledgers into bitter dispute. With Heath's death have emerged new allegations about the star's hidden millions. Sadly, while Heath's death came as a surprise to the public, those who knew him best were aware of his problems. And those who knew him best were also aware of the allegations that he had fathered a child before his rise to fame. Respected journalist Janet Fife-Yeomans has worked extensively with Heath's uncles to produce this family's story, their reminiscences of Heath a way of paying tribute to his all too short life. Key points: respected author, who has conducted extensive research and had exclusive access to the extended family's story, and who has also interviewed Heath Ledger's teachers and hometown friends; the first Australian biography of the star; includes never-before-published family photographs."(Amazon.co.uk)

Arise Sir Michael Parkinson : the biography, Charlie Burden.
"Michael retired from his extraordinary showbiz career and it was only fitting he received the ultimate reward - a knighthood from the queen. It was an entirely suitable crowning moment to a remarkable career. This fascinating new biography traces the life of the miner's son from his childhood in Barnsley, where he had trials for Yorkshire County Cricket Club, to making it as an acclaimed media personality. It follows his entry into newspaper journalism and his national service, during which he served in Suez.Turning his hand to broadcasting, he was soon presenting shows including radio 4's "Desert Island Discs" and his legendary TV chat-show "Parkinson". The Yorkshireman's down to earth charm belied a nimble way with questioning that produced some of television's most engaging moments. Among over 2,000 interviews, those with Muhammad Ali, John Lennon, Princess Anne, David Beckham and - of - course Emu, have gone down as legendary. Over the years Michael has picked up countless industry accolades - including a BAFTA and Sony Radio Award - won listener and viewer popularity polls, received an honorary doctorate and been awarded a CBE. His adoring fans have lapped up his shows and delighted at his words in newspapers and books. "Arise sir Michael Parkinson" paints a complete portrait of Britain's most talented man." (Amazon.co.uk)

From New Zealand:

Getting there : an autobiography by Barbara Anderson.
"Amazon.co.uk Review
Barbara Anderson, one of New Zealand's finest and most loved writers, has written a classic autobiography. It is a moving life story with which many readers, especially women, will identify, and a revealing insight into the making of a major writer. In part one Anderson tells the story of her childhood in Hawkes Bay. Her father was a doctor, and her childhood was happy, with a loving extended family and circle of friends, and easy access to countryside and beaches. But there were shadows: the 1931 Hawkes Bay earthquake; and the more personal tragedy of the death from pneumonia of her beloved younger brother, while their parents were on an extended overseas trip. Part two begins with Anderson completing a science degree at Otago University in the 1940s and her early experience as a teacher. Following her marriage to dashing young naval officer Neil Anderson, Barbara's primary occupation was as a wife and mother to two sons. As Sir Neil rose to the highest rank in the New Zealand navy, the family moved frequently and traveled widely. Anderson returned to university in her fifties, this time to study English, renewing to her early love of literature and desire to write. Bill Manhire's writing course in 1983 led to work broadcast on Radio New Zealand, success in short story competitions, and to the publication of her first book in 1989, at the age of 63. The story of these apprentice years, and two decades of local and international success which have followed, are told in thrilling detail in part three." (Amazon.co.uk)

Daddy was a German spy and other scandals : a memoir by Brian Edwards.

But wait, there's more by Suzanne Paul.

Native wit by Hamish Keith.

Ngaio Marsh : her life in crime by Joanne Drayton.

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