Stacy Schiff recommends 6 unforgettable biography books
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author recommends works by George Packer, Sarah Bakewell and more
When you make a purchase using links on our site, The Week may earn a commission. All reviews are written independently by our editorial team.
Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Stacy Schiff is the author of "A Great Improvisation," "Cleopatra" and "The Revolutionary," a best-selling biography of Samuel Adams that’s now out in paperback. Below, she recommends six biographies that break all the rules.
'Stuart: A Life Backwards' by Alexander Masters (2005)
Experiments in biography tend to blow up in the biographer’s face. Once in a while they succeed beyond measure. This is the story of a homeless man who was panhandling when the author met him. The life is ladled out in reverse, almost by necessity: How exactly did Stuart wind up in the street? A perfect book, not only because its irrepressible subject weighs in from the start. Buy it here.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
'Our Man' by George Packer (2019)
How to resist a biographer so much on a tear that he asks the reader, "Do you mind if we hurry through the early years?" George Packer can’t get the voice of diplomat Richard Holbrooke out of his head. You’ll have the same trouble with Packer’s. An intimate, invigorating masterwork about the American century. Buy it here.
'Footsteps' by Richard Holmes (1985)
The book every biographer secretly wishes she had written. It begins as a starry-eyed search for Robert Louis Stevenson and opens into a wide-angle exploration of the human heart. Holmes appears on every velvety page and yet never obscures the view, surely one definition of charisma. Buy it here.
'How to Live' by Sarah Bakewell (2010)
That mid-show Chorus Line number in which the stage directions tangle themselves up with the melody? This is its exhilarating literary equivalent. Sarah Bakewell returns philosopher Michel de Montaigne from the 16th century "in one question and 20 attempts at an answer." That pesky question is: How to live? Buy it here.
'The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym' by Paula Byrne (2021)
Byrne reconstructs the life of novelist Barbara Pym as a mosaic, composed of shimmering shards. They make for compulsive reading, as you might expect from chapters bearing arch titles like "Miss Pym Feels Her Age" or "In which Fräulein Pym falls for a Handsome Nazi." Buy it here.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
'Flaubert’s Parrot' by Julian Barnes (1984)
A brilliant ramble around the difficulty of capturing a life on the page — and the lunacy of those who attempt it. Come for the shadows of Flaubert. Stay for the smackdown of art and life (and the stuffed parrots). Biography, Barnes reminds us, resembles a net: "a collection of holes tied together with string." Buy it here.
This article was first published in the latest issue of The Week magazine. If you want to read more like it, you can try six risk-free issues of the magazine here.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
What's next for US interest rates?
The Explainer Stubborn inflation forestalls anticipated rate cuts
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
Russia rattles nuclear saber, orders tactical nuke drills
Speed Read President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian military to hold nuclear weapons drills in response to Western "threats"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Five top new women's watches
The Week Recommends From dancing diamonds to reconfigured classics, these models were recently revealed at Watches & Wonders Geneva 2024
By Alexandra Zagalsky Published
-
Tom Crewe's 6 favorite works that challenge societal norms
Feature The novelist recommends works by Margaret Oliphant, Patrick White, and more
By The Week US Published
-
On the trail of India’s wild lions at Sasan Gir National Park
The Week Recommends The sanctuary is a 'roaring' conservation success
By The Week UK Published
-
Recipe: almond marmalade cake
The Week Recommends This syrupy cake can be toasted for brunch
By The Week UK Published
-
Properties of the week: houses with enchanting gardens
The Week Recommends Featuring pretty homes in Hampshire, Devon and West Sussex
By The Week UK Published
-
Venice Biennale 2024: from the good to the bad to the downright 'bizarre'
The Week Recommends Central exhibition features the work of some 330 artists
By The Week UK Published
-
Sunset Song: gripping theatre that's 'close to magic'
The Week Recommends Morna Young's 'first-class adaptation' of Lewis Grassic Gibbon's classic novel
By The Week UK Published
-
Challengers: 'the most purely pleasurable film of the year so far'
The Week Recommends Zendaya plays a former tennis player turned coach in this 'almost ridiculously' sexy drama
By The Week UK Published
-
Baby Reindeer: a 'compelling and unforgettable' series
The Week Recommends Comedian Richard Gadd's disturbing Netflix drama about stalking
By The Week UK Published