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Biographers turn nasty

07.07.08

The author Amanda Foreman is being accused of turning the genteel world of historical biography into a playground for glamorous young female writers trying to make a quick killing in the bestseller lists, reports the Times.

The barbs come from Kathryn Hughes, a biographer who regularly presents Open Book on Radio 4. In an article entitled The Death of Life Writing, she claimed that much of the “devaluing of the biographer’s skill” could be laid at Foreman’s door.

Foreman was said to be seething at Hughes’s attack but remained diplomatic. “Biography is changing,” she said this weekend. “Biographers are challenging our conception of the genre in extremely exciting ways. In fact, I believe that we could be approaching a new golden age.”


The Times

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I thought literary agent Andrew Lownie hit the nail on the head when he said in the Times: “Today publishers want people with a platform and a profile. Never mind whether they are a world expert. They should sign up weather girls who are always on the television, are quite pretty and are generally bright.” And just in case there are any editors who are not sure: I think he is being ironic...

07 Jul 08 14:10

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