Unauthorized Biographies

[erpowers]

Should people pay any attention to unauthorized biographies? I wonder if anyone should pay attention to unauthorized biographies in that it seems that the person who is the subject of the biography did not have anything to do with the biography. In addition, it seems that if the person who was the subject of the biography did not have anything to do with the biography then the people who knew the person best also did not have anything to do with the biography. That seems to lead to the idea that the things in the biography are inaccurate in that the people who could have given the most information about the subject did not give any information. So, what do other think? Should unauthorized biographies be read and given any credit?

[electron_blue]

1. Of course. Some of the best biographies are unauthorized.

Depends on the quality of the researcher behind the biography.

[Toots]

2. So you want Bush* to tell you about his life?

I am sure you will get the real truth there....People do know how to investigate things without asking the person being investigated.. How do you think detectives make a living?

[Angela Shelley]

3. Reading and learning from unauthorized biographies

is like reading and learning from the DU forum, for example.

You find that there are more than two sides to every story, and you have the challenge to pick out the details, putting together a puzzle which makes the most sense to you.

[book_worm]

4. on the other hand an "authorized" biography is sometimes inaccurate

because the subject may try to control the book and what is put in it.

[bryant69]

5. Depends on the writer and the book

The unauthorized biography of my life for example is full of distortions. There was only one nun for example, and that oxygen tent was on fire before I got there.

Just like any work of history or non-fiction book; check the reviews, check what other people are saying about it, look at the dust jacket, the introduction. That's usually enough information to tell you whether or not you want to read it.

Bryant
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