Overview

A captivating collection of pieces about the art of narration by Britain's finest biographer, Michael Holroyd In Facts and Fiction, Michael Holroyd reflects on the eccentricities of the art of writing about others. With characteristic playfulness and guilefulness, he considers the ways in which lives can be written about (and painted), with all the subtle differences of design and intention that this entails. From Rudyard Kipling to forgetfulness, the glories of Mary Norton’s Borrowers books to fellow biographers like Richard Holmes and Alexander Masters, Holroyd tackles an eclectic range of topics. He discusses his life at the mercy of subjects who have led him all over the world – and often into other people’s families uninvited. With wit, warmth and humour, he reflects on the unlikely ways he arrives at his subjects, and how the process of building their narratives is often a disturbing experience: so consuming that, when completed, he feels as if he has had a holiday from himself. Facts and Fiction questions what we can know about ourselves and each other, and most importantly, how we can know it. It is a unique insight into the mind of a master.

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9781408897386

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As deft and devastating as a piece of non-fiction writing in miniature as you're ever likely to read, and it illustrates not only the biographer's power to shape perceptions of his or her subject but also the artistry that underpins what sometimes masquerades as elegant reportage: truly, as this collection's title indicates, facts and fiction ... A collection to be savoured, its urbanity, wisdom and humorous probing best digested at leisure -- Matthew Dennison * Daily Telegraph * Masterly, full of new insight -- Praise for 'Lytton Strachey: The New Biography' * Sunday Express * Holroyd has a wonderful eye for detail ... an entirely captivating biography ... one of the glories of the form -- Praise for 'A Strange Eventful History' * Guardian *

As deft and devastating as a piece of non-fiction writing in miniature as you’re ever likely to read, and it illustrates not only the biographer’s power to shape perceptions of his or her subject but also the artistry that underpins what sometimes masquerades as elegant reportage: truly, as this collection’s title indicates, facts and fiction … A collection to be savoured, its urbanity, wisdom and humorous probing best digested at leisure -- Matthew Dennison * Daily Telegraph * Masterly, full of new insight -- Praise for 'Lytton Strachey: The New Biography' * Sunday Express * Holroyd has a wonderful eye for detail ... an entirely captivating biography ... one of the glories of the form -- Praise for 'A Strange Eventful History' * Guardian *

Author Information

Michael Holroyd is one of our leading biographers. He has written the lives of Lytton Strachey, Bernard Shaw and Augustus John, as well as a group biography of Ellen Terry, Henry Irving and their families. He was awarded a knighthood in 2007 for services to literature. He lives in London.

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