Over the past few months I have read quite a few biographies.
Most of them aren’t very well-written, but this is probably to be expected. Most books in general aren’t very well-written.
But it’s a shame to read a badly-written book, especially when it’s the biography of a writer.
There have been excellent biographies of writers, of course. Do I need to mention James Boswell’s life of Doctor Johnson? (Of course, most of the wit was courtesy of Samuel Johnson himself, but Boswell was the genius who remembered every word Johnson said, and who edited Johnson’s life and words into the joyfully lively memoir we have today.) And I remember that I almost wept when I read Quentin Bell’s opening sentence of the bio of his aunt, Virginia Woolf: “Virginia Woolf was a Miss Stephen.” It’s a perfect sentence: stiff, Victorian, but telling you something you vitally need to know (and probably don’t know) about his aunt.
And recently I discovered Martin Stannard’s biography of Muriel Spark.
Muriel Spark is one of my favorite authors. Well, I mean really: “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” and “Memento Mori,” and “The Abbess of Crewe.” I’d heard that her personal life was a ghastly mess, and now (having read some of the bio) I know it for a fact. (Her life was no more a mess than, let’s say, mine, but still – she’s an author, and it’s in a book!)
But Martin Stannard can write.
From only the first few pages of the book:
[Speaking of how to refer to Muriel Spark in the body of the book:] “At the risk of appearing over-familiar, I decided to describe her as ‘Muriel.’ This does not signify that she counted me as a friend.”
[Regarding Muriel’s grandmother Adelaide:] “Adelaide never welcomed Uncle Phil’s children. She was an appalling cook and there was always the danger that she might offer food.”
[Regarding Muriel’s mother Cissy:] “Cissy sailed through life like a ramshackle galleon.”
[A few pages later, also about Muriel’s mother:] “Cissy had once asked her mother how one kept men happy. ‘You have to feed ‘em both ends,’ she replied.”
Martin Stannard is a remarkable writer – probably more so for having dealt with a famously private and prickly writer.
Go read “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” if you haven’t already (the movie doesn’t count!). And then read Stannard’s biography.
And then get back to me, you old ramshackle galleons.
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