Description: - Argues for a new approach to biography: not primarily as a source of knowledge about past lives, but as a resource for thinking through and beyond the very idea of life's narratability - Covers a variety of texts from the eighteenth century to the present day- Uncovers the prehistory of the burgeoning field of enquiry now known as metabiography
Review Quotes:
"This book serves an important purpose ... . For all of us historians out there, it is essential to read this book with the knowledge that this is not only a historical analysis: it goes beyond the traditional confines of the field to look at fiction, literature, and even pictorial imagery and imagination." (Victoria Cosby, H-Net Reviews, h-net.org, October, 2021)
"By analyzing biographies from the end of the eighteenth century until today, Ní Dhuíll shows how the concept can help us understand how biographies have been written and why they have been written as they have. ... Ní Dhuíll discusses the genre more from an outsider's perspective ... very fruitfully. ... a deeper and wider insight into the challenges of biographical writing." (Henrik Rosengren, European Journal of Life Writing, Vol. 9, 2020)