Bound Together 2023: Nonfiction: Biographies
Explore the lives of change makers like Charlie Chaplin, Edgar Allan Poe, Maggie Higgins, and Stewart Brand in these eye-opening biographies.
WHOLE EARTH: THE MANY LIVES OF STEWART BRAND, By John Markoff
PENGUIN PRESS • MARCH 2022 • 416 PAGES • $32 HARDCOVER
If you think you know Stewart Brand, former Merry Prankster, founder and editor of the Whole Earth Catalog, and cofounder of the Long Now Foundation, think again. John Markoff, winner of a Pulitzer Prize for his work at the New York Times, chronicles the contradictory life of this Bay Area thinker. Tracing Brand from his college years through the formation of his environmental philosophies and his approach to technological innovation, Markoff offers an insightful and detailed portrait of this influential Californian.
CHARLIE CHAPLIN VS. AMERICA: WHEN ART, SEX, AND POLITICS COLLIDED, By Scott Eyman
SIMON & SCHUSTER • OCTOBER 2023 • 432 PAGES • $29.99 HARDCOVER
Charlie Chaplin was not always beloved. Following World War II, the silent film genius was disparaged by national media for his politically liberal opinions and his romantic and extramarital affairs, which ultimately led to his exile during the Red Scare. Scott Eyman presents a history of a complicated figure whose grand artistic legacy has overshadowed the precarious conditions in which that art was made.
CHUCK BERRY: AN AMERICAN LIFE, By RJ Smith
HACHETTE BOOKS • NOVEMBER 2022 • 432 PAGES • $32 HARDCOVER
Chuck Berry was a pioneer of rock and roll, and without him we likely would not have such stars as the Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones. He was a trailblazing musician—the mastermind of the hit songs “You Never Can Tell” and “Johnny B. Goode.” RJ Smith constructs a compelling image of Berry as both a world-class musician and a flawed man, considering this long-standing question: Why do we attempt to separate artists from their art?
A MYSTERY OF MYSTERIES: THE DEATH AND LIFE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE, By Mark Dawidziak
ST. MARTIN’S PRESS • FEBRUARY 2023 • 288 PAGES • $28.99 HARDCOVER
This biography dives into “a mystery of mysteries”: Edgar Allan Poe’s tragic death. Mark Dawidziak attempts to uncover what took place during Poe’s last months and during the peculiar events of his final days. The author works to discredit the myths that swirl around Poe’s life and presents a vivid portrait of the man behind some of America’s most chilling stories.
FIERCE AMBITION: THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF WAR CORRESPONDENT MAGGIE HIGGINS, By Jennet Conant
W.W. NORTON • OCTOBER 2023 • 576 PAGES • $32.50 HARDCOVER
Marguerite Higgins may be revered today as a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist who covered World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, but throughout her career, she was disparaged by her male colleagues and accused of using sex to win exclusive stories. Historian Jennet Conant delivers a thrilling account of the trailblazing reporter who was often told no but forged ahead anyway, frequently into situations where others would not dare to go.
CHI BOY: NATIVE SONS AND CHICAGO RECKONINGS, By Keenan Norris
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS • JANUARY 2023 • 240 PAGES • $21.95 PAPERBACK
Examining Black life in Chicago, Keenan Norris weaves the stories of Chicago figures—including President Barack Obama; author Richard Wright; and his own father, Butch Norris—into a portrait of the midwestern city that is both honest and hopeful. Norris considers these lives to explore a broader history of the Great Migration and the violence that followed Black people from the South to Chicago and beyond.
