Biographical Novel

Biographical novels are books written about the lives of famous individuals, whether they are historical figures, politicians, actors, musicians and celebrities in general. Some authors devote their entire career to the biography genre, such as Vincent Cronin, who wrote biographies of Louis XIV, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Catherine the Great, and Napoleon; Ellis Amburn, who published works on artists Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly, Jack Kerouac, Elizabeth Taylor, Warren Beatty, and Janis Joplin; and Humphrey Carpenter, who delved into the lives of J. R. R. Tolkien, W. H. Auden, Ezra Pound, Evelyn Waugh, Benjamin Britten Robert Runcie and Spike Milligan.

Other writers, on the other hand, are known for focusing on the life and times of a single figure. One of those authors was Max Brod, who was the literary executor and biographer of Franz Kafka, though one hopes that he did a more conscientious job as the latter than as the former. Another example is Ernest Jones, who published several volumes on the life and work of Sigmund Freud. Biographies may be written while the subject is still alive, or after they have been long dead. In the former case, the biographical novel may be authorized or unauthorized.

With that in mind, many personalities decide to write their own autobiographies, which may still be nevertheless a little bit embellished. One such author is Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, better known as T.E. Lawrence, and even more famous as Lawrence of Arabia, whose memoir The Seven Pillars of Wisdom has been challenged a few times on the grounds of perceived exaggerations. Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez also published an autobiography (Vivir para contarla, or Live to tell the tale), as did Charles Chaplin (My Autobiography). Others who are not as familiar with the writing craft rely on the help of ghostwriters. This has been a recent trend among rockstars such as Slash, Motley Crue, Tommy Lee and Dave Mustaine.