Review of Xavier Herbert: A Biography, Eleanor Dark: A Writer's Life and The Queen of Bohemia: The Autobiography of Dulcie Deamer: Being 'The Golden Decade'

Abstract

Biographies of writers have maintained their popularity for many years, both here and overseas, a fact sometimes attributed to the chance they give 'busy people' to become acquainted with an author's work without having to read it. The imputation is probably unjust: many people are driven to read or reread an author's works as a direct consequence of reading a good biography. It is true, though, that biographies of writers seem to possess a range of what might be called secondary functions: they can provide not only conveniently digested samplings of the writers' work, but also serviceable frameworks for cultural historiography and for literary history and criticism.

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Published 1 October 1999 in Volume 19 No. 2. Subjects: Biographies, Eleanor Dark, Xavier Herbert.

Cite as: Buckridge, Patrick. ‘Review of Xavier Herbert: A Biography, Eleanor Dark: A Writer's Life and The Queen of Bohemia: The Autobiography of Dulcie Deamer: Being 'The Golden Decade'.’ Australian Literary Studies, vol. 19, no. 2, 1999, doi: 10.20314/als.5617e7f13d.