Hi Everyone-

Well, I think spring is finally almost here - the weather forecast is calling for it to be seventy degrees and sunny this weekend, and I'm planning to get my bicycle out of the shed and hit the trails. And of course sit outside and do some reading.

Here at Olsson's, we're getting ready to start a sale on my own favorite genre: biography. I find biographies incredibly fascinating to read, and good ones feature all the artistry of a great work of fiction. There's a sort of standard tone that makes a good biography, and I've read enough of them to say it can't be easy to master. To take the colossal amount of research it takes to determine the facts of someone's life, to put them in the form of a sensible narrative, and to give them a real dramatic drive, is a feat rarely accomplished. Yet when it is, the result is a narrative surely on a par with the greatest fiction. And of course, biographies are informative, to boot!

We're featuring a lovely set of mini-biogrpahies from the excellent British publisher Haus with this sale. Quick, smart, and enliving, they include studies of great historical figures such as Alexander the Great, Leon Trotsky, and Napoleon, brilliant actors and directors such as Laurence Olivier and Orson Welles, great writers and artists like Orwell, Wilde, and Monet, and great musicians, including Louis Armstrong, Gershwin, and Miles Davis. They're extremely attractive, with lots of illustrations and photos, and they're included in our biography sale, which starts this Friday the 10th.

And because I can't resist, here are a few of my own favorite biographies:

The Five of Hearts by Patricia O'Toole: This is probably the first biography I read while working at Olsson's, and it's handily reissued in a (long overdue) handsome paperback. It's a highly involving multi-biography of of some of the Gilded Age's most intensely interesting characters: the great writer Henry Adams and his brilliant but tragic wife Clover, the secretary of state and ambassador John Hay and his heiress wife Clara, and the rugged explorer and geologist Clarence King. Together, they formed the social group the Five of Hearts, and separately they touched nearly every aspect of life in the America - and particularly the Washington - of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Their stories, as told in this lovely work, are riveting, passionate, and dramatic. And I guarantee you'll head straight to Rock Creek Cemetary to see the oddly ambiguous yet powerfully moving memorial to Clover Adams by Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

Huey Long by T. Harry Williams: Well, Long was also the basis for the central figure in my all-time favorite novel, All the Kings Men. And no wonder: what a character! Both a serious and important advocate for the poor and a towering demagogue, Long rose from an obcure life as a travelling salesman to become governor (and de facto absolute monarch) of Louisiana--and one of the most influential voices of his time nationwide. One of the very greatest political biographies.

Charmed Circle by James Mellow: This intensive and highly anecdotal study of Gertrude Stein and her circle, including Hemingway and Fitzgerald, Matisse and Picasso, is perhaps the best and most objective portrait of this group of recklessly brilliant and often difficult geniuses.

Duveen by S.N. Behrman: One of the New Yorker's most beloved portaits of all time is reprinted here in this great, brief-but-incredibly-anecdotal look at one of the most powerful art dealers in history: Joseph Duveen, who managed to match American fortunes with the need of European aristocracy to sell its artworks. His Svengali-like sway over his customers and his incredible tastemaking ability form the cornerstone of this fascinating character.

Everybody Was So Young by Amanda Vaill. Another wonderful, and charmingly personal, look at the Lost Generation. Gerald and Sarah Murphy were the sane center of the swirling madness of their generation: their more glamous, if less wealthy, friends such as Fitzgeralds, Hemingway, and Picasso, could always count on their help and support, even if they offered little in return when the Murphy's own lives encountered a tragic twist, as movingly recounted by Vaill.

A Giacometti Portrait by James Lord: A brief, intelligent, and highly illuminating look at the work and philosophy of the great sculptor and painter Alberto Giacometti, told in a form few would be privileged enough to use: Lord recounts what it was like to sit for his own portrait by the great Giacometti, telling the intimate details of his (weeks long) series of sittings, and the amzaing proces of the development of the portrait. Giacometti's (or any other artist's) fierce commitment to his art could not be more perfectly described.

There's just a small handful of my favorites of this wonderful genre. Stop by the store for our sale and pick up some great biographies during our sale - it starts Friday!

Happy Reading,

Joe Murphy
Head Book Buyer