Books about Books Week: Real Lives Revealed

Last week I got my copy of Rick Roche's new nonfiction reading guide in the Real Stories series (from Libraries Unlimited), titled Real Lives Revealed: A Guide to Reading Interests in Biography.

It is stupendous.

Now, clearly, I am probably biased. I write for the Real Stories series (and more--tune in tomorrow). I also have the pleasure of knowing Rick and knowing what a dedicated and skilled librarian he is. But I'm pretty sure that even if I didn't know Rick from Adam this book would have blown me away.

These types of reading guide reference books are designed to help readers (and the librarians who help them find stuff to read, known by the library jargon of "readers' advisors") find titles they might enjoy. To that end, Rick has organized more than 600 titles into biography genres and subgenres, written wonderful summaries of them, given them subject headings (natural language subject headings, a bit easier to use than Dewey headings), and provided "read-alike" suggestions* for all of them. Consider the record for Jeffrey Meyers's biography Somerset Maugham: A Life (a book I've always wanted to read, as I find Maugham very interesting):

"Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was more than just a popular writer of novels, stories, plays, screenplays, essays, and travel books...he was also a doctor, a spy, Red Cross volunteer, art collector, and contract bridge player..Despite the appearance of perfection that he cultivated, he was an unhappy man with low self-esteem, torn between homosexual and heterosexual relationships. Jeffrey Meyers combines elements of the adventure story with celebrity reporting and pscyhological insight..."

That is an information-packed description, not only about Maugham, but also about the format of the biography. And then there's his "Now Try" suggestions for further reading:

"[After listing some of Maugham's most famous works]...Like Maugham, magician and escape artist Harry Houdini used his fame when he traveled to hide the fact that he was a spy. William Kalush and Larry Sloman detail Houdini's clandestine operations in The Secret Life of Houdini. British agent T. E. Lawrence traveled under assumed names and met with Arab rebels working to overthrow Turkish rule. Lawrence James tells how Lawrence played up his hero's role to the press and in his memoir in The Golden Warrior: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia."

That is FANTASTIC. Somerset Maugham to Harry Houdini to T. E. Lawrence. Now I'm not saying every reader who loves the first biography will follow up those suggestions, but they are interesting ones, and they are linked logically (secret lives, etc.). And they are suggestions that were made by a human. They were not simply spit out of a relational database based on sales numbers, and I defy you to find a library catalog that would ever link those books based on subject, even though they are tangentially related.

And that's just the book descriptions (included are such types of biography as Adventure, True Crime, War, Inspirational, Investigative, Coming-of-Age, Cultural, Celebrity, Historical, Political, Science, and Sports). I haven't even mentioned the unbelievable support material, including the timeline and history of biography, list of biography awards, list of biography series, and list of "top biographers," which includes authors' names and the biographies they've written.

Sorry for the length of today's post. I could go on a lot longer, though. All I can say, Rick, is, I am speechless. I've written a couple of these things and you have made me look like an amateur. I know that library budgets are tight right now, but if you work with readers at all I would buy this book for your collection--biographies are always popular with readers, so any tool that helps librarians understand them is well worth it. Especially when it's a tool as comprehensive as this one.

*Welcome to the world of librarianship and its jargon. "Read-alikes" are books that give the reader a similar "feeling" when reading them, while "related reads" are books related to one another primarily by subject. The Maugham and Houdini biographies are "read-alikes," Maugham's biography and Maugham's novels are "related reads."

Comments

[Robert Brown]

First, congratulations on your second book. I didn't know about it. I guess I needed to do some investigation...

I think what you do, and what the whole Real Stories thing is about, is absolutely essential. I'm not sucking up, either.

There a tremendous amount of material out there, and it can be daunting even to someone such as me, who kinda sorta knows what he's doing, and has a fairly comprehensive knowledge of books, and general flow of history. For less... erudite... people, it is probably one colossal edifice of confusion, with not much love to go 'round, to borrow an apt phrase from crossover 70s-80s progressive rock and roll band "Genesis."

This is essential work, I say. Because non-fiction has become so important. Not just sales-wise, but culture-wise. Fiction isn't quite as necessary now that we have TV and movies and spandex-free comix. I think people are legitimately interested in the lives and doings of actual people. The more we learn along those lines, the more enlightened we will be. So this interest, though it's sometimes limited to the prurient and the paranoid, should be encouraged. What better way to do that than to present people with useful references? I'm talking user-friendly, here, so in the absence of a librarian, one can find stuff on one's own, if one is so inclined.

And why didn't anyone do this before?

I remember as a kid, library references were staid of the art. Information doesn't have to be blandly presented. It's still learning even if it's kinda fun. What puritans the librarians of of forbears were! I blame John Dewey.

The next move, I think, is on-line. A web-site can be continually updated to provide coverage, so readers don't have to wait through the time-lag between editions.

Anyway, I officially approve of your mission, and hereby encourage your effort. (I know you've been waiting for that.)

[Rick Roche]

Thanks, Sarah. I hope that readers notice the "Top Biographers" section in the back, for biographers can be read somewhat like novelists. Find one you like and read all his or her books.

Also, I like that you have distinguished between read-alikes and related books. In the "Now try" section of each entry are some of both.

[Citizen Reader]

Bert,
Thank you. No need to investigate; largely, if you're outside the library world, these are books that fly under the radar. Someday when I write my bestselling memoirs, detailing the shocking private lives of Mr. and Ms. CR, then I'll expect you to know about it. :)

Thank you for your kind words and interest. I agree with you that these are essential guides, and not just because I write some of them. Although I was never very good at buying into librarian culture and library hierarches, to some extent I believe they are the last bastion of noncommercialism we have left. A place where the idea of sharing actually somewhat works. Imagine. A whole building of stuff that they beg you to take and look at, all for free. A building populated with staff who really want to help you find stuff to read. Just because. Not because they have to hit a sales quota, but because they want you to read. It's unbelievable, really. (And this is no slam at bookstore staff. I know bookstore staff are there pretty much to help you read, too, but let's face it, they're under pressure to sell too. That's the business world.)

I think these guides are important (fiction and non) because they are proof that someone cares about books and reading. It can be hard to find that kind of proof these days. I also love that their emphasis is on ADULT reading--with their maddening emphasis on kids and families only, public libraries miss the boat (I think) on the fact that the best way to RAISE readers is to BE a reader (and to let them SEE you being a reader). Your kid can get all the little summer library program stickers they want, but if they never see their parents reading--and enjoying it--they won't grow up to be readers anyway.

Okay, that is enough from me. We will have to talk more about old-school librarians sometime; I'm sorry you seem to have run into some joyless ones. And, in other news, Libraries Unlimited is trying to do this online; they run a database called the Readers' Advisor Online that offers all the info that's in these guides. It's pretty slick, and also has a blog--it's over in the sidebar.

Meantime, thanks again. Knowing you're out there certainly does my reading heart well. Maybe I have been waiting for your encouragement!

[Citizen Reader]

Rick,
You're very welcome. I know it's sacrilegious to write in books, but I'm already moving through yours, making notes about books I want to get. It is my copy so I'm getting a little thrill from writing in it. :) It's a wonderful book. And I LOVE the "Top Biographers" idea, so simple, yet such an innovative and useful compilation. Lovely.

[Sarah]

I agree with the first post, above, in that people are looking to learn about other people for some sort of reason. I also think they are looking for information on the past so as to make sense of the present (e.g. those who want to know what the Founders intended, or at least gain some information in order to form their own opinions).

Most importantly, however, is that I think there are just more good nonfiction books with a readable STORY being published. People want a STORY, and sometimes the "true" ones are more fascinating than the other-kind. Often, probably.

[Donna]

Rick and Sarah, now I have a question for collection purposes (we're creating a pull-out section of "biography and memoir"): Is there a difference between "memoir", "personal narrative", and "autobiography"? Would you include books catalogued as such in a section called "biography and memoir"? What about diaries (e.g., Anne Frank)?

I'm pulling items out of the 900s now with all of these designations.