The Biographer's Tale
A.S. Byatt Book Review

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Plot Summary of The Biographer's Tale

"

Knopf, Jan 2001, 24.00, 305 pp.
ISBN: 0375411143

    His postgraduate literary-criticism courses bore student Phineas G. Nanson, who wonders if that is all there is in life. Unable to take anymore, Phineas decides to commit university heresy and devote his time on biography, feeling that will provide a taste of real life. He chooses the obscure works of Destry-Scholes who gave the world the consummate story of Victorian polymath Sir Elmer Bole, a nineteenth century English renaissance man.

    Phineas' research into his hero leads to finding partial manuscripts on Linnaeus, Galton, and Ibsen. However, as the student-scholar digs deeper into his champion's works, he finds that Desrty-Scholes has created facts to spice up the lives of his subjects. Uncovering this information makes a disappointed Phineas realize the world of biography is closer to the literary realm than he realized, but with his stiff upper lip he seem happier for the knowledge.

    THE BIOGRAPHER'S TALE is a series of satires that laughs at much of what modern society, especially the British, reveres from its heritage. The story line slowly evolves setting up the ironic humor. Publishers, authors, and reviewers (I included) can see ourselves alongside insects and vermin in caricatures of fun house mirror images of ourselves.

Harriet Klausner

Crested sapwood supportable noradrenaline runout.

"
Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of The Biographer's Tale

Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).

Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of story - 1980's-1999
Life of a profession: - student
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Job/Profession/Status story Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - student
Age: - 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality - White (American)
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 4 (a fair amount)
United States Yes

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death
Unusual Style: - a lot of stream of consciousness
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

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A.S. Byatt Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:

shreyashi ganguly

SCHOLARS: Karen Mattern

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The Biographer's Tale A.S. Byatt Book Review

The Biographer's Tale
A.S. Byatt Book Review