The Modern Library

Literary biographies of novelists chosen in this book

Chinua Achebe

Christophe Tshikala Kamgaji

Chinua Achebe: A Novelist and A Portrait of His Society 2004

Kingsley Amis

Zachary Leader

The Life of Kingsley Amis 2006

James Baldwin

James Campbell

Talking at the Gates: A Life of James Baldwin 1992

Samuel Beckett

Anthony Cronin

Samuel Beckett. The Last Modernist 1996

James Knowlson

Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett 1996

Elizabeth Bowen

Victoria Glendinning

Elizabeth Bowen: Portrait of a Writer 1977

William Burroughs

Ted Morgan

Literary Outlaw: The Life and Times of William Burroughs 1988

Raymond Chandler

Tom Hiney

Raymond Chandler: A Biography 1997

Bruce Chatwin

Susannah Clapp

With Chatwin: Portrait of a Writer 1997

Nicholas Shakespeare

Bruce Chatwin 1999

John Cheever

Scott Donaldson

John Cheever: A biography 1988

Blake Bailey

Cheever: A life 2009

Agatha Christie

Laura Thompson

Agatha Christie: The Biography of Agatha Christie 2004

Ivy Compton-Burnett

Hilary Spurting

Ivy When Young: The Early Life of Ivy Compton-Burnett 1884–1919 1974

The Secrets of a Woman’s Heart: The Later Life of Ivy Compton-Burnett 1920–1969 1984

Robertson Davies

Judith Skelton Grant

Robertson Davies: Man of Myth 1994

Isak Dinesen

Judith Thurman

Isak Dinesen: The Life of A Story Teller 1986

Daphne du Maurier

Margaret Forster

Daphne du Maurier 1993

Ralph Ellison

Lawrence Jackson

Ralph Ellison: Emergence of Genius 2002

J. G. Farrell

Lavinia Greacen

J. G. Farrell: The Making of A Writer 1999

William Faulkner

Frederick R. Karl

William Faulkner: American Writer 1989

John Fowles

Eileen Warburton

John Fowles: A Life in Two Worlds 2004

William Golding

John Carey

William Golding, A Life 2009

Nadine Gordimer

Ronald Suresh Roberts

No Cold Kitchen: A Biography of Nadine Gordimer 2005

Alasdair Gray

Rodge Glass

Alasdair Gray: A Secretary’s Biography 2008

Henry Green

Jeremy Treglown

Romancing: The Life and Times of Henry Green 2001

Graham Greene

Norman Sherry

The Life of Graham Greene Vol 1: 1904–1939 1989

The Life of Graham Greene Vol 2: 1939–1955 1995

The Life of Graham Greene Vol 3: 1956–1991 2004

Patrick Hamilton

Sean French

Patrick Hamilton 1993

Ernest Hemingway

Carlos Baker

Ernest Hemingway: A Life Story 1969

Georgette Heyer

Jane Aiken Hodge

The Private World of Georgette Heyer

B. S. Johnson

Jonathan Coe

Like A Fiery Elephant: A Life of B. S. Johnson 2005

Jack Kerouac

Barry Miles

Jack Kerouac: King of the Beats 1998

Rosamond Lehmann

Selina Hastings

Rosamond Lehmann: A Life 2002

Norman Mailer

Peter Manso

Mailer: His Life and Times 1989

Mary McCarthy

Frances Kiernan

Seeing Mary Plane: A Life of Mary McCarthy

Carson McCullers

Virginia Spencer

Carr The Lonely Hunter: A Biography of Carson McCullers 1975

Olivia Manning

Neville Braybrooke and June Braybrooke

Olivia Manning: A Life 2004

William Maxwell

Barbara A. Burckhardt

William Maxwell: A Literary Life 2005

Brian Moore

Patricia Craig

Brian Moore: A Biography 2003

Vladimir Nabokov

Brian Boyd

Vladimir Nabokov: The Russian Years 1990

Vladimir Nabokov: The American Years 1991

V. S. Naipaul

Patrick French

The World is What it Is: The Authorised Biography of V. S. Naipaul 2008

John O’Hara

Frank Mac Shane

The Life of John O’Hara 1987

Sylvia Plath

Janet Malcolm

The Silent Woman: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes 1994

Jacqueline Rose

The Haunting of Sylvia Plath 1991

Katherine Anne Porter

John Givner

Katherine Anne Porter: A Life 1990

Anthony Powell

Hilary Spurling

Invitation to the Dance: A Handbook to Anthony Powell’s Dance to the Music of Time 1976

Jean Rhys

Carol Angier

Jean Rhys: Life and Work 1990

Lillian Pizzichini

The Blue Hour 2009

Frank Sargeson

Michael King

Frank Sargeson: A Life 1995

Paul Scott

Hilary Spurling

Paul Scott: A Life 1990

Christina Stead

Hazel Rowley

Christina Stead: A Biography 1993

John Steinbeck

Jay Parini

John Steinbeck: A Biography 1995

Jackson J. Benson

The True Adventures of John Steinbeck, Writer: A Biography 1989

Peter Taylor

Hubert Horton McAlexander

Peter Taylor: A Writer’s Life 2004

John Kennedy Toole

George Hardy

Ignatius Rising: The Life of John Kennedy Toole 2001

Sylvia Townsend Warner

Claire Harman

Sylvia Townsend Warner: A Biography 1989

Evelyn Waugh

Selina Hastings

Evelyn Waugh: A Biography 1995

Eudora Welty

Paul Binding

The Still Moment: Eudora Welty, Portrait of a Writer 1994

Patrick White

David Marr

Patrick White: A Life 1991

P. G. Wodehouse

Frances Donaldson

P. G. Wodehouse: The Authorised Biography 1992

Robert McCrum

P. G. Wodehouse: A Life 2004