Glancing off an earlier argument here, in a recent review of a book of
essays by Hermione Lee, Lynne Barber is all for nosey gossip in biographies
of writers.  

http://tinyurl.com/5ovlk

Now, I think Lynne Barber encapsulates all the reasons why I dislike
biographical peeking - shallow voyeurism, for instance, or a total dislike
of actually talking about art.  Barber objects that although Lee's book is
kinda fun, she's an "academic" (even potentially a "grim... feminist
academic" - oh no!) and that she talks about obscure and presumably boring
writers like Eudora Welty.  Ho hum.  Then she complains that the book
doesn't tell her anything "serious" about why biography is so popular these
days.  She complains:

"But it seems that Hermione Lee ­ Goldsmiths' Professor of English
Literature at Oxford University, biographer of Elizabeth Bowen, Willa Cather
and Virginia Woolf ­ is not in the habit of browsing the life-writing of,
say, Jordan or Posh Beckham. Moreover, like many Eng Lit academics, she is
obviously queasy about the whole genre. She talks about "the moral
reservations so often attached to biography ­ dislike of gossip, distrust of
'low' sources of information, squeamishness about reading private
correspondence, suspecting witnesses of having a private agenda".

"Dislike of gossip! Where would any biographer be without gossip? As Lee's
excellent essay "Jane Austen Faints" perfectly demonstrates, one tiny item
of hand-me-down gossip ­ that Jane Austen fainted when told that her family
was moving to Bath ­ can be worked up by subsequent biographers into pages
or even chapters of psychological exegesis."

Presumably Lee is pretty keen on biographical writings, but I guess I'll
have to read some of her work to find out why.  And I hasten to say, I'm not
against it per se, or I wouldn't read biographies.

Barber is the person who a few months ago was challenged to back her claim
of disliking theatre by actually going and seeing some plays.  Her
subsequent article was printed in the Guardian and elicited this response
from Encore:

"Let's not make a big deal of this because who really cares what Lynn Barber
thinks? However, before her article becomes landfill, we should just note
some particular howlers:

Challenged by her editor, she admits that the last two things she saw were
Mamma Mia and Jerry Springer - The Opera and that she hasn't seen a play for
years. 
She went to The Woman in Black believing it was The Woman in White . I
thought the point was to go and see plays , so neither evening would have
been particularly appropriate. But, soft, she explains; she went for the
Lloyd Webber because it was recommended to her by that paragon of theatrical
taste, Michael Winner.
She saw Much Ado About Nothing at the Globe but left at the interval because
the seat was uncomfortable.
She found Democracy dull and The Old Masters (right ) duller, which is fair
enough because they are (but hasn't she got any friends? anyone who could
have told her that?). Meanwhile, she adored The History Boys.
She adds that the programmes are excessively expensive (true) and that
actors sometimes shout too much (they do). And from this comprehensive
survey she diagnoses the theatre's problem in the fact that 'the plays are
all such crap'. 

Imagine someone who said they disliked rock music. You ask them why and they
explain that they have only bought a Steps and a Gareth Gates album in the
last five years. So you send them off to educate themselves and they come
back and tell you that ( a) they accidentally bought REO Speedwagon instead
of REM, ( b) that they gave up on Exile on Main Street halfway through, ( c)
that they find Coldplay and Keane bland but they adore Travis, and ( d) they
think the mark-up on CDs is excessive and they wish those Emo bands didn't
whine so much. From this, they lament that 'rock music is all such crap'. "

(How's that for discrediting? And sorry for the length, I got on a roll...
But you must admit, Encore has a point...)

Best

A

Alison Croggon

Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
Editor, Masthead:  http://masthead.net.au
Home page: http://alisoncroggon.com