In The Literary Biography, Dale Salwak brings together nineteen essays, most of them written especially for the volume, on what has been called 'the most delicate and humane of all the branches of the art of writing' - the biography, in this instance, the literary biography. Thoughtfully assembled and elegantly presented, this distinguished collection will be an indispensable guide for the nonspecialist as well as the specialist, for biographers, would-be biographers, and readers in general who are eager to learn about the practical and theoretical aspects of trying to create what Maurois called 'this magnificent poetry of life'.