Phenomenal book,fascinating read. ( )

The Paris Review reprint towards the back of the book is worth the price of admission. I read this because I was curious about how Robert A. Caro could write such well-loved and prize-winning biographies. This small book is a series of articles and vignettes about his lifetime work, The Power Broker, and his multi-volume set of books on Lyndon B. Johnson.

I also came to this work because I watched a documentary about his working relationship with Robert Gottlieb, the 20th/21st-century's greatest editor. Turn Every Page is a delight to watch. this book covers some of the same ground and stories but then goes into depth with specifics about how he researches and writes.

In the Paris Review interview, you will find his six steps, which I've summarized here:

How do you do research?
1. Read all the books on a subject.
2. Then the big newspapers and all the magazines.
3. Newspapers from the little towns.
4. The documents
5. Interviews formal and informal chats
6. Are you making the reader see the Scene

But if you are a writer or heavy reader, you will not want to miss the book. These six steps do not do justice to his writing and the included stories.

Thank you to my friend Robing for recommending the book. Now to read the heavy tome that is The Power Broker. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. I appreciate that Robert Caro was willing to share his interviewing and research methods with us. He is clearly very excited about his subject matters and his writing and that all comes through to his readers. His is the kind of writing that makes history come alive because he pays such attention to getting at the truth and also the surrounding details of place which lifts the book beyonds a list of facts.
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This is sort of a mini-memoir by the great biographer who is too busy finishing the presumably last volume of his LBJ biography to write a true memoir. Most of the book has been previously published and there is a moderate amount of repetition. Even so, Caro's stories about his research and several of his most difficult interviews are both entertaining and instructive. I was amused that he would write "SU" for "shut-up" in the notes he took while interviewing someone since he needed a period of silence to draw out a response. I did essentially the same thing during meetings at work, and I am reminded of trial attorneys, comedians, actors, politicians, and musicians who need to work to create the pregnant pause - "wait for it ...". ( )

Fascinating book, and some great insights into what goes into creating an epic biography of a modern figure. I haven't yet read one of Caro's masterpieces but this book has made me certain that I want to do so. ( )