Boswell's Presumptuous Task by Adam Sisman

Title: Boswell's Presumptuous Task: The Making of the Life of Dr. Johnson

Author: Adam Sisman

First Published: 2000

No. of Pages: 314

Synopsis (from B&N): "James Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson is the most celebrated of all biographies, acknowledged as one of the greatest and most entertaining books in the English language. Yet Boswell himself has generally been considered little more than an idiot and condemned by posterity as a lecher and drunk. How could such a fool have written such a book? With great wit, Adam Sisman here tells the story of Boswell's presumptuous task - the making of the greatest biography of all time. Sisman traces the friendship between Boswell and Samuel Johnson, his great mentor, and provides a fascinating account of Boswell's seven-year struggle to write The Life of Samuel Johnson."

Fiction or Nonfiction: Nonfiction

Comments and Critique: James Boswell is one of the most infuriating real-life people I've ever read about. He was highly emotional; full of self-pity; convinced of his own superiority; and had dreams of grandeur but put forward little or no effort toward making those dreams reality. And yet, he managed to produce one of the most successful and revered biographies of all time. This book does a wonderful job of showing both his virtues and his faults, both of which are often shown through his own words (in addition to making himself a central figure in his biography of Johnson, he kept a detailed journal throughout his adult life and, like most of his contemporaries, had a wide correspondence), as well as the difficulties and determination involved with the writing of a biography. I know that, when I read a biography, I'm often sick of the person by the time I finish. I can only guess how much worse it could be for the author; no matter how dedicated you are and even if you're writing about someone you knew and liked, to spend so many years on a project requires more dedication than I can imagine.

One of the most interesting things about this book is the history of the development of biography as a literary form. At the time The Life of Samuel Johnson was published, biographies appear to have been quite different from those we read today. Authors were quite careful to only present certain aspects of the subjects' characters and lives, so that what you got was not so much a true picture of the person's life but instead an ode to the person's greatness. Individual particularities, idiosyncrasies, and character flaws were either glossed over or left out entirely. In addition, it was considered dishonorable to delve into the person's private life, so that the biography only focused on the public aspects. I found this very interesting, as it is the complete opposite of what you find in today's biographies, which are either a scholarly account of a person's complete life, warts and all, or a tabloid-style tell-all, in which the author not only does not shy away from embarassing private details but actively seeks them out and exposes them.

The book also addresses the problems that arise when an author seeks to write a biography of a contemporary. Even if the subject has passed on, many of the people from the subject's life may still be alive, and the writer has to balance the need to be objective and truthful with the feelings and concerns of others. This was especially true for Boswell, who was known for transcribing private conservations and then including them in his books, often to the dismay and anger of the conversants.

Challenges: 999 ("Biography"); Dewey Decimal