Dear Author: Romance Book Reviews, Author Interviews, and Commentary

Dear Ms. Coleman,

When your publicist offered us the chance to review your latest novel, all that truly penetrated my brain was ‘women’s fiction’ and ‘western.’ Which is fine since I’ve enjoyed several books of this type and genre before. It wasn’t until I actually dove into the prologue that I realized it’s the story of Alvira “Allie” Sullivan Earp, third wife of Virgil Earp of those Earps. But it’s not just Allie’s viewpoint on what lead up to the famous gunfight in Tombstone, AZ. It’s also a view of the old west that even then was vanishing under the onslaught of settlers bringing ‘civilization’ with them.

Tumblweeds are a staple of images of The Old West even though, as I just discovered, they’re not native to the US at all. Those endlessly moving clumps of salsola blowing across the vast openness of the prairie symbolize the itchy feet both Allie and Virgil had. They both wanted to see what was beyond where they were, to be a part of the next big opportunity.

Family was important to both and often their traveling was to be with one or more of Virgil’s brothers. I found those …

David Michaelis’ recent biography of Charles Schulz, Shulz and Peanuts brings up an interesting concept. Is a biography about the subject or the biographer?

Michaelis contacted the Schulz family in 2000 to see if they would be open to Michaelis writing a biography of Charles Schulz. The family opened up their hearts and records to him and in return, according to the family Michaelis wrongly portrayed Schulz as a depressed and bitter womanizer.

Some of the family who commented felt deceived and disappointed. Jean Schulz, Shulz's second wife, was a temperate in her comments. She found the book was not a “full portrait” because “Sparky” was full of laughter but she recognized that "Happiness is not funny.” Interestingly, Schulz said that the biographer was “writing this for himself” and that "[h]e's got to be satisfied.”

Which begs the question: What is the purpose of the biography?

Source: New York Times (and Times Review).