Facts and Fiction

'As deft and devastating as a piece of non-fiction writing in miniature as you’re ever likely to read ... A collection to be savoured, its urbanity, wisdom and humorous probing best digested at leisure' Daily TelegraphIn Facts and Fiction, Michael Holroyd reflects on the eccentricities of the art of writing about others. With characteristic playfulness and guilefulness, he considers the ways in which lives can be written about, with all the subtle differences of design and intention that this entails.From Rudyard Kipling to forgetfulness, the glories of Mary Norton’s Borrowers books to fellow biographers like Richard Holmes and Alexander Masters, Holroyd tackles an eclectic range of topics with wit, warmth and humour. This is a unique insight into the mind of a master.

These glancing encounters show biographer Holroyd at his versatile best … He breathes life and intrigue into every subject he alights on … A joyous collection, As deft and devastating as a piece of non-fiction writing in miniature as you’re ever likely to read, and it illustrates not only the biographer’s power to shape perceptions of his or her subject but also the artistry that underpins what sometimes masquerades as elegant reportage: truly, as this collection’s title indicates, facts and fiction … A collection to be savoured, its urbanity, wisdom and humorous probing best digested at leisure, Holroyd navigates the stories behind the books that made his name with a sensitive humour, delving deeply into the art of writing about others. A charming and engaging collection, Facts and Fiction reflects warmly on the intricacies and eccentricities of the most personal form of writing, Masterly, full of new insight, Holroyd has a wonderful eye for detail ... an entirely captivating biography ... one of the glories of the form

Michael Holroyd is one of our leading biographers. He has written the lives of Lytton Strachey, Bernard Shaw and Augustus John, as well as a group biography of Ellen Terry, Henry Irving and their families. He was awarded a knighthood in 2007 for services to literature. He lives in London.