Fred Kaplan

Myth and mythology often serve constructive and aspirational purposes. But they also do harm. ”

Obama is a very fine writer with an excellent command of language. His memoir 'Dreams From My Father' is a fine book, but it will not rank as one of the great autobiographies. ”

I want to contribute to the culture and keep great writers alive by telling the stories of their lives. ”

Gore Vidal was a man of immense literary talent, some of which he used well, some of which he wasted. ”

I'm not a Lincoln expert, rather a biographer who has had the pleasure of reading much of what has been written about him from his lifetime to this year of his bicentennial. Some advice: Don't try that unless you have at least five years available. ”

It should be quite clear that it is possible for unpleasant people who are small in various ways other than in their artistic genius to produce great art. Art and morality have no necessary connection. ”

The post-assassination Lincoln took on a greatly amplified importance to much of the American public, probably the president most deeply reviled in his lifetime and mostly highly regarded after his death. ”

I started out as a writer of fiction, but nobody wanted to publish my work as a young man. So I decided to put my interest in the narrative writing of biographies. ”

I got to know Gore Vidal quite well, up front and personal: his magnificent strengths and his appalling, almost other-worldly weaknesses. ”