Eagle flew out of the night

As noted in a previous post, I had two surprises when reading Goodwin’s The Bully Pulpit. 

Surprise #2:

When the book came out, I didn’t even think about reading it, partly because I didn’t think Roosevelt was all that interesting (I was wrong), but mostly because…I don’t like biographies.  I’ve never liked biographies.  As a genre, they are incredibly dull.

So, about half-way though this book, when I was thoroughly enjoying it, it suddenly dawned on me that this wasn't just one biography, but about 7 biographies all rolled into one big tome.  And I was enjoying it.  I realized how unusual this was—after all I don’t like biographies, but this book was sure an exception, a huge exception, to that general rule.  Unlike the standard biography, it’s really good.  Then I remembered that I enjoyed the last biography I read too.  And the one before that.  And the one before that. And…well, you get the point.

Imagine my shock.

So, then I flipped it around.  Which biographies have I read that I didn’t enjoy?   That should be easy—after all I don’t like biographies because they are so dull and all.   So, what are the typical biographies, the dull ones that set the standard which all these other biographies are breaking in being so interesting?  Surprise #2:  I can’t think of any biographies I have read that I didn’t enjoy.  I’m not kidding.  I can’t think of a single example.  (This is when I grab you by the lapels and start screaming in a deranged voice:  "Don't you see what this means?  Don't you see?")

The best I could do: I remember reading some books in college history classes that were dull and may have been biographies (I don’t really remember—they were boring), but that isn’t exactly a fair comparison set—college professors assign lots of dull books.  I have assigned lots of dull books, after all.  I don’t even like all the books I have assigned.  (Why, then,  do I assign them?  A question for another day.  (Truth be told, that day may never come--do you really think I want to explain why I have assigned boring books?))  From this, I think it safe to conclude that I don’t like boring books written by bad authors.  Shocking, I know. 

But, biographies as a genre?  That is a different question—I presume I still don’t like boring, tedious, pointless biographies.  But, why did I think I didn’t like the whole genre?  And this is where it gets really puzzling: I have no idea.  As far back as I can remember, I have read a biography here and there, and in every case, I remember liking it.  Yet, as far back as I can remember, I remember not liking biographies.  I cannot convey how odd this is to me—I feel like I just walked out of Plato’s Cave and the world looks nothing like the world I used to see.  The light is blinding out here; it’s all a bit bewildering.  Like this.