ABSTRACT
Biography is probably the most popular genre of nonfiction, but just how a biography is produced—the biographical process—is only dimly understood. Among the most important and least understood aspects are the psychological dimensions of the biographical process. When a dozen writers reflect on a set of questions, albeit to varying degrees, their accounts constitute a unique body of source material. The maxim “all biography is autobiography” is no more credible than the contrary proposition that biography is strictly objective. Although the specifics have rarely been addressed, few readers will be surprised by the general proposition that biographers put their personal stamp on their works. Empathy is the avenue to the dissolution of the boundaries between biographer and subject. In the quest for understanding, the biographer projects himself into situations in which the subject lived and moved, and endeavors to capture his thoughts and feelings.
