I’ve written biographies of people ranging from heroes and great thinkers to terrible tyrants. With all respect to the great 1966 film by Sergio Leone, I sometimes call this part of my career “the good, the bad, and the ugly.” I was thrilled, though, to write books for kids about my science hero, Charles Darwin, and three wonderful authors. Here are my favorites among the biographies I’ve written, with a few of the reviews they received:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
STEPHEN KING, <\/strong>2011, Marshall Cavendish Benchmark<\/p>\n\n\n\n —–It\u2019s not just that Stephen King writes dark material\u2014it\u2019s that he writes so much of it. The wildly prolific master of the macabre is given intelligent, judicious scrutiny in this delightfully thorough volume from the Today\u2019s Writers and Their Works series. King\u2019s formative years are shown as vital to his worldview: the discovered box of his dad\u2019s H. P. Lovecraft books; Sputnik-era Cold War fears; the activism and drug experimentation of the \u201960s; the famous first three pages of Carrie that his wife, Tabitha, rescued from a trash can in 1972. Stefoff then has the daunting job of synthesizing King\u2019s gazillion books and movies without losing pace with his personal life and publishing experiments, a task she pulls off swimmingly. King\u2019s output is synopsized with swiftness and insight and is bolstered by critical blurbs both good and bad (and really bad\u2014the projects Stefoff calls \u201cthe howling duds\u201d). Most impressive is her handling of King\u2019s alcohol and drug abuse; readers will sympathize with King\u2019s concern that his writing would dry up if he went clean. The basic layout is filled with rarely seen photos, and the final chapters focus on key works, King\u2019s literary merit (or lack thereof), and an exhaustive bibliography and time line.–<\/em>Booklist, starred<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n AL\nGORE: FIGHTING FOR A GREENER PLANET,<\/strong>\n2009, Lerner<\/p>\n\n\n\n JACK\nLONDON: AN AMERICAN ORIGINAL,<\/strong>\n2002, Oxford University Press<\/p>\n\n\n\n WILLIAM\nPENN, <\/strong>1998, Chelsea\nHouse<\/p>\n\n\n\n TECUMSEH\nAND THE SHAWNEE CONFEDERATION, <\/strong>1998,\nFacts On File<\/p>\n\n\n\n CHARLES DARWIN AND THE EVOLUTION REVOLUTION,<\/strong> 1996, Oxford University Press<\/p>\n\n\n\n —–\u201cStefoff is an excellent, lucid writer, and her book contains moving passages on Darwin\u2019s personal losses and triumphs. . . . [T]his delightful little book is quite accessible to readers with little background in biology.\u201d\u2014 Quarterly Review of Biology<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n —–\u201cStefoff told part of Darwin\u2019s story in <\/em>Scientific Explorers (1992); here she expands a chapter into a lucid, lively, systematic account of his two great journeys \u2013 one physical, one intellectual \u2013 and the modern course of the controversy he sparked. . . . This is a first-rate portrait of the man, public and private, as well as his circle and his scientific legacy . . . thoughtful and authoritative.\u201d\u2014 <\/em>Kirkus <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n HERMAN MELVILLE, <\/strong>1994, <\/strong>Julian Messner<\/p>\n\n\n\n —–In a lucid account of Melville\u2019s \u2018sad, although not quite tragic\u2019 life, the author of many fine biographies explores his sources of inspiration and analyzes his major themes, his sophisticated use of symbolism and other literary devices, and why his books eluded wide readership until the 20th century. Though Stefoff never loses sight of him as a person . . . , her focus on his work makes this most valuable as a brief critical appraisal for his many confused or intimated readers and a bonanza for term-paper writers.\u2014<\/em>Kirkus <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n —–Stefoff\u2019s exceptional biography of Herman Melville is not only accessible in language and structure, but also an exciting read. . . . Stefoff skillfully integrates interesting literary analyses of Melville\u2019s novels with the facts of his life. Her stirring first chapter, the clarity of her writing, and her focus on portions of Melville\u2019s life of particular interest to young adults afford a biography that provides them with a better understanding of Melville\u2019s life and may even inspire them to read <\/em>Moby-Dick.\u2014 <\/em>Booklist, starred<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I’ve written biographies of people ranging from heroes and great thinkers to terrible tyrants. With all respect to the great 1966 film by Sergio Leone, I sometimes call this part of my career “the good, the bad, and the ugly.” I was thrilled, though, to write books for kids about my science hero, Charles Darwin, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":125,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2947","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stefoff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stefoff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stefoff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stefoff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stefoff.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2947"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/stefoff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2969,"href":"https:\/\/stefoff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2947\/revisions\/2969"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stefoff.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stefoff.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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