Literary Biography

My review of Scott Donaldson's The Impossible Craft: Literary Biography at Open Letters Monthly:

If Donaldson believes that the claim for biography as a critical tool doesn’t need defending, he is wrong. That biography in itself can enlighten us about a writer’s work is mere conjecture short of an explanation of how this happens and illustrative examples. If he can’t defend it because the “light” thrown on the work is too dim, then biographers like Donaldson should stop making the claim. . . .