Richard Ellmann
American literary biographer whose lives of Yeats, Joyce, and Wilde set the standard for literary biography. James Joyce is widely regarded as the greatest literary biography in English. He combined encyclopedic research with critical insight and narrative grace.
Works
- James JoyceComprehensive biography of modernist writer James Joyce and his revolutionary literary works
- Yeats: The Man and the MasksDetailed biography examining Irish poet W.B. Yeats' complex persona and evolving artistic identity
- Oscar WildeAuthoritative life of Irish playwright and wit Oscar Wilde, documenting his wit, trials, and legacy
- The Identity of YeatsStudy of W.B. Yeats focusing on his self-creation and multiple artistic and philosophical identities
- Along the RiverrunScholarly essays on James Joyce and Finnegans Wake, tracing the river metaphor through his work