Call number
BIO CAR
Collection
Genres
Publication
Knopf (2019), 240 pages
Description
Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Caro gives us a glimpse into his own life and work. He describes what it was like to interview the mighty Robert Moses; what it felt like to begin discovering the extent of the political power Moses wielded; the combination of discouragement and exhilaration he felt confronting the vast holdings of the Lyndon B. Johnson Library in Austin, Texas; his encounters with witnesses, including longtime residents wrenchingly displaced by the construction of Moses' Cross-Bronx Expressway and Lady Bird Johnson acknowledging the beauty and influence of one of LBJ's mistresses. He gratefully remembers how, after years of working in solitude, he found a writers' community at the New York Public Library, and details the ways he goes about planning and composing his books. Caro recalls the moments at which he came to understand that he wanted to write not just about the men who wielded power but about the people and the politics that were shaped by that power. And he talks about the importance to him of the writing itself, of how he tries to infuse it with a sense of place and mood to bring characters and situations to life on the page.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member stevesmits
Fascinating! To see how the master of biography works. In 1974, I was in class as graduate school where the professor was ecstatic about "The Power Broker". I don't remember the professor and certainly nothing of the course, but I well remember one of the most amazing works of biography ever --
Caro is 83 and I'm 70. My fondest hope is that he's alive to finish volume 5 and I'm alive to read it!!
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followed by the equally great Lyndon Johnson volumes. Caro is 83 and I'm 70. My fondest hope is that he's alive to finish volume 5 and I'm alive to read it!!
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LibraryThing member arosoff
This is a collection of writings about Caro's research and writing process, some of it previously published. It's not very long, but it's got some fascinating material on his process and what it was like to interview some of the people involved in his books, including Robert Moses. The quality of
Caro says in his introduction that he plans to write a memoir after he completes the final volume in The Years of Lyndon Johnson, but knows that time may be against him. I hope he gets to complete his memoir, but I have another request: for his wife Ina (also a writer) to write about her experiences. Caro has always credited Ina for the work she does on his books, and rightfully so, but I would love to hear her stories, too.
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Caro's writing is as good as ever--his books are so good not just because of the amount of work he puts into them, but because he's able to turn what could be dry facts into a compelling narrative. Even a small anecdote about what it was like to interview Hill Country women about life before electrification is memorable. Caro says in his introduction that he plans to write a memoir after he completes the final volume in The Years of Lyndon Johnson, but knows that time may be against him. I hope he gets to complete his memoir, but I have another request: for his wife Ina (also a writer) to write about her experiences. Caro has always credited Ina for the work she does on his books, and rightfully so, but I would love to hear her stories, too.
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LibraryThing member maggie1944
Fascinating explanation of Cairo’s exhaustive research and high demands for himself to write in a way which grabs attention.
LibraryThing member gregdehler
My previous reading of Robert Caro was limited to a few dips into his biographies of Robert Moses and Lyndon Johnson for undergraduate and graduate papers. And honestly, the sheer size of his volumes always scared me off. And I did not anticipate that I would read Working, especially after
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listening to Caro describe on a couple of different podcasts and having read one of his articles in the New Yorker. But when I scanned Working it was obvious that there were several things he had not already mentioned, so I broke down and brought the book. It is a delightful account of the behind-the-scenes writing of history and biography. I came away with a deep admiration and subsequently started purchasing those books that once frightened me by their size. After reading Working I am now a Caro FAN!!! Show Less
LibraryThing member wwj
Excellent, one hopes that the final volume of LBJ comes out soon and he turns to a full memoir
LibraryThing member waldhaus1
I started buying the years on Lyndon Johnson when it was only a hardback. But like too many books I buy I never got around to reading them. Then about ten years ago I Bagan listening to the audiobooks and they exceeded my expectations. I have listened to all that has been published then this year I
I have also read two of his wife, Ina's books about travel in France and loved born. I always recommend them to anyone I know who is planning a trip to France.
So I couldn't resist the chance to learn more about those behind the books that had brought me so much enjoyment. This book also exceeded 7 expectations. Having it narrated by the author w was a special treat.
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discovered the power broker about Robert Moses and was again delighted. I have also read two of his wife, Ina's books about travel in France and loved born. I always recommend them to anyone I know who is planning a trip to France.
So I couldn't resist the chance to learn more about those behind the books that had brought me so much enjoyment. This book also exceeded 7 expectations. Having it narrated by the author w was a special treat.
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LibraryThing member john.cooper
Caro is reputed to be the best living biographer, one whose work not only fully illuminates an individual, but his entire society and times, in prose worthy of an exciting novel. He has won the Pulitzer Prize twice, the National Book Critics Circle award three times, and was given the National
Meanwhile, here are 200 pages of stories and reflections that had no place in the biographies themselves: stories of the people he's met, of the interviews they gave, of how Caro works and how he thinks; it's all interesting, sometimes more than just interesting, and it makes me eager to read the rest of his work sooner instead of later. Reading his work is like sitting in his office and listening to him talk about the larger-than-life characters he encountered, and how he got them to open up. In no sense is reading this fascinating book "study" or work. It's as easy as reading a magazine, and a hundred times more rewarding.
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Humanities Medal by President Obama. In another decade, when I'm retired, I hope to read his 3,500-page biography of Lyndon Johnson in its entirety. (I hope that by that time, it's been expanded by a further 1,200 pages or so.)Meanwhile, here are 200 pages of stories and reflections that had no place in the biographies themselves: stories of the people he's met, of the interviews they gave, of how Caro works and how he thinks; it's all interesting, sometimes more than just interesting, and it makes me eager to read the rest of his work sooner instead of later. Reading his work is like sitting in his office and listening to him talk about the larger-than-life characters he encountered, and how he got them to open up. In no sense is reading this fascinating book "study" or work. It's as easy as reading a magazine, and a hundred times more rewarding.
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LibraryThing member larryerick
I'm not going to review this book for those who have already read one of this author's books on Robert Moses or Lyndon Johnson. Those readers are already familiar with his outstanding scholarship. This book will be more a very pleasant summary for them of what they experienced earlier. Rather, I am
The first regards what this author brings to non-fiction in spades that avid fiction readers presumably assume never exists at all in non-fiction. "Rhythm matters. Mood matters. Sense of place matters. All these things we talk about with novels, yet feel that for history and biology to accomplish what they should accomplish, they have to pay as much attention to these devices as novels do." As exemplary as this author is at that, he is not the only one, in the least. There is outstanding non-fiction "writing" out there for those fiction-only readers to marvel over, if they will only look closely. And a big advantage that non-fiction has over fiction is that the reader can never find themselves saying, "Oh, that could never have happened like that", because, of course, in accurate non-fiction writing, it most definitely did happen, exactly that way.
Secondly, this author's major work is about power, how it works, how it is gained or lost, how it affects our lives for good and bad. To that, I will offer from this book: "Power doesn't always corrupt...But what power *always* does is reveal, because when climbing, you have to conceal from people what it is you're really willing to do, what it is you want to do. But once you get enough power, once you're there, then you can see what the protagonist wanted to do all along, because he's doing it." Can you think of anyone in today's world to whom this may apply? I can think of several, and not all of them tweet multiple times a day.
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going to direct attention to two points the author makes in this brief but still enlightening work.The first regards what this author brings to non-fiction in spades that avid fiction readers presumably assume never exists at all in non-fiction. "Rhythm matters. Mood matters. Sense of place matters. All these things we talk about with novels, yet feel that for history and biology to accomplish what they should accomplish, they have to pay as much attention to these devices as novels do." As exemplary as this author is at that, he is not the only one, in the least. There is outstanding non-fiction "writing" out there for those fiction-only readers to marvel over, if they will only look closely. And a big advantage that non-fiction has over fiction is that the reader can never find themselves saying, "Oh, that could never have happened like that", because, of course, in accurate non-fiction writing, it most definitely did happen, exactly that way.
Secondly, this author's major work is about power, how it works, how it is gained or lost, how it affects our lives for good and bad. To that, I will offer from this book: "Power doesn't always corrupt...But what power *always* does is reveal, because when climbing, you have to conceal from people what it is you're really willing to do, what it is you want to do. But once you get enough power, once you're there, then you can see what the protagonist wanted to do all along, because he's doing it." Can you think of anyone in today's world to whom this may apply? I can think of several, and not all of them tweet multiple times a day.
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LibraryThing member FormerEnglishTeacher
Caro’s book is ostensibly about two book subjects: city planner Robert Moses and politician Lyndon Johnson. The Johnson book is four volumes with the fifth supposedly on its way (although Caro is 84 years old, so whether or not it will actually come out is in doubt). Caro’s book is as much
Caro’s book probably isn’t for everyone. I think it should be required reading in every journalism school and nonfiction writing program in the country. It would be as instructive to students as any textbook. I really enjoyed it.
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about the research and writing process as it is about the two men who are the subjects of his books. Caro goes into detail about how important it is to get his reader to “see” the settings he’s writing about, not merely know the place. He asks his interviewees to reconstruct their dealings with the people Caro is actually writing about. Often its a difficult process to get these people to put themselves back in the situations they’re talking about, but the tactic is effective and results in anecdotes that Caro uses to bring these scenes and people to life for his reader. Caro’s book probably isn’t for everyone. I think it should be required reading in every journalism school and nonfiction writing program in the country. It would be as instructive to students as any textbook. I really enjoyed it.
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LibraryThing member rivkat
Musings and interviews about Caro’s life as a writer and chronicler of what it means to have power. He worked very hard to show people both the human costs and benefits of the exercise of power—Robert Moses’s destruction of thriving neighborhoods and thus of many of the people who lived
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there; LBJ’s transformation of the lives of rural Texas women who used to have to pull hundreds of gallons of water up from wells by hand, then transport those hundreds of pounds to their houses, every single day, through rural electrification. He tells a wonderful story about figuring out how LBJ went from random junior Congressman to a person that senior elected officials wrote to deferentially—in October 1940, he transformed and organized political donations from Texas businesses, putting more money into congressional campaigns around the country than had ever been available, but kept them firmly under his own control. LBJ had tried to keep most of this off the record, but just enough survived (sometimes mysteriously filed) for Caro to piece together the story. In the end, Caro says, power doesn’t necessarily corrupt, but “what power always does is reveal.” Show Less
LibraryThing member Castlelass
“While I am aware that there is no Truth, no objective truth, no single truth, no truth simple or unsimple, either; no verity, eternal or otherwise; no Truth about anything, there are Facts, objective facts, discernible and verifiable. And the more facts you accumulate, the closer you come to
Robert A. Caro has written a memoir that documents his method of work. It is split into the component parts referenced in the subtitle. He accomplishes this goal by using examples from his own writing – primarily his biographies of Robert Moses and Lyndon Johnson. His books explore the sources of power – urban power in the case of Moses, and national political power in the case of Johnson.
Caro is an intentional writer – he decides the crux of what he wants to say, boils it down to its essence, then makes sure his written product fits this summary. Nothing superfluous is included. His research is meticulous. He does his own research, assisted only by his wife, Ina. He makes sure he can support his narrative with written documentation and facts. He conducts a vast array of interviews, searching for anyone who knew these people. He interviews key players many times, asking detailed questions to ensure he can convey the emotional context as well as what happened and why. In short, the depth and breadth of his research is astounding.
One of his main points is that writing non-fiction should be similar to writing fiction in terms of creating a sense of place, employing high quality prose, and instilling the narrative with a sense of rhythm and mood. He emphasizes that the non-fiction writer is telling a story, albeit one that has been researched and fact-checked rather than imagined. He believes the time it takes to follow the process, and pursue the truth, is well spent. This book is filled with great advice for writers, and I found it a pleasure to read.
Especially recommended to those interested in writing non-fiction.
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whatever truth there is.”Robert A. Caro has written a memoir that documents his method of work. It is split into the component parts referenced in the subtitle. He accomplishes this goal by using examples from his own writing – primarily his biographies of Robert Moses and Lyndon Johnson. His books explore the sources of power – urban power in the case of Moses, and national political power in the case of Johnson.
Caro is an intentional writer – he decides the crux of what he wants to say, boils it down to its essence, then makes sure his written product fits this summary. Nothing superfluous is included. His research is meticulous. He does his own research, assisted only by his wife, Ina. He makes sure he can support his narrative with written documentation and facts. He conducts a vast array of interviews, searching for anyone who knew these people. He interviews key players many times, asking detailed questions to ensure he can convey the emotional context as well as what happened and why. In short, the depth and breadth of his research is astounding.
One of his main points is that writing non-fiction should be similar to writing fiction in terms of creating a sense of place, employing high quality prose, and instilling the narrative with a sense of rhythm and mood. He emphasizes that the non-fiction writer is telling a story, albeit one that has been researched and fact-checked rather than imagined. He believes the time it takes to follow the process, and pursue the truth, is well spent. This book is filled with great advice for writers, and I found it a pleasure to read.
Especially recommended to those interested in writing non-fiction.
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LibraryThing member markm2315
This is sort of a mini-memoir by the great biographer who is too busy finishing the presumably last volume of his LBJ biography to write a true memoir. Most of the book has been previously published and there is a moderate amount of repetition. Even so, Caro's stories about his research and several
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of his most difficult interviews are both entertaining and instructive. I was amused that he would write "SU" for "shut-up" in the notes he took while interviewing someone since he needed a period of silence to draw out a response. I did essentially the same thing during meetings at work, and I am reminded of trial attorneys, comedians, actors, politicians, and musicians who need to work to create the pregnant pause - "wait for it ...". Show Less
LibraryThing member tuckerresearch
Caro collects some writings and adds some others about researching, interviewing, and writing process. As such, it is part memoir, part biography, part historiography. He gives numerous examples from his works, his bios on Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson, and it is illuminating to hear about
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some of the struggles Caro went through to find information, interview people, and such. It explains why he takes so long to produce his works, but also why they are so engaging and all-encompassingly complete. From p. 11, he was told by a journalistic mentor: "Turn every page. Never assume anything. Turn every goddamned page." As an historian myself, I totally understand that sentiment. Show Less
LibraryThing member alans
Phenomenal book,fascinating read.
Pages
240
ISBN
0525656340 / 9780525656340