[Vwoolf] New to list: Reading VWoolf's Fry bio

Diane Reynolds direynolds at earthlink.net
Tue Jan 9 11:47:40 EST 2018


I wanted to introduce myself to the list, as I joined perhaps a week ago. I know two people on the list—Elaine Pigeon and Ellen Moody—as cyber friends. Ellen and I and perhaps some others read  Hermione Lee’s Woolf  bio on the WomenWritersThroughtheAges list that Ellen moderates not too long ago. Right now, I am in the midst of Woolf's Fry biography. Having published a biography myself, on Dietrich Bonhoeffer (an interesting comparison to Woolf in many ways) I know that factual inaccuracy goes well beyond Wikipedia—much of what I had to do was unravel fact from myth in my focus on women in Bonhoeffer’s life. This is not to disparage other biographers, but to note how, if one's focus is not on a certain topic, it can be easy to accept and repeat misinformation. I do always warn my students, as I imagine most do, to be wary of Wikipedia—and yet, like them, I often go it when I am seeking information and further references. I suppose a hermeneutic of suspicion is a good working strategy. :)

Diane


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