Both fiction and non-fiction have their own set of “rules” which needs to be followed in order to make the final product successful.
While fiction can be anything/everything an author creates through the use of mere words; non-fiction can be not only rather dull to write, it can be quite boring to read; just recall the textbooks you needed to read in high school and college, containing one boring fact after another. And of all the various non-fiction subject matters an author can write about, biographies tend be the most daunting, especially if you want to do it well and not lose your audience’s interest in the process.
A person’s life is merely a collection of minutia of personal data; and this is where almost all biographers, in my opinion, fail in presenting this data to their readers in a manner which is not only informative but also entertaining.
Mark Whitaker, on the other, has succeeded in presenting an extensively researched biography of one of America’s best beloved entertainers, Bill Cosby. Mr. Whitaker, it becomes quite apparent as one reads this biography, uses his years of experience of being a reporter and editor at Newsweek, as well that of being the managing editor at CNN to create the work he has produced here.
The episodic approach used in writing this biography makes it read more like a novel than a biography, as each chapter of this book takes us through another phase in the life of Bill Cosby.
Mark Whitaker’s use of the reminiscences of Mr. Cosby and his friends and family, coupled with countless hours of research, followed by the apparent arduous task of gleaning all the information he’s collected into this book, makes each chapter come alive. Each chapter could have been viewed as an item on CNN.
In reviewing this book I feel it is more notable to concentrate on the attributes of the book itself rather than to dwell on any particular portion of the extraordinary life of Bill Crosby.
COSBY – His Life and Times by Mark Whitaker is a definite MUST READ for all those who have admired and appreciated any of the work Mr. Crosby has done, as not only as an entertainer or author, but as a humanitarian as well.
I’m therefore not hesitating in giving this book the 5 STARS it so richly deserves.
Please note I had received an early release copy of the final hardcover book through a giveaway drawing on GoodReads; and that the above has been my honest opinion of the book.
Robin Leigh Morgan is the self-published author of “I Kissed a Ghost,” a MG/YA Paranormal romance novel.
If after reading this review you might consider buying it, please indicated this on Amazon. - THANKS
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