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Oscar Espla in Belgium (1936-1949).

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By Jan de Kloe. Columbus, OH: Editions Orphee, 2001. [xiv, 264 p. ISBN 1-882612-21-3. $44.95.] Illustrations, index.

If forced to simplify, one might say that there are two main trends in biographical writing. On the one hand, there are narrative biographies--works in which the life of an individual is related as a tale or story with a conspicuous literary panache. An interrupted teleological thread punctuated by periodical narrative climaxes characterizes this type of writing. The writer, in this case, might indulge in psychological speculation or the likelihood of "what might have happened." In these biographies, the author often provides explanations or descriptions of the works; compositions and performances are summarized, analyzed, and critically appraised. An extreme example of this narrative writing is Simon Schama, whose hefty volumes fictionalize characters and situations by presenting events in a format that dangerously blurs the line between fact and fiction, between narrative history and historical novel.

And then there are documentary biographies. Their advocates look at narrative accounts with suspicion because they presume that the graceful narration...

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