THE great occupational hazard for any biographer is falling too much under the sway of his or her subject, becoming at best a biased observer, and at worst a propagandist.

• 对每个传记作者来说，最大的职业危险莫过于深受他或她所写主题的影响。这种情况下他或她最好的下场是被冠以“有偏见的观察者”称号，而最坏的则是被虐称为一个“宣传者”。