Saint-Exupery: A Biography

Saint-Exupery: A Biography
by Stacy Schiff

Saint-Exupery: A Biography
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Book Summary Information

Author: Stacy Schiff
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-02-07
ISBN: 0805079130
Number of pages: 560
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks

Book Reviews of Saint-Exupery: A Biography

Book Review: Fantastic & revealing
Summary: 5 Stars

Easily one of the best biographies I've ever read, in part because its subject is not overexposed. Like many people, I came to Saint-Exupery via The Little Prince and knew very little about his life except "was a pilot, then he crashed."

The intense introspection of The Little Prince led me to an image of the author as a bit of a recluse, holed up in a study somewhere drawing pictures of pythons. The Saint-Ex discovered in this book, however, is engaged in near-constant adventure at the dawn of aviation. We see plane crashes (in the Sahara, in an open cockpit plane, in territory populated by hostile locals), kidnappings, poverty, love (and love lost), and war, and throughout it all Saint-Ex skims along with one foot in our world and one foot thoroughly in his own.

With the exception of a too-long discussion of Saint-Exupery's youth, this bio is paced well and is a fun and rewarding read. It has led me to an entirely new appreciation of Saint-Exupery, particularly his non-Prince writing.

Summary of Saint-Exupery: A Biography

From a master biographer, the life story of the daring French aviator who became one of the twentieth century's most beloved authors
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry disappeared at age forty-four during a reconnaissance flight over southern France. At the time he was best known for a career of daring flights over the Sahara, the Pyrenees, and Patagonia and for his contributions to the science of aviation. But the solitary hours he spent above the earth in open cockpit airplanes gave birth to a more famous legacy, a series of enchanting, autobiographical novels and the classic story The Little Prince, still the most translated book in the French language.

An impoverished aristocrat from one of France's oldest families, Saint-Exupéry moved at age twenty-seven to the western Sahara Desert, to live alone in a plank shack and manage the way station for the Aéropostale, the French mail service. His careers as a novelist and an aviator were born here, and his life once he returned to Europe was defined--with brilliant and catastrophic results--by the sense of isolated fascination and curiosity he developed in the desert.

In this definitive biography, Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff reveals an intrepid and unconventional life that rivals the best adventure stories.

"A remarkable biography; indeed, it is impossible to imagine the job better done. It is balanced, perceptive, thoroughly researched, and exceptionally well-written." --The New Yorker

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