Genre - Biographies

A biography is an account of a person's life written by somebody else. They come in two forms: authorised and unauthorised. An authorised biography is written with the permission, the cooperation, and occasionally with the input of a subject or a subject's heirs. An unauthorised biography is done without the subject’s consent. These are often opposed, as in the case of Tom Cruise whose lawyers described his unauthorised biography as:

"A bigoted, defamatory assault replete with lies."

Even if you don't know the answer then you might well guess the subject of Pamela Stephenson's biography called Billy. Not so easy is the pop group written about by Hunter Davies or the historical character featured in a biography by Lady Antonia Fraser. Have a go at this quiz on biographies and see how well you do!