I had always imagined that Cliché was a suburb of Paris, until I discovered it to be a street in Oxford.

History repeats itself. Historians repeat each other.

I had always imagined that Cliché was a suburb of Paris, until I discovered it to be a street in Oxford.

Biography is a very definite region bounded on the north by history, on the south by fiction, on the east by obituary, and on the west by tedium.

The work of Henry James has always seemed divisible by a simple dynastic arrangement into three reigns: James I, James II, and the Old Pretender

Biography, like big game hunting, is one of the recognized forms of sport, and it is as unfair as only sport can be.

The preface is the most important part of a book. Even reviewers read a preface.