Fascinating, wide-ranging, hugely knowledgeable - an indispensable guide and a beguiling education William Boyd

Packed with insights and advice - just the inspiration to start writing! Jenny Uglow

Everyone has a story. This book shows how the best writers tell them, and offers advice on how to tell them yourself. Biographers Sally Cline and Carole Angier teach life writing - an area of creative writing that is exploding in popularity - at the world-famous Arvon Foundation. They have distilled the essence of their popular course on memoir, autobiography and biography into this wide-ranging book. The Arvon Book of Life Writing offers three fascinating ways into the genre. First, reflections on their trade by the authors, exploring its special challenges: truth, memory, ethics, evidence and interpretation. Second, personal tips and tales from 32 top British and American life writers - autobiographers and memoirists, literary, sports and celebrity biographers; plus a critic, an agent, a literary editor, two novelists, and a ghost writer.

Third, a practical guide, complete with exercises, designed for use in creative writing courses or by individual writers at home.