For his biographies of Robert Moses and Lyndon Johnson, ROBERT A. CARO has twice won the Pulitzer Prize, twice won the National Book Award, three times won the National Book Critics Circle Award, and has also won virtually every other major literary honor, including the Gold Medal in Biography from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Francis Parkman Prize. In 2010, President Barack Obama awarded Caro the National Humanities Medal. Caro graduated from Princeton, was later a Nieman Fellow at Harvard, and worked for six years as an investigative reporter for Newsday. He lives with his wife, the writer Ina Caro, in New York City, where he is at work on the fifth and final volume of The Years of Lyndon Johnson.
“A short book that packs a big wallop . . . Stunningly incisive . .
. James Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson is generally
considered to be the finest biography in the English language . . .
Robert Caro’s monumental works . . . are every bit as impressive as
what Boswell achieved. Even more so, actually. . . Caro’s
unrelenting pursuit of facts and his insights will leave you in awe
. . . After reading this brief, brilliant book, one can only say,
‘Wow!’” —Steve Forbes, Forbes Magazine
“Caro brings [Johnson] and his time to life with a set of literary
strengths that are very different from each other but closely
interlinked: the depth and quality of his research, his narrative
gift, and his compassion . . . Compassion drives the research. The
analysis, always rigorous, is also human . . . Caro is both
historian and creative writer; like Tolstoy, relating his narrative
to a single central vision while at the same time, in the words of
Isaiah Berlin, pursuing ‘many ends, often unrelated and even
contradictory.’ He creates character as a novelist does . . . And
the roundness of character extends to a large cast, not just
Johnson’s huge, domineering personality but other towering figures
as well as ordinary American citizens . . . The result is a great
biography that has both historical sweep and a feeling of being of
the time . . . Long live Robert Caro.” —Kevin Stevens, Dublin
Review of Books
“Iridescent, so many brilliant refractions of light from his hard
slog of discovering what life has really meant for the people in
his narratives, the powerful and the powerless . . . Caro wanted
the reader to feel for them, empathize with their ambitions and
their torments. At 83, in book after book and now in this
semi-memoir, he has succeeded to a breathtaking degree . . . How
Caro finds what he needs to know . . . is par for the author’s
tenacity, his charm and his investigative genius, no other word for
it . . . Nearly 200 years ago, James Madison commanded that a
people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with
the power that knowledge gives. Robert Caro . . . has performed
great deeds in that cause, but he has also measurably enriched our
lives with his intellectual rigor, his compassion, his openness,
his wit and grace.” —Harold Evans, The New York Times Book
Review (cover)
“Riveting.” —Richard Lambert, Financial Times
“Caro’s work is the gold standard of deep-dive biography; he has
become an almost mythic figure, relentless in the ever-elusive
pursuit of truth. In Working, he shares tips on researching,
interviewing and writing, showcased in wonderful, revealing, often
funny anecdotes . . . Its real theme goes far beyond authorial
tradecraft. Caro’s own life has been an epic of human endeavor, a
tale of obsession . . . Writing truth to power takes
time.” —Evan Thomas, The Washington Post
“America’s biographer-in-chief . . . charts his own extraordinary
life.” —Aryn Braun, The Economist
“Priceless.” —Dennis J. McGrath, Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Compelling . . . A feast for anyone interested in reading, and in
writing . . . A glimpse inside the head, and the work, of one of
the great masters of contemporary nonfiction . . . Might be
regarded as the path to writing with
power.” —David Shribman, Los Angeles Times
“An inspiring window into the seemingly superhuman reporting,
researching, writing, patience, and above all, will-power that have
empowered Caro’s reinvention of the political biography and history
genre.” —Scott Detrow, NPR
“America’s most honored biographer . . . has paused in the work of
the final volume [of The Years of Lyndon Johnson] to publish a
conversational, behind-the-scenes compendium addressing the
questions he hears most often, starting with, Why do your books
take so long to write?” —Karl Vick, Time
“Insightful . . . A look at the writing craft from a true master of
the form.” —Mackenzie Dawson, The New York Post
“An invaluable how-to for aspiring nonfiction writers and
journalists. It’s an intimate glimpse into the anxieties and
painstaking sacrifices that go into the ridiculously in-depth
reporting Caro has made his name on.” —Quinn Myers, Chicago
Review of Books
“Relevant to today’s readers . . . Reveals a lot about Caro as a
storyteller, reveals his thoroughness . . . But it’s not just the
research or time that set him apart. It’s his ability to use
research to make his story feel personal . . . Caro makes his
stories almost novelistic, giving his readers a character to relate
to. He recognizes that these details matter, that colorful,
seemingly extraneous facts don’t just sentimentalize the story—they
deepen it . . . A key to Caro’s philosophy: the facts are crucial,
they are necessary, they are the best way to settle competing
versions of the truth—but they still aren’t enough . . . This
explains why Caro is so good at including outsiders and overlooked
voices in his books. Caro’s writing [is] an in-depth look at a
complicated subject from multiple angles, all anchored by a human
narrative.” —John Schneider, Los Angeles Review of Books
“Caro is secure in the modern pantheon of American historians and
biographers . . . he has become a symbol of both heroic purpose and
snaillike progress . . . Working is full of exemplary tales . . .
some of his tricks of the trade.” —Edward Kosner, The Wall
Street Journal
“Working gives insight into one of the most celebrated minds in
American letters.” —Nicole Goodkind, Newsweek
“Compelling . . . The quintessential biographer’s instruction
manual . . . A peek inside the mind of America’s foremost political
biographer.” —Erik Spanberg, The Christian Science Monitor
“Fascinating . . . For writers [and] for anyone whose life’s
mission could benefit from a lesson in thoroughness, patience and
perseverance.” —Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“If I were teaching journalism or nonfiction writing, especially
the writing of history and biography, I would build a course around
Caro, with Working as my primary text and scenes from his Johnson
books as case studies . . . It’s possible that he is all the
education that a writer in this line of work requires . . . Caro’s
central secret is that, if facts matter in the writing of history
and biography, then writing matters, too: that words matter, the
aura and attitude of the language, the skill and power of its
formulation . . . The drama of character and ideas in Caro’s books
have a radiance about them because they are the product of a
remarkably integrated mind.” —Lance Morrow, City Journal
“Extraordinary . . . The wonder of Robert Caro . . . the
investigative method of a great biographer and writer . . . As a
young reporter he made a decision about who he was and what he
wanted at the centre of his life—a decision from which he has not
wavered. Several times in Working he describes himself making a
consequential decision and feeling that he had no choice, that he
had to do what was true to his nature. His nature is that of the
Recording Angel . . .” —Ruth Scurr, The Times Literary
Supplement
“Robert Caro is one of the most respected historians of our time.
His memoir is a masterclass in how great books are built, and is
peppered with great anecdotes about people of power.” —Town &
Country
“Robert Caro is brimming with wonderful advice about researching,
interviewing, and writing . . . I was thrilled to devour Working in
one sitting.” —Devon Ivie, Vulture
“A book about what makes great writing.” —Steve Nathans-Kelly, New
York Journal of Books
“This engrossing and unexpectedly moving essay collection fully
illuminates why and how Caro has spent so many years working on his
massive, contextually intricate, and courageous biographies . . .
masterpieces of fact-gathering, analysis, and artistry. In
humorous, rueful, often flat-out astonishing anecdotes, he recounts
his early newspaper days and the sense of mission that drove him,
with the unshakable support of his historian wife and investigative
partner, Ina, to devote his life to the daunting task of
illuminating the nature and impact of political power. As he
elucidates his commitment to creating biographical history of
conscience and resonance, Caro affirms the larger significance of
factual precision, empathy, and expressive verve.” —Booklist
(starred)
“Superb . . . Writing with customary humor, grace, and vigor, Caro
wryly acknowledges the question ‘Why does it take so long’ to
produce each book. Caro provides both the short answer—intensive
research—and a longer, illuminating explication of just what that
entails . . . The results may take longer, but, as readers of
Caro’s work know, it is always worth the wait. For the impatient,
however, this lively combination of memoir and non-fiction writing
will help sate their appetite . . .” —Publishers
Weekly (starred and boxed)
“The iconic biographer . . . offers wisdom about researching
and writing . . . In sparkling prose, Caro . . . recounts his path
from growing up sheltered in New York City to studying at
Princeton, Harvard, and Columbia to unexpectedly becoming a
newspaper reporter and deciding to devote his life to writing books
. . . The author shares fascinating insights into his research
process in archives; his information-gathering in the field, such
as the Texas Hill Country; his interviewing techniques; his
practice of writing the first draft longhand; and his ability to
think deeply about his material. Caro also offers numerous
memorable anecdotes . . . Caro’s skill as a biographer, master of
compelling prose, appealing self-deprecation, and overall generous
spirit shine through on every page.” —Kirkus Reviews
(starred)
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