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Antoine De Saint-Exupery: His Life and Times

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My parents taught me early-on the concept of "a life well lived": love, friends, art, books, music, adventure, intellect, spirit, and the magic of passion. I have always treasured and pursued that ideal. Antoine De Saint-Exupery lived it, which Robert Cate makes so clear in this inspired bio. I read it 15-20 years ago and to this day speak of it often with friends.

Antoine is the most popular French author of all time and I learned more about the art and craft of writing from this book than from all of the other books I have read on the subject combined. Cate's tales about Exupery's editing style (pestering friends at 2-3-4AM, time and again, to slice-and-dice a single paragraph, a single word, for the umpteenth time)...those stories have given me the courage, nee the actual desire and motivation, to take on my own editing challenges, encountered since Cate details Exupery's sweat-bullets over Night Flight and the rest.

If you are a fan of bios, try not to miss this one. You will never forget it. I haven't!

If you want to know more about Saint-Ex and the pioneering days of aviation, read this terrific book. Not only will you learn a great deal about the author himself, but also the contexts of his flying and writing. Did you know that in the earliest days of European airmail, the planes were so unreliable that routes were flown by two airplanes, one full and one empty, so if one went down the other could complete the mission? And that over Saharan Africa airmen who survived forced landings were often captured by hostile Arab tribes, tortured, and if they were lucky, ransomed back to their companies? That's the environment in which Saint-Ex began his piloting career. That he could see and convey such beauty associated with flight under such trying circumstances makes his work all the more amazing. Although heavy on philosophy in sections, much of this book will keep you on the edge of your seat. I have read several other Saint-Ex biographies, and in my opinion this is by far the best.