Frank Lloyd Wright: A Biography [Paperback]

Meryle Secrest (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226744140 | ISBN-13: 978-0226744148 | Publication Date: May 8, 1998

Meryle Secrest's Frank Lloyd Wright: A Biography focuses on Wright's family history, personal adventures, and colorful friends and family. Secrest had unprecedented access to an archive of over one hundred thousand of Wright's letters, photographs, drawings, and books. She also interviewed surviving devotees, students, and relatives. The result is an explicit portrait of both the genius architect and the provocative con-man.

"Secrest seizes the themes most evocative of certain of our cultural myths, forging them into a coherent and emotionally plausible narrative."—New Republic

"An engaging narrative."—New York Times Book Review

"The real triumph of this biography . . . is the link it makes between Frank Lloyd Wright's personal life and his architecture."—The Economist

"Secrest's achievement is to etch Wright's character in sharp relief. . . . [She] presents Wright in his every guise."-Blair Kamin, Chicago Tribune

"An extremely engaging profile."—The Philadelphia Inquirer

"A spellbinding portrait."—Library Journal

"The best [biography] so far, a huge and definitive accumulation of fact."—Time

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this superb, subtle, demythologizing biography of Wright (1869-1959), we meet a shrewd yet gullible architect who fostered a view of himself as a misunderstood, embattled genius, a narcissist who unconsciously courted catastrophe while blaming the vengeful hand of fate as he overcame accidents, bankruptcy, lawsuits and hounding by his morphine-addicted second wife. Drawing on a trove of letters, Secrest ( Salvador Dali ) traces Wright's "secret conviction of worthlessness" to the contradictory influences of his freethinking, erratic Welsh mother and his jealous, spendthrift father, a New England minister. She discusses the dynamics of the architect's three marriages, recounts his clashes with Louis Sullivan and Lewis Mumford, and digs beneath his "quasi-mystical Celtic beliefs" to pinpoint the multiple influences on his fervent quest for an organic architecture. A definitive portrait of a mercurial titan. Photos. BOMC and QPB alternates.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Wright remains for many historians America's preeminent architect; although he died over 30 years ago, the force of his personality and the strength of his reputation endure untarnished. Several excellent biographies on Wright have appeared since his death, most notably Robert C. Twombly's Frank Lloyd Wright ( LJ 2/15/73) and Brendan Gill's Many Masks ( LJ 11/15/87). Secrest's book joins this select company and more than manages to hold its own: It is a spellbinding portrait of this complex, often contradictory architect. Drawing on the massive archives of the Wright Memorial Foundation, Secrest writes with authority and compassion about Wright's long and turbulent career. Her exhaustive scholarship provides fresh insights into Wright's personality, making this biography essential reading for anyone with an interest in American architecture. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/1/92; see also the review of Frank Lloyd Wright's Collected Writings , Vol. 1, p. 175.--Ed.
- H. Ward Jandl, National Park Svce., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 652 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (May 8, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226744140
• ISBN-13: 978-0226744148
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #465,622 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Prairie interests, November 7, 2003

By 

M. A Newman (Alexandria, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Frank Lloyd Wright: A Biography (Paperback)

This is an excellent book by Meryle Secrest on Frank Lloyd Wright. It traces the career of America's foremost builder from his days in Chicago as a resident in fashionable Oak Park to his final days on the Arizona desert. Ms. Secrest does not specialize in architecture, but this appears to be an asset. While there are plenty of books that can go on (and on and on) about building techniques, this is intended for the lay person who is interested in Frank Lloyd Wright in general terms. This book provides an excellent introduction to both the man and his work.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wright the Man is Chronicled Here, December 17, 2005

By 

JAD (The Sunshine State) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frank Lloyd Wright: A Biography (Paperback)

Wright the man is chronicled here, in one of the two best biographies of the architectural superstar. One would also want to read Brendan Gill's "Many Masks" as a companion to Ms Secrest's treatment of F Ll W - just to get the harmonizing flavors of opinion.

Ms Secrest does magnificent research and shares it in a narrative that flows easily and keeps one's attention. Her information about Wright's family tree, as well as the family background of his wives and Mrs. Cheney, is more thoroughly presented than I have seen elsewhere.

One must not expect a thorough critique of Wright's buildings here -- there are too many works to be considered and there are many other resources, old and new, for such explorations. "In the Nature of Materials" leaps to mind. However, this book does flesh out the man and in some ways dispels some of the outlandish tales and outright fabrications about his life, toward which Wright was oft inclined.

It should be noted that Secrest is one of the Wright biographers who mistakenly limit the contributions of Isabel Roberts, who was a draughtsman/architect in her own right. She defines Roberts' roll simply as: "Isabel Roberts, secretary ". She cannot be faulted too much, having swallowed the red herring presented by Frank Lloyd Wright himself when writing about the Oak Park "...studio adjoining my home, where the work I had then to do enabled me to take in several draughtsmen and a faithful secretary, Isabel Roberts..." In future, Wright biographers would be wise to consult research done by John A. Dalles presented in his article, "The Pathbreaking Legacy of Ryan and Roberts", in "Reflections", the journal of the Historical Society of Central Florida, Summer 2009; pages 8 and 9.

You may wish to read Wright's disingenuous "An Autobiography" (1943) as well as some of the family books - "The Valley of the God-Almighty Joneses: Reminiscences of Frank Lloyd Wright's Sister, by Maginel Wright Barney, 1986, and his son, John Lloyd Wright's "My Father Who Is On Earth", G P Putnam Sons, NY, 1946. But consider this a mostly reliable guide to Mr. Wright's long and theatrical life.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding biography of the world's greatest architect, March 21, 1998

By 

Noel Brusman (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Frank Lloyd Wright (Hardcover)

Beautifully researched, well-crafted, highly readable biography of Frank Lloyd Wright. Ms. Secrest understands her subject and his work and presents both to us with clarity and empathy. Many photographs add to the enjoyment of the reader. Unconditionally recommended.