Agatha Christie: A Biography (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This quiz book (which conveniently places answers after questions) has more than 1000 entries such as, "What was the mountain man's advised method of killing a charging grizzly bear?"Fascinating facts and lore appear in chapters on frontiersmen, badmen, wranglers, pioneers and Indian tribes, and many pages are devoted to the curiosities about Custer: "Q: What was Custer's class standing at the time of his graduation from West Point? A: He was last in his class." The book concludes with a section on Hollywood Westerns: "Q: What was the name of Tom Mix's horse? A: Tony." As indicated by the lengthy bibliography, Gragg has done extensive research, and the index makes it possible to use this as a reference work. Illustrated with more than 50 period photographs, the compilation is several notches above the average quiz book.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

First published in 1984 and now available in paperback, having been unavailable for more than two years, a biography of Agatha Christie based on family papers and other protected material, which describes the writer's life, work and relationships. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 393 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins (June 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060970308
• ISBN-13: 978-0060970307
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,042,856 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The best documented biography of the Queen of Mystery, March 24, 2000

By	Karina A. Suarez (Walt Disney World, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: AGATHA CHRISTIE: BIOG (Hardcover)

Agatha Christie's life was a mystery all by itself. She loathed publicity and got nervous if asked to speak in public. She didn't like talking about her life either. In writing this book, Janet Morgan has had the privilege to consult the most private sources in reference to Christie's life and friends. The result is an extremely thorough biography, mostly written with quotes from Agatha Christie's own papers and letters. It is an entertaining book and a joy to read, although sometimes extensive. I would reccommend this book to anyone interested in having a wholesome picture of the life of A.C.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Made me want to read her books again, February 25, 2008

By	Ian Young (Savannah TN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a long and interesting biography of Agatha Christie, which discusses her life in some detail. having read Agatha Christie's won fascinating autobiography many times, I found in this book much interesting supplementary information. Things that are not discussed in the autobiography are gone over here in more detail.

Of course, there is a lengthy chapter about the famous episode when she disappeared just after her husband told her he wanted a divorce. There is much specualtion about Agatha Christie's state of mind, her reasons for doing it etc, but these can only remain speculation, since Mrs Christie never discussed the subject herself.

One theme that persists through the book is Agatha Christie's unattractiveness. She had, so Laura Thompson gives us to understand, become so unattractive that it was hardly surprising that Archie Christie should have looked elsewhere. One feels that the author believes that Mrs Christie would have done better to divert some of her energies from writing into keeping herself lovely, perhaps having face-lifts or something. Naturally, Ms Thomspon cannot bring herself to believe that Max Mallowan could possibly have found Agatha Christie attractive, there must have been other reasons why he wanted to marry her. The age difference between them is harped on constantly as if it was forty years instead of fourteen, and Agatha Christie's lack of attractiveness is mentioned so frequently that you cannot help wondering why Laura Thompson is so peculiarly obsessed with this subject, and why she considers Mrs Christie to have been so repulsive.

She is generally quite interesting when discussing the books, and one of the parts I enjoyed most was her favourable comparison of Mrs Christie with the other well-known detective writers of her era. She is staunch in her defense of Agatha Christie as a fine writer.

She has a slightly trying habit of quoting from Agatha Christie's 'Mary Westmacott' novels as if they are straightforward autobiography, which I found somewhat irritating, the books may indeed have a lot of autobiographical detail in the, but they were not written as autobiography, and I found it a bit annoying that she constantly quotes from them as if they are.

Throughout the book, Laura Thompson freely reveals the identity of the murderer in many of the stories, so if you happen not to have read all of Agatha Christie's mysteries, you may need to be wary of this.

An interesting book, I didn't agree with everything the author had to say, but that only made it more enjoyable to read, there's nothing like having something to disagree with!

If you haven't already done so, I would recommend reading Mrs Christie's own fascinating autobiography before you read this.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Truly Enchanting & Entertaining Life!!, April 12, 2005

By	Aimee Thor "Aimee Thor" (Xenia, Ohio) - See all my reviews

As a devoted fan of Agatha Christie's novels I can honestly declare that this biography is as entertaining as anything from Agatha's imagination. She led a rich life full of surprises. She experienced the loss of her father at the age of 11 and this really impacted her writing. The author does a marvelous job of taking us into Agatha's world and social times. There is a real flow and gentle rhythm to this masterful work. I found this book asy-to-read but hard to put down. A truly delicious, first rate biography for sure!