BIOGRAPHY

Jan Morris: Life from Both Sides

by Paul Clements
Scribe. Dec. 2022. 608p. ISBN 9781950354924. $35. BIOG
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There is an intimacy to this biography of Jan Morris (1926–2020), arguably one of the greatest writers in the English language of the past century. Author Clements (The Height of Nonsense) was close friends with her for 30 years. Clements introduces the reader to her writings—Herstory and Pleasures of a Tangled Life, for example—in the context of her very full life of travel, family, and loves. One of the most significant events of Morris’s life was her gender transition; she had been assigned male at birth, and this book clearly shows how it impacted every aspect of her 94 years. The book also brings to the fore Morris’s love of Wales, her spouse Elizabeth, and travel. In the popular view, Morris is seen often as a travel writer, but this book presents her as part historian and social critic as well.
VERDICT Recommended not just for fans of Morris but any general reader looking for an insightful biography of a pioneer who is transgender, a literary great, and who synergistically brought grace and beauty to her times.
Reviewed by David Azzolina , Oct 28, 2022
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