Biographies, Autobiographies & Other Works about the Man

Loving Frank: A Novel

Amazon.com. It's a rare treasure to find a historically imagined novel that is at once fully versed in the facts and unafraid of weaving those truths into a story that dares to explore the unanswered questions. Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney's love story is--as many early reviews of Loving Frank have noted--little-known and often dismissed as scandal. In Nancy Horan's skillful hands, however, what you get is two fully realized people, entirely, irrepressibly, in love. Together, Frank and Mamah are a wholly modern portrait, and while you can easily imagine them in the here and now, it's their presence in the world of early 20th century America that shades how authentic and, ultimately, tragic their story is. Mamah's bright, earnest spirit is particularly tender in the context of her time and place, which afforded her little opportunity to realize the intellectual life for which she yearned. Loving Frank is a remarkable literary achievement, tenderly acute and even-handed in even the most heartbreaking moments, and an auspicious debut from a writer to watch. --Anne Bartholomew

The Fellowship: The Untold Story of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Fellowship

Booklist. Whatever visionary brilliance Frank Lloyd Wright possessed as an architect did not extend to his talent for structural engineering, nor, as this often-searing account shows, did he succeed at engineering human lives and souls. Wright was famously individualistic, stubborn, and egotistical. But that's only the beginning of the epic soap opera that roiled around him as Wright extended his franchise to two cultlike, communal encampments, in Wisconsin and Arizona, known as Taliesin (Welsh for "shining brow"). Aspiring architects, designers, and cultural misfits flocked to Wright, apprenticing more often as manual laborers than as draftsmen or creators. Wright's imperious style was matched by that of his third wife, Olgivanna, a disciple of George Gurdjieff, the Russian mystic whose sense of the spiritual content of cosmic forces echoed Wright's belief in the transformative power of nature. Friedland and Zellman's long but absorbing book paints an uneasy history of Taliesin, involving problematic sexual relationships, tax collectors, prima donnas, draft resisters, dancing angels, long-suffering clients, parental malpractice, and, not least, in its role as training ground, an astounding record of failure. Steve Paul; Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved.

Frank Lloyd Wright: An Autobiography

Frank Lloyd Wright exerted perhaps the greatest influence on twentieth century design. In a volume that continues to resonate more than seventy years after its initial publication, Frank Lloyd Wright: An Autobiography contains the master architect's own account of his work, his philosophy, and his personal life, written with his signature wit and charm. Wright (1867-1959) went into seclusion in a Minnesota cabin to reflect and to record his life experiences. In 1932, the first edition of the Autobiography was published. It became a form of advertising, leading many readers to seek out the master architect--thirty apprentices came to live and learn at Taliesin, Wright's Wisconsin home/school/studio, under the master's tutelage. (By 1938, Taliesin West, in Arizona, was the winter location for Wright's school.) The volume is divided into five sections devoted to family, fellowship, work, freedom, and form. Wright recalls his childhood, his apprenticeship with Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan, the turmoil of his personal life, and the background to his greatest achievements, including Hollyhock House, the Prairie and the Usonian Houses, and the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.

Many Masks : A Life of Frank Lloyd Wright

A "sensitive yet revealingly iconoclastic" ("Kirkus") biography of Frank Lloyd Wright. "Informative, entertaining, gossipy, contentious, affectionate, irreverent and, ultimately, reverential." --Washington Post Book World. 300 illustrations.

Midwest Book Review: Those who personally knew Frank Lloyd Wright tell of his life and their observations of his achievements, creating a strong album of impressions from apprentices to relatives. Enjoy an excellent, strong collection of first-person memories which create a well-rounded portrait of the architect.

The biography of America's most celebrated architect. With the emergence of the Post-Modernist movement, Wright's brilliant designs now enjoy an unprecedented resurgence in popularity. This book documents his incredible legacy.

Describes the life and career of the famous architect.

Frank Lloyd Wright : A Biography

Wright's family history, personal adventures, and colorful friends are explored in this evocative biography. Secrest has unprecedented access to an extensive archive of Wright's letters, photographs, drawings and books. "Secrest's achievement is to etch Wright's character in sharp relief... (She) presents Wright in his every guise." --Blair Kamin, "Chicago Tribune".

Booklist. Gr. 8-12. There are many adult books about Wright...but this handsomely designed, large-size volume is an exciting introduction to Wright's life and work. In considerable detail and without condescension, Boulton shows how Wright changed forever contemporary architecture with his radical approach to creating a uniquely American design for homes and buildings... This is also an art book: interspersed throughout the spacious text are many fine reproductions of Wright's drawings and color photographs of his famous homes and buildings. His life story, including the scandal that surrounded his private life, is presented in a straightforward style. Most moving are the quotes from Wright himself, which reveal his creative genius, his arrogance ("Yes, I intend to be the greatest architect of all time"), and his political idealism ("I don't build a house without predicting the end of the present social order"). There are no source notes, but Boulton ends with a detailed chronology and glossary and an annotated bibliography. --Hazel Rochman.Copyright© 1993, American Library Association. All rights reserved.

The largest part of this volume is Wright's first autobiography, reproduced in its entirety, with drawings and designs Wright made for it. The volume is completed with several unpublished brief texts and his renowned "Two Lectures on Architecture," in which he examined the burgeoning International Style. 110 illustrations, 50 in color.

Booklist. Gr. 5-9. Davis recounts the high points in the life of a renowned American architect, whose distinctive prairie style profoundly affected the direction of twentieth-century design. She describes the early influence of his mother (who encouraged him to become an architect), his work as a young man for the firm of Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan, and his later travels to Europe and Japan which inspired his own style. While Davis concentrates on Wright's professional career, with specific mention of many of his homes and commercial projects, she also discusses his numerous personal problems, including difficult associations with colleagues, extravagant spending habits, and controversial relationships with women. Frequent black-and-white photographs and drawings add interest. Appended with a list of Wright's public buildings, source notes, and a bibliography, this will find a niche with report writers and would-be architects. --Kay Weisman. Copyright© 1997, American Library Association. All rights reserved.

Frank Lloyd Wright the Lost Years, 1910-1922 : A Study of Influence

Bringing new definition and insight to the story of Frank Lloyd Wright, this lavishly illustrated book has become a standard work on America's greatest architect. Alofsin uncovers the real story of Wright's travels to Europe. By examining this elusive and influential period in Wright's development, Alofsin restores an important chapter to the history of modern architecture. 302 photos.

Booklist. Gr. 4-6. This eclectic volume begins with Wright's childhood and education, explores the stages of his career and his milestone buildings, and concludes with a series of recipes, projects and crafts loosely based on his life and art. The horizontal format allows space for photographs and drawings, which appear throughout the book. An addition that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't is the section of activities, from "Cooking Frank Lloyd Wright's Favorite Breakfast" (a recipe for steel-cut oatmeal) to "Learning about the Basic Geometric Shapes" to "Building a Cantilever and a Model of Fallingwater with Graham Crackers"(!). Throughout the book, the photos of people and buildings provide real insight into the subject. An unusual and appealing introduction to Wright. --Carolyn Phelan. Copyright© 1994, American Library Association. All rights reserved.

Booknews, Inc. Over 40 personal accounts of the American architect Wright (1867-1959) by colleagues, clients, apprentices, friends, and family.

One of architect Frank Lloyd Wright's apprentices at the Taliesin Fellowship from 1939 to 1955 describes working closely alongside Wright in Wisconsin and Arisona, the social life of the Fellowship, and Wright's eccentric, sardonic personality.