About the Book

Wright's family history, personal adventures, and colorful friends are explored in this evocative biography. Secrest had 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". 121 photos.

Book Synopsis

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