May 11, 2007

Goethe's Bright Circle

By JAY PARINI

I like to read biographies at bedtime, especially ones that lift me up for a brief while, so I can float away to sleep. Lives full of energy and pleasant occasions usually do the trick, although they seem in short supply. Most lives, especially as described by earnest biographers, are full of disappointment, illness, missed connections, and — finally — a fatal dropping off. That last scene is rarely, if ever, worth reviewing in detail.

Lately I've been