Biographies

On a kick for biographies since joining the public library. Have read the biographies of Gertrude Bell (a female Lawrence of Arabia), Tallulah and most recently the compelling biographies of Rimbaud and Byron, always quarrelling with others. What twats those last two were, but curious nonetheless. I have much greater affinity with the Shelleys, whose atheist and liberal child-rearing were somewhat sneered at by Byron. He preferred to send his 'illegitimate one' (Allegra) to die in an Italian convent at age 5 of louse-borne typhus. It puts nits into perspective. Bah! But speaking of shiny and happy, here's what I did to Shelley's plaque last year.