In the 20th century, some of the most renowned biographers include Carl Sandburg, who published his first book about Abraham Lincoln, “The Prairie Years,” in 1926 (Blue Ribbon Books) and won a Pulitzer Prize for his follow-up in 1940 called “The War Years.” Charles Lindbergh’s “The Spirit of St. Louis” (1953, Scribner), which described the aviator’s non-stop, solo flight across the Atlantic in 1927, also won a Pulitzer.

Sometimes novelists dabble in biography, the most famous example being Norman Mailer’s tomes on Marilyn Monroe, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Gary Gilmore. And then there are journalists such as Walter Isaacson, who take on larger-than-life subjects such as Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Henry Kissinger, and Steve Jobs. Conversely, in the case of Arianna Huffington, there are biographers who eventually become journalists—her peek under the covers into the stormy personal life of artist Pablo Picasso, “Creator and Destroyer,” was published in 1996.

In recent years, rock and pop musicians have turned to print as yet another outlet for their self expression. Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones made headlines in 2011 when his drug-soaked autobiography, “Life,” cast an often uncomplimentary eye on bandmate Mick Jagger, including deflating observations about the singer’s anatomy. Punk rocker Patti Smith was no less candid in her memoir, “Just Kids,” 2010, which was mostly about her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, but she won a National Book Award for her efforts. And even though Jimmy McDonough’s “Shakey,” 2003, is considered the definitive biography of rocker Neil Young, the singer/songwriter and collector of model trains released an autobiography called “Waging Heavy Peace" in 2012.

Still, in the United States, a substantial amount of high-quality ink has been spilled on presidents. In addition to Sandburg’s books on Lincoln there is Jean Edward Smith’s biography of FDR, David McCullough and Merle Miller’s treatments of Harry Truman, Stephen Ambrose’s focus on Dwight Eisenhower’s war years, and Robert Caro’s epic volumes on Lyndon Johnson.

In a category by himself is John F. Kennedy, whose own collection of mini-biographies titled “Profiles in Courage,” 1955, proved a launching pad for his political career. Naturally, the assassinated leader was himself the subject of numerous biographies and histories, from Arthur Schlesinger's (“A Thousand Days,” 1965) to William Manchester's (“The Death of a President: November 1963,” 1967). Of course, because Kennedy’s ties to celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe made him a celebrity, too, he also got the Kitty Kelley treatment, albeit via a book about his widow, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

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