December 11, 2006
Biography by Carolyn Burke named one of New York Times's
100 Notable Books of 2006
By Scott Rappaport
Lee Miller, A Life, the latest book by longtime UCSC humanities
research associate Carolyn Burke, has been named one of the 100 Notable Books of 2006
by the New York Times. Burke's biography of the iconic Vogue
model turned World War II photojournalist was also nominated for the 2006 Biography
Award by the National Book Critics Circle.
Since its publication earlier this year by Alfred Knopf (U.S.)
and Bloomsbury (U.K.), Lee Miller has received rave
reviews and widespread media attention. The book was previously
featured in the New York Times daily and Sunday review
sections and named a NYT "Editors' Choice." London's Telegraph
called it an "astounding book," and the Chicago Tribune
noted that "demonstrating the same clarity of observation and
sensitivity to subtleties that distinguish Miller's photographs,
Burke indelibly portrays a radiant woman forced to look into
the heart of darkness."
Burke has given presentations about Miller at a variety of
venues in the United States, France, and Australia, including
the National Arts Club, the Metropolitan Club, NYU's Maison
Française, Princeton University, University of New South
Wales, and Sydney University. Burke met and befriended Miller
in Paris when she was writing her last book, Becoming Modern,
The Life of Mina Loy (1996, Farrar, Straus & Giroux).
Lee Miller is set to be published in French translation
by Autrement in 2007.
A biographer, art critic, and translator, Burke has taught at UCSC, Princeton, and UC Davis;
at the Universities of Western Sydney and New South Wales in Australia; and at the Sorbonne
and the University of Lille in France.