Words on Wednesday: Biography

The current, and soon to be past, selection of our Village of Merici bookclub

  i've seen biographies of varying complexity.  This may be
an ultimate definition :

. . . [an] archival study, eye-witness accounts and interviews, its robust and attractive narrative, and its honest depiction of all aspects of [the subject']s life and character  (Wikipedia, referring to Boswell's biography of Johnson)
 Orlean's book is definitely all-encompassing.  We get to read not only about the original dog in the 1920s movies, and the starring canines of the 1950s TV shows, but also a good deal of background of the times:

• Orlean's journey to write the book
• Lee Duncan, the man who made Rinty a star
• World War I, where the original dog was born on a battlefield
• the state of family dog training at the time 
• other show biz dogs, covering Strongheart and Lassie with some detail
• Herbert B. "Bert" Leonard, who brought the franchise into TV
• lots of Hollywood background information
• the WWII military donate-your-pet program
• Daphne Hereford, whose grandmother bought a few Rinty pups, and who now holds the Rin Tin Tin legacy
• the love of Duncan for his dog

  This is one of the more far-reaching biographies i've read.  Oh, Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure compares to it, but less detailed.
  But it's a fun book, though at times a bit heavy.
  And why shouldn't this one be more detailed? The Truman book was basically about one man, primarily in a limited part of his life.  Rin Tin Tin is not just about a man and his dog, but about a LEGEND.


from Clash of the Wolves, 1925: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNJ82w6bFSA 
  watch both the first two clips - they're exciting!
opening and closing from TV show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_nclUG-0SQ