''Biography of X'' is a 2023 alternative history novel by American writer

Catherine Lacey Catherine Lacey (6 May 1904 – 23 September 1979) was an English actress of stage and screen. Stage Lacey made her stage debut, performing with Mrs Patrick Campbell, in ''The Thirteenth Chair'' at the West Pier Brighton on 13 April 1925. He ...

published by

Farrar, Straus and Giroux Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer P ...

. The novel purports to be a 2005 biography of the musician and artist X, written by her widow, C.M. Lucca, as a response to an unauthorized and apparently inaccurate biography of her wife written after her death. The novel takes place in an alternate timeline in which the Southern states of the United States seceded in 1945 after building a wall segregating them from the rest of the country.

Writing and publication

Lacey initially wanted to write a biography of a living person, but was encouraged not to do so by one of her teachers. Lacey ceased working on the biography, and instead decided to work on a fictional biography. The book includes fictional citations and end notes; Lacey, for the most part, devised these as she wrote the novel rather than after she was finished. To track "timelines and characters" as she wrote the book, Lacey utilized a "disorganized document". Copy editors at Farrar, Straus and Giroux assisted Lacey as she produced the novel. To write the novel, Lacey read a number of biographies and read interviews with artists from different disciplines.

Reception

According to literary review aggregator

Book Marks ''Literary Hub'' or ''LitHub'' is a daily literary website that was launched in 2015 by Grove Atlantic president and publisher Morgan Entrekin, American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame editor Terry McDonell, and '' Electric Literatur ...

, the novel received reviews the site characterized as "Rave" and "Positive". It received starred reviews from ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'', ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

'', and ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

''.

Dwight Garner Dwight Garner (born January 8, 1965) is an American journalist and longtime writer and editor for ''The New York Times''. In 2008, he was named a book critic for the newspaper. He is the author of ''Garner's Quotations: A Modern Miscellany'' and ...

, in a positive review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', compared Lacey's writing to that of

Renata Adler Renata Adler (born October 19, 1937) is an American author, journalist, and film critic. Adler was a staff writer-reporter for ''The New Yorker'' for over thirty years and the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1968 to 1969. She h ...

and

Janet Malcolm Janet Clara Malcolm (born Jana Klara Wienerová; July 8, 1934 – June 16, 2021) was an American writer, staff journalist at ''The New Yorker'' magazine, and collagist who fled antisemitic persecution in Nazi-occupied Prague. She was the author ...

. Sam Sacks praised the "audacity" of ''Biography of X'' in a review published by ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

''. Sacks further wrote that the novel was "likely" to give Lacey "a much wider audience" and wrote that she "deserved" a broader base of readers. In a review published by ''

The Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper in the U.S. and the larges ...

'', Jessica Ferri praised Lacey as "one of the most fearless novelists writing today". Audrey Wollen, writing for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', referred to the novel as " ctingmore as a blender than a quilt-maker" in reference to Lacey's inclusion of real-life figures and quotes, re-contextualized in the novel's alternate history. ''

'' included ''Biography of X'' in their list of the top ten books of 2023. The novel won the 2023

Brooklyn Public Library The Brooklyn Public Library is the public library system of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the sixteenth largest public library system in the United States by holding and the seventh by number of visitors. Like the two Brooklyn Publ ...

Book Prize for fiction. In March 2024, ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'' included ''Biography of X'' in its list of "

Great American Novel The "Great American Novel" (sometimes abbreviated as GAN) is the term for a Western Canon, canonical novel that generally embodies and examines the essence and Culture of the United States, character of the United States. The term was coined b ...

s" that have been published in the past century. In the same month, ''Biography of X'' was nominated for the 2024

Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction The Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation to a work of fiction on lesbian themes. As the award is presented based on themes in the work, not the sexuality or gender of t ...

which it later won.

References

{{reflist 2023 American novels American alternate history novels Farrar, Straus and Giroux books English-language novels Literature by women Novels about lesbian topics 2023 LGBTQ-related literary works American LGBTQ novels Lambda Literary Award–winning works