About the Author

Neil Baldwin is an executive director of the National Book Foundation and coeditor of The Writing Life. He is the author of critically acclaimed biographies of William Carlos Williams and Man Ray, as well as Legends of the Plumed Serpent: Biography of a Mexican God.

Reviews

"Baldwin has demythologized the man and left the genius bigger than life."--David Gates, Newsweek-- "Newsweek"

"Edison has been the subject of many earlier biographical studies, yet Mr. Baldwin sees more clearly than the rest how Edison's life was his greatest invention."--G. Pascal Zachary, Wall Street Journal-- "Wall Street Journal"

"In this scrupulously detailed, thoroughly captivating biography, Neil Baldwin presents America in a man--as strange, obsessed, and tangled and brilliant as the age he literally illuminated. After reading Edison, you wonder how it is possible to understand the country without him."--Roger Rosenblatt

"Baldwin has demythologized the man and left the genius bigger than life."--David Gates, Newsweek-- "Newsweek"

"Edison has been the subject of many earlier biographical studies, yet Mr. Baldwin sees more clearly than the rest how Edison's life was his greatest invention."--G. Pascal Zachary, Wall Street Journal-- "Wall Street Journal"
"In this scrupulously detailed, thoroughly captivating biography, Neil Baldwin presents America in a man--as strange, obsessed, and tangled and brilliant as the age he literally illuminated. After reading Edison, you wonder how it is possible to understand the country without him."--Roger Rosenblatt

Thomas Alva Edison, an icon to millions, was a prodigious inventor and emblem of the American entrepreneurial spirit. His impact on our century via the electric light, the phonograph, the movie, and even Portland cement truly transformed the American experience. Capturing not only the creative and inventive thrust of Edison's life but its personal aspects, Baldwin offers first-rate writing. Baldwin, author of Man Ray: American Artist (LJ 10/1/88) and executive director of the National Book Foundation, describes with care the family and business milieu Edison fostered and lived in. He also gives generous treatment to the important people in Edison's life. The story is fascinating. Highly recommended for all libraries. [For more on Baldwin and Edison, see LJ's Behind the Book interview, "Biography of an Inventive Life," on p. 116.-Ed.]-Michael D. Cramer, Virginia Polytechnic & State Univ. Libs., Blacksburg