Often these biographies minimize the faults of the individual. However, there seem to be more and more biographies using an antimonumental approach such as Mommie Dearest by Christina Crawford. Many of these books are written about politicians and entertainers. Other monumental biographies deal with handicapped or recently deceased celebrities and sometimes deify the subject. Wonder by Haskins are in this category.
Teenage readers enjoy stories about real-life heroes too good to be true.
Critical biography presents the weaknesses and strengths of the subject. Scoundrel Time by Lillian Hellman presents the historic period of the 1950s during the blacklisting era of Joseph McCarthy. The Story of a Storyteller by Paul Kresh shows the influences on Singer's life from the start in the Warsaw ghetto. Biographical collections provide short accounts of people's lives who have some commonality. Hiroshima by John Hersey relates the story of six survivors of the atomic bomb.