David Michaelis Books In Order

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

David Michaelis is a Biography author born and raised in Cambridge and Washington D.C. He attended Concord Academy and Later went to Princeton University. He wrote the national bestsellers N.C Wyeth which later won the Ambassador Book Award for Biography

Schulz and Peanuts was a National Book Critics Circle Best Recommended Book. He is the husband of the documentary film producer Nancy Steiner and lives together in New York City.

Eleanor
Eleanor is an outstanding book with a biography of Eleanor Roosevelt. The biography begins from her cradle to the grave. The author explains how he met her when he was four because his mother worked at a T.V. station where Eleanor also hosted a show named ‘Prospects of Mankind.’

He also met her through her work when he studied Charles Shultz, his biography work at that time. As he looked into Charles comics in the files, he found some articles published by Eleanor in a feature named ‘My Day. ‘Upon completing Charles bio, he concentrated on Eleanor’s life where the author brings her life in the clear and comprehension.

It’s the first biography to cover the entire six decades of Eleanor’s whole life. Most of the other books about her end in 1945 after Franklin, her husband, passed away. The book is well researched, which makes an exciting story of a woman in recent history.

30% of the book is footnotes beginning from her hard childhood with a beautiful and remote mother who passed away when Eleanor was eight years old. She’s left in the hands of her beloved father, who’s mentally unstable and an alcohol addict, leading to his death in 1962 when Eleanor is ten.
David Michaelis uses some quotes from letters; for instance, when franklin and Eleanor were almost getting married, Theodore Roosevelt wrote a letter to franklin on how love between two people is more important than the presidency.

Later, it comes out that Uncle Ted was all wrong about Franklin and Eleanor’s relationship. The issue was that Frank didn’t like disclosing himself to people, even when it came to Eleanor. He kept a distance from others, even those he termed as close friends.

Eleanor was to spend the next fifteen years teaching herself to accept that franklin was not going to be open to her. The two could not stay calm around each other, and Eleanor couldn’t think too highly of herself. She had a lot of self-esteem issues, and getting married to a man who would never open up to her and having a mother-in-law who controls her household just made her life a nightmare.

She stayed strong even after siring six children in a span of ten years and finding out that Franklin was cheating on her with the secretary. Michaelis did a superb job of showing how Eleanor grew since childhood.

She grew up with similar one-sided ideas that most aristocratic families grew up believing. Later, the author shows how she develops acceptance and fights for the Less Privileged, oppressed, and those whose voices are not heard and have been silenced for long.

Eleanor’s friendships are also discussed, and they are not the center of interest as they are just for the record and had no further speculation. Her work post at the White House gets due, and she has to work with the U.N. on a Declaration of Human Rights on her T.V. program as a continuation of her newspaper section, ‘My Day.’

She was a champion of singer Marian Anderson and used her radio show to speak to people highlighting main events happening in the country. Eleanor was the first person to inform the country of Pearl Harbor and spoke out against Hitler, condemning McCarthyism later. She was also fundamental in taking on the vision her husband had for the U.N after his death.

David Michaelis leaves no stone unturned in Eleanor’s life. Her duties in the Democratic Party in the elections of 1960, 1956, and 1952 are all features in the book. In the course of the book, you can’t help but admire Eleanor for her compassion, intelligence, and ability to get things done.

She’s a strong lady who overcame numerous tragedies, which left her stronger even though she still craved to be loved. It’s adorable how the author begins with Eleanor’s family history, giving many details at each life stage.

Her evolution from a poor young girl to a famous humanist is fascinating and inspirational to young people.

N.C Wyeth
N.C Wyeth had nicknamed his daughter ‘The Big Noise, and the same could be said about him. he was big-hearted and self-absorbed and dominated everyone he met thanks to his enormous talent and emotional thirsty.

He was a great American illustrator, father to the famous painter, Andrew Wyeth and a granddad of Jamie Wyeth, a painter too. N.C never ignored the fact that illustrations are inferior compared to regular painting, and throughout his life, he tried to make a painting that himself and the critics valued.
The biography gives a deep look at Wyeth’s family history, the relationship with Howard Pyle, and the dynasty he created, each with unrecognized mental illness, nostalgia, and unfortunate death. It gives a feeling that the memory in the past was a bit real and viable than the modern-day.

The author also highlights how Wyeth was kidnapped after the huge success of Treasure Island. His personality changed, and his attitude towards his art career became hard. However, things turn around as Wyeth accepts to deliver his Treasure Island fine work.

David Michaelis uses a tight Psychological weave to make the book more interesting. He carefully traces Wyeth’s relationship with his mom to her mother’s homesickness for her Switzerland home. By the time his son Andrew is developing himself as a painter, the author allows the reader to understand how his secretive life assisted in offsetting the pressure of having a father who acts as a mentor and other times as an intruder.

His mother’s influence affected all his female relationships negatively. N.C’s tragic death is a painful scene to read about

This is an amazing book narrating about a remarkable man. David Michaelis does a great job of analyzing Wyeth’s techniques. The descriptions of the treasure Island paintings recalls Hitchcock. The illustrations were eye-catching, and one can’t help but like them.