Mark Harris

And that really resonated for me because that was an experience –

I felt I had many, many times when I was working on the Mike Nichols book.

Probably more often when I was researching.

I'd be sitting in the library, and I would come across some old document or story or interview, and I would read it and start taking notes really diligently.

And sometimes I really felt I could hear Mike over my shoulder saying,

You know, that's not quite accurate.

Or let me tell you what was really happening that day.

Or, yes, that was a lie that we all agreed on.

But, you know, what really went on was so-and-so.

And I think that kind of...

internal dialogue between biographer and subject is a really valuable thing.

Even if all it really is is a way for the biographer to stretch their own imagination, working on a biography is constantly kind of an act of checking in with your subject.

And by checking in, I don't

I don't think it's necessarily a question of saying, is this OK?

Can I do this?

Was this right?

Are you going to be mad at me?

I mean, obviously, with a subject who's died, that's all theoretical.

And I wouldn't ever want to write a biography of a living subject.

But it's more like, I think the question, what would you make of this?