Publish and be damned (on Tom Bower)

A version of this article about biographer Tom Bower from the Guardian appeared in today's Globe and Mail. It outlines the characteristics of Bower's aggressive style and the response he gets from his subjects/targets. Bower's style is herein called "anti-hagiography."

Bower had indicated that he would not be interviewed for this article, but he ended up telephoning anyway. On balance, he said, he'd rather articles like this one not appear (an obvious hazard is that his enemies, such as Black, might be hungry for anything negative they could find). He added, however, that he welcomed publicity for his books, and he defended himself against charges of premeditated hostility. "Believe me, I don't approach any of these people from a negative point of view," he said. "I'm interested in the use of money to buy influence, and in those people who have the ambition to try to determine the fate of mankind. I find it fascinating - have done ever since childhood, reading books on Bismarck and Disraeli. I've witnessed power, and it's just fascinating." The evidence of lying and corruption, he said, "is always there. It's always there. It's fascinating how these characters just ignore the truth".