H. G. Wells; a biography (1973)

Oh gag me, gag me, I abhor H.G. Wells. I finished the book because I needed the information. Finishing was almost a profile in courage: "I'll do 50 pages tonight," and then I would count every one and usually only get through 20. Had this man lived today and been doing today what he was doing in the early 1900s, then he would be labeled today as a sexual predator or pedofile. He was a married man who got his jollies from young, sexually naive women. Plus, in my opinion, his writing was average-minus. Anyone is welcome to disagree.

My quarrel with the book, therefore, is mainly with the subject. If you love H.G. Wells, then the book is probably fine for you. As a biography, subject aside, I would give it 3 stars: it's nothing special, it's not bad. It has notes, a bibliography, and an index, so for those inclusions it can't be faulted. ( )