Biographer‑Subject Projection

Biographies of living people are often mutual projects: subjects attempt to steer or co‑opt their portrayals while biographers bring personal grievances, ambitions, and projections into the text. That reciprocal dynamic shapes which facts are pursued, how evidence is used, and whether a book functions as accountability or spectacle. — Understanding this reciprocal projection matters because biographies influence public reputations, legal pressures, and institutional memory, so the ethics and incentives of life‑writing are a public‑interest concern.