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Louis Bayard Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Louis Bayard

Louis Bayard

How to pronounce Louis Bayard: LOO-iss BY-erd

Louis Bayard Biography

Louis Bayard is the critically acclaimed bestselling author of nine historical novels, including Jackie & Me and The Pale Blue Eye, which was adapted into the global #1 Netflix release starring Christian Bale. His articles, reviews, and recaps have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Salon, and the Paris Review. His work has been translated into more than a dozen languages.

Louis Bayard's website

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Interview

Two essays from Louis Bayard: In Jackie and Me he introduces Jackie Kennedy and the "First Friend"; and in the second interview he discusses The Black Tower, an historical mystery set in early 19th century Paris which brings to life the mighty and profane Eugène François Vidocq, history’s first great detective.

Jackie and "the First Friend"

It started with a photograph.

Two young men,1930s collegiates, leaning against a stone wall, their mouths smiling dreamily, their left hands perched flirtatiously on their hips, their hips thrust at the camera. Lovers, that was my first thought, from the pre-Stonewall era, seizing this one moment with the camera before slipping back into hiding. Then I looked more closely at the man on the left. Fair, slightly built, rather pretty and ... familiar. Before I knew it, I was looking at John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Not the engraved figure of cultural memory but a liminal creature on the cusp of maturity. The only remaining question was: Who was the other guy? The tall, bespectacled blond with the overbite and the air of hilarity so pervasive you can almost hear him laughing.

So began my acquaintance with Lem Billings, whose main claim to renown, in his and everybody else's eyes, was being Jack Kennedy's best friend.

But my initial response wasn't too far off. Lem was also a closeted gay man—or, to quote the old phraseology, a practicing homosexual. (I used to wonder: If they keep practicing, will they get it right?) In those days, that meant finding connections where you could. The bathroom at ...

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Books by this Author

Books by Louis Bayard at BookBrowse
The Wildes jacket Jackie & Me jacket Courting Mr. Lincoln jacket The School of Night jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Louis Bayard but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Boris Akunin

    Boris Akunin

    Boris Akunin is the pen name of Grigory Chkhartishvili, who was born in the Republic of Georgia in 1956. A philologist, critic, essayist, and translator of Japanese, Akunin published his first detective stories in 1998 and ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Black Tower

    Try:
    The Winter Queen
    by Boris Akunin

  • Isabel Allende

    Isabel Allende

    Born in Peru and raised in Chile, Isabel Allende is the author of a number of bestselling and critically acclaimed books, including The House of the Spirits, Of Love and Shadows, Eva Luna, Paula, and In the Midst of Winter. ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Courting Mr. Lincoln

    Try:
    Daughter of Fortune
    by Isabel Allende

We recommend 26 similar authors


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