In his new well-reviewed biography, The Great Nadar: The Man Behind the Camera, Updike biographer Adam Begley writes,
“I saw the exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum, and Nadar instantly claimed a place in my private pantheon of great artists. But as John Updike observed in his review of the show, ‘Photography is a matter of time’—nearly twenty years passed before I tried to find out about Nadar’s life. The catalyst was Julian Barnes’s Levels of Life, an unusual book, part essay, part short story, part memoir, in which Barnes briefly sketches the contours of Nadar’s curious career and irrepressible character. Thanks to Barnes, Félix charmed me, as he had charmed so many others. And so I went back to the photographs to look again.”
“The Great Nadar by Adam Begley — Kirkus Reviews: “A lively portrait of a photography pioneer who altered the cultural landscape of 19th-century France.