Biography of Lorde fails to impress

A new ‘‘parasitic’’ biography of Lorde written by a New York Times bestselling author calls Devonport the ‘‘hub of New Zealand’s military might’’ and concocts a midlife crisis for songwriting partner Joel Little.

While John Key had to wait until he’d headed global foreign exchanges, amassed a fortune, become prime minister and turned 52 before being the subject of a biography released last week, Lorde has cracked it at 17.

The American author, who does not appear to have been to New Zealand or spoken to Lorde directly for his unauthorised biography, has meticulously googled every facet of Lorde’s life for his book Lorde: Your Heroine, detailing how the young feminist broke all the rules and succeeded.

Marc Shapiro has written bestselling celebrity ‘‘biographies’’ about Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, J K Rowling, Lindsay Lohan and Katie Holmes. Kiwi Lucy Lawless fell victim to 1998’s Lucy Lawless: Warrior Princess!

His book, currently listed on Amazon, GoodReads and several other sites, is due for release in New Zealand and Australia in August.

The book, nothing more than a rewriting of media reports, refers to Devonport as the ‘‘hub of New Zealand’s military might’’, presumably because Shapiro hasn’t enjoyed a visit to the sleepy seaside Auckland suburb.

Auckland University distinguished professor of English literature Brian Boyd said the biography was ‘‘parasitic’’.