A biography about Maria Callas, written by Ariana Stassinopoulos, and, titled, appropriately enough, Maria Callas, The Woman Behind the Legend, had been staring at me for some time and, so two weeks ago, I started reading.

Written in 1981, the book is actually two biographies in one: one about Maria, the peasant Greek girl born in 1923 in New York City (her mom was pregnant on the voyage from Europe to America); the other of Callas, the diva who brought artistic drama to new heights with...