autobiographies.. destroy the myth of heros in our mind..

Now I remember why I usually refrain from reading autobiographies about some of my favorite writers.  The myth and ideal of them I keep in my mind about them from their writing is always so much better then coming to terms with tragic faults of one's hero. Esp. in the context of Salinger and Kerouac... they go from being hero.. to their human roots when the myth of them is destroyed by the errors of their lives.. to be honest although it does change my opinion of them it does not make them any less my literary heroes ....