I won't quote anyone, because there are many people who feel the same way. For those people I have a question though:

In the absence of providing your own backstory, do you object when the GM fleshes one out for you in the game?

For example, what if an adventure started off with "You are approached by a woman who looks somewhat familiar. It takes you a moment to realize that she is the wife of the head librarian of the Sacred Vaults. You became good friends with her husband, Piegar, while you were studying at the Vaults for your initiation ritual to become a mage. He was the first to give you a formal tour of the city and was also the one to introduce you to the illegal griffin-fighting pens. The two of you even spent a few evenings gambling on fights together. It comes to you that his wife's name is Venetia..."