Samuel JohnsonHarvard University Press, 1998 - 372 pages He was a servant to the public, a writer for hire. He was a hero, an author adding to the glory of his nation. But can a writer be both hack and hero? The career of Samuel Johnson, recounted here by Lawrence Lipking, proves that the two can be one. And it further proves, in its enduring interest for readers, that academic fashions today may be a bit hasty in pronouncing the "death of the author." |
From inside the book
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... Hence the ways in which authors prove themselves continually change . That is one reason why becoming an author is such an uncertain and controver- sial calling or choice of life ; sometimes the goal veers away just as the runner begins ...
... Hence young Johnson reserves his first person for spe- cial occasions . Even when deeply , personally involved , as in the Life of Savage , he passes as " the Author of this Narrative , " not " I. " A ser- vant of the public ought to ...
... Hence even the most occasional work or politi- cal pamphlet allowed a true author the scope to show how far he could see . In fact The False Alarm is a perfect example . No work could be more clearly tied to its moment or cause célèbre ...
Contents
the Western Islands of Scotland | 234 |
The Lives of the English Poets | 259 |
Johnsons Endings | 295 |
Copyright | |
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