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." |
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... Preface , the discreet authorial " I " abruptly thrusts itself forward and measures the book on the scale of the person who wrote it : " In hope of giving longevity to that which its own nature forbids to be immortal , I have devoted ...
... preface , the book itself , the book revised - John- son made no secret of his designs . Yet his continuing effort to explain what he was doing might well be the sign of an author's dissatisfac- tion . The scheme , the plan , and the ...
... preface reaches a comic height with Edmund ( " Rag " ) Smith , who is undermined right from the start . " Edmund Smith is one of those lucky writers who have without much labour attained high reputation , and who are mentioned with ...
Contents
the Western Islands of Scotland | 234 |
The Lives of the English Poets | 259 |
Johnsons Endings | 295 |
Copyright | |
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