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
Results 1-3 of 86
... human kind " ( 3 : 320 ) . The life of a writer , therefore , could serve as well as any other to measure the balance of good and ill . When the Rambler went looking for parables of ordinary human motives and their consequences , he ...
... human being can achieve . The reader , the poet , the critic ideally share the same humanity . In practice , however , as Rasselas grumbles , " no human being can ever be a poet " -that is , no single person can know everything and ...
... human being can achieve . The reader , the poet , the critic ideally share the same humanity . In practice , however , as Rasselas grumbles , " no human being can ever be a poet " —that is , no single person can know everything and ...
Contents
the Western Islands of Scotland | 234 |
The Lives of the English Poets | 259 |
Johnsons Endings | 295 |
Copyright | |
2 other sections not shown