Samuel Johnson: The Life of an AuthorHarvard University Press, 2009 M07 1 - 384 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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... define a moral being , according to Johnson , and many readers have testified that Johnson's example has helped them to live . The art of biography has grown from the spark that he kindled ; that is not the least of his accomplishments ...
... define a good many modern authors from Mailer to Solzhenitsyn . But doubts about the legitimacy of vested power have become so acute , in times of national crisis , that even the touch of privilege distinguishing authors from writers ...
... define a tiny space for themselves by selecting personal items from a menu or shopping mall of characteris- tics ... definitions in John- son's own Dictionary ( 1755 ) : 1. The first beginner or mover of any thing ; he to whom any thing ...
... definitions — might be mere writing , if attrib- uted to an anonymous scribe , but deeply personal , if signed by an author ? The metaphysical quandaries raised by such questions have not been resolved . Yet metaphysics itself may cause ...
... - ary critics something they need to know . Yet material causes cannot complete the definition . " Author " is not , in fact , a recent word . In an- cient times , the Latin auctor already indicated one sort 7 Introduction.
Contents
11 | |
34 | |
48 | |
Preferments Gate The Vanity of Human Wishes | 86 |
Man of Letters A Dictionary of the English Language | 103 |
The Living World The Rambler | 145 |
Reclaiming Imagination Rasselas | 173 |
The Theater of Mind The Plays of William Shakespeare | 198 |
Journeying Westward Political Writings A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland | 234 |
Touching the Shore The Lives of the English Poets | 259 |
The Life to Come Johnsons Endings | 295 |
Abbreviation | 307 |
Notes | 309 |
Index | 363 |