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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... what an author must be . The case might also be posed in Johnsonian terms . The principle that " human nature is always the same , " 13 no matter how customs and manners may change , informs all his work . 9 Introduction.
... principles of the form . Young people especially needed instruction in " the Impor- tance of writing Letters with Propriety . " 18 No other sort of writing so thoroughly exposed one's manners , or lack of manners . As Samuel Richardson ...
... principles of invention from dispositions in- herent in the mind of man " ( not a bad description of Johnson's own critical ideal ) .15 Most important of all , as " the Raphael of Essay Writ- " 16 Addison had set the standard against ...
... principles , teaching us how to read it.32 In these terms The Rambler is Johnson's initiation . It begins with no fewer than five essays that discuss the problems of beginning , weigh the alternatives , and define a program for the ...
... principles to be exemplified by Milton . For Addison , he is striking be- cause of the directness with which he ... principle , of course , the need to engage the reader by inducing that faintly anxious attention we call suspense . But ...
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 |