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." |
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... sure that all the world will bow to such elegantly expressed opinions . Doubtless many recognized at once the hand of the Earl of Chesterfield , perhaps the most notable aristocratic man of letters and patron of letters in England ...
... sure in breaking . Johnson's prose puts forth a different model . In every way the let- ter makes its case as a piece of writing , associated with the great writers of the past , the conventions of epistolary form , and cadences far too ...
... sure that pygmies deserved attention in the first place . " By the sonorous magnificence of Roman syllables the writer conceals penury of thought and want of novelty , often from the reader , and often from himself . " 18 The great ...
... sure of not being rejected , " the anonymous Johnson writes , " he might commence author with better hopes . " Yet since authors are known to be both ambitious and vulnerable , it is no wonder that some " should endeavour to gain favour ...
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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 |