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
Results 1-5 of 80
... truth . Similarly , in Johnson's terms , knowing an author requires some study of the historical context , not in order to merge the author with his background but precisely in order to determine what powers are his own . These ...
... truth is that he has had no patron at all . What matters to him now must be the work that he is concluding , not the rewards or notice that it might bring . " Myself " is the dominant word , and Chesterfield's role in the work shrinks ...
... truth . " 47 An author who knows his business ought always to remember where he comes from , the long line of earlier authors who have taught him how to write and think . Johnson associates his career with those of the classical poets ...
... truth approached , Johnson showed signs of feeling more and more nervous . The papers in The World must have increased his apprehension . A difference with Chesterfield on the nature of English was no small matter . As the arbiter and ...
... truth . At worst he is stating a platitude ; at best , discovering wisdom . In an eloquent analysis of " The Young Au- thor , " W. Jackson Bate points to the value of recognizing that dreams may come to nothing . " For the moment ...
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 |