The Life of Samuel Johnson (Penguin Classics)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.20 (700 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0140436626 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 1408 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-04-21 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
In this entirely new and unabridged edition, David Womersley's introduction examines the motives behind Boswell's work, and the differences between the two men that drew them to each other. Yet anxieties and obsessions also darkened Johnson's private hours, and Boswell's attentiveness to every facet of Johnson's character makes this biography as moving as it is entertaining. It also contains chronologies of Boswell and Johnson, appendices and comprehensive indexes, including biographical details.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Through a series of richly detailed anecdotes, Johnson emerges as a sociable figure, vigorously engaging and fencing with great contemporaries such as Garrick, Goldsmith, Burney and Burke, and of course with Boswell himself. In Boswell's
Johnson's last major work was Lives of the Poets. In need of money to visit his sick mother, he wrote Rasselas (1759) reportedly in the evenings of one week, finishing a couple of days after his mother's death. When his Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1755, Johnson took on the proportions of a literary monarch in the London of his day. He has published widely on English literature from the Renaissance to the early nineteenth century. His Lo
From 1750 to 1752 he issued the Rambler, a periodical written almost entirely by himself, and consolidated his position as a notable moral essayist with some twenty-five essays in the Adventurer. In need of money to visit his sick mother, he wrote Rasselas (1759) reportedly in the evenings of one week, finishing a couple of days after his mother's death. He died in December 1784. He also recorded meetings and conversations with eminent individuals belonging to 'The Club', including David Garrick, Edmund Burke, Joshua Reynolds and Oliver Goldsmith. When his Dictionary of the English Language wa
Bill R. Moore said Perhaps the Greatest Biography Ever. James Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson is often called the greatest biography of all-time and may well be. Perhaps such a work can get no higher praise, but it is also highly notable as the first true modern biography - the first really resembling what we think of as biography today. Boswell set new standards for thoroughness, accuracy, and research, greatly expanding the very concept of what a biography could be. He was also ver. A great read James Boswell--to use a contemporary idiom-- had a mancrush on Samuel Johnson. He wrote this lengthy portrait of his hero--and it's magnificent. This is a vastly entertaining read. Full of fascinating, insightful, provocative, fun, sometimes gossipy detail, Boswell's Life of Johnson is a real treat. After ten pages, I was hooked. In writing his Life of Johnson, Boswell showed us all how fascinating a single man can be when studie. "the best paperback edition" according to VA Book Lover. When reading a classic such as Boswell's Life of Johnson, you are mainly looking for two things: good typography and a knowledgeable editor. In this Penguin edition (2008) you get both. With more than 1250 pages of reading, you don't want to be tortured or discouraged by tiny or overstylized type. Here the designer has chosen Adobe Sabon in 9 pt type -- perfect for reading comfortably for long stretches. And you'd be hard pressed