Samuel Johnson: A Life by David Nokes
From leading biographer David Nokes, an original and hugely rewarding portrait of Samuel Johnson, one of the great figures of English Literature.
Johnson, born weak and half-blind, shambolic and poverty-stricken, became the most admired and quoted man in the eighteenth century. Thrown out of Oxford for a lack of funds, he rose to celebrity: author of the Dictionary, a friend to the king, companion of Reynolds, Goldsmith and Garrick.
David Nokes looks beyond Johnson's remarkable public persona and beyond the Johnson that Boswell to some extent created. Nokes looks at his troubled relationship with his first wife, whom he married for money but felt guilty about for the rest of his life; at his family, who haunted his dreams for years; and at his difficult, intimate relationship with Mrs Thrale. He shows a man who gave a quarter of the government pension he received to the poor, filled his home with the blind and destitute, and bequeathed his wealth to Frank Barber, an emancipated black slave brought from Jamaica.
Insightful and engaging, David Nokes draws an illuminating portrait of Johnson, his life and world.
Format: Paperback | 415 pages
Dimensions (cm): 19.8 x 12.8 x 2.8 | 366g
Publication Date: 05 Aug 2010
Publisher: Faber & Faber Ltd.
Publication City/Country: London, United Kingdom
Language: English
Illustrations note: illustrations
Edition Number: 1
ISBN10: 0571226361
ISBN13: 9780571226368
Condition: Good
A book that has been read but is in good condition. Very minimal damage to the cover including very, very minor scuff marks along the edges, and minor creasing on the bottom-left corner of the back cover, but no holes or tears. The majority of pages are undamaged with very minimal (barely visible) creasing but no tearing. No pencil underlining of text, no highlighting of text, no writing in margins. No missing pages.