Alexander Pope: A Life [Paperback]

Maynard Mack (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 17, 1988

Winner of the Christian Gauss Award of Phi Beta Kappa and the Robert Kirsch Award of the Los Angeles Times.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Disadvantaged socially as a hunchback and cripple, politically as a Roman Catholic, Pope (16881744) rose to become the greatest poet of his age, in Byron's estimation "the great moral poet of all times." In this first full biography of him since 1900, Pope scholar Mack blends sensitive criticism of his poetry, from the early pastorals and Homer translations to such masterpieces as The Rape of the Lock and the Dunciad, with copious and intriguing detail regarding the private life. In the process he is able to show that Pope's often exaggerated disagreeable qualitieshis vengefulness, deviousness and capacity to hatewere more than offset by his generosity, moral courage and unswerving, sometimes risky, loyalty to a circle of friends that included Swift and John Gay. Pope held a mirror to his age, catching its follies and foibles, grandeur and viciousness with unrivaled precision; and Mack brings us both Pope and the age in a biography as entertaining as it is masterly. Illustrations. January 27
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

The first complete biography of Pope, the greatest English poet between Milton and Wordsworth, published this century, Mack's long-awaited Life fulfills the highest expectations. While over 1000 footnotes reveal the immense erudition of the world's leading Pope authority, the preceding 800 pages of text are written with elegance and clarity that animate their subject, his friends, his many enemies, and England in the early 18th century. Supplemented by 100 carefully chosen illustrations, this superb work is a fit companion to Irvin Ehrenpreis's monumental biography of Pope's close friend and sometimes collaborator, Swift ( LJ 3/1/84). Indispensable for literary and biographical collections. Peter Sabor, English Dept., Queen's Univ., Ontario
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1000 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (June 17, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393305295
• ISBN-13: 978-0393305296
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,457,405 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A hero-poet gets his due at last, April 5, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Alexander Pope: A Life (Paperback)

Alexander Pope fought many obstacles during his lifetime--tuberculosis of the bone that deformed his spine, hack writers who were jealous of him, a corrupt government--and through it all created some of the greatest poetry of the 18th century. But changing poetic fashions and a self-righteousness among his commentators impaired his reputation. Maynard Mack remedies such trends in the first biography this century covering Pope's whole life. The writing sparkles, the facts are fully documented, and there is something of the detail that helps the reader feel he or she "knows" Pope by the end. We catch something of the courage that it took for Pope to rise from physical and political disabilities that would have crippled lesser individuals, to speak for reason and liberty in the face of enemies like Sir Robert Walpole, an utterly unethical individual who was the first Prime Minister of Great Britain. We also sense the pathos of things that Pope could not transcend: for example, his inability to find romantic intimacy due to his physical deformity. Prof. Mack has crafted a remarkable and informative book that should interest both the scholar and the casual reader