Customer Reviews

Charles Dickens (Very Interesting People)

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Oxford University Press, home of the Oxford English Dictionary has put out a highly successful Shorter Edition of the O.E.D. Perhaps somebody there heard that Professor Michael Slater was working on a major new biography of Charles Dickens (for Yale Press) and had the bright idea to ask Professor Slater to put out a "bite-sized" biography of The Inimitable. (Actually this book is based on Professor Slater's entry on Dickens for the massive Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.)

This new book is part of a series about "Very Interesting People." Shakespeare, Newton, Darwin and George Eliot have also been given this abbreviated treatment with promises of James Joyce, Milton, Austen and Churchill to have their mini-biographies forthcoming soon. You may have noticed that the notables are all British.

I don't know how the other subjects will fare with their biographers, but Dickens could have no better biographer than Professor Slater. In just ninety pages we are treated to a surprisingly complete biography by one of today's most eminent Dickensians. Especially surprising since Dickens was not only an author, but also an editor, journalist, playwright, actor and concluded his life with a new career in public readings. All these, plus Dickens's personal life are all admirably covered, as is his work with various charities. Still the emphasis of the biography is on Dickens's novels. Professor Slater concludes with a fourteen page chapter about Dickens's reputation and legacy after his death, exploring his after-fame, his impact on world literature and his continuing presence on the stage as well as in film, television and radio. Everything of importance is here. Professor Slater's lucid writing style is, of course, a great boon, and the biography is eminently readable.

I received this book within days of ordering it. I was VERY pleased with speed of delivery, and it was in better condition than advertised. I certainly recommend them!