The author is brilliantly successful when he sticks to biography – Johnson’s rise from abject poverty to renown, his dreams and failures, his perseverance against years of Grub Street anonymity, his marriage, his character and his literature. The author also excels at integrating literary criticism of Johnson's works into the biographical stream.
But I was sometimes frustrated when the author attempted to psychoanalyze Johnson. The author avoids modern medical terms to describe Johnson’s most common physical and mental afflictions. Johnson suffered from Tourette syndrome, obscessive-compulsive disorder and depression/despair. Yet these medical terms are never used. Instead the author spouts vague Freudian terms like “self-demand” and “superego”. Throughout his life Johnson struggled against what he called “scruples” but the author repeatedly leaves the reader puzzled as to what Johnson meant. Only once, buried in a foot note, does the author identify scruples as acts of obsession and compulsion.
Johnson once referred to writing as the “epidemical conspiracy for the destruction of paper”, probably referring to Grub Street writers. This book does NOT fall into that category. Highly recommended.
- Amazon Business : For business-only pricing, quantity discounts and FREE Shipping. Register a free business account
